Salt level?

I do not have a SWG, but while in the pool the other day I thought the water seemed almost salty. Tested it and I got 2000. Can that be right? Should there be salt in a non-SWG pool?

Also, my husband is getting tired of buying bleach and really wants an SWG. Can anyone recommend an affordable, decent model for a AGP?

Thanks,

Many people that don't have SWG will salt the pool on purpose...they say it makes it easier on the skin and eyes. I personally agree. Hopefully somebody will chime in soon to answer your question about the models.

Janet

But is it normal to have salt of 2000 if you've never added any?

It can be, if your water doesn't get much dilution. If you are using bleach or chlorinating liquid as your primary source of chlorine, then for every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) that you add, you also increase salt by 16 ppm (8 ppm upon initial addition and then another 8 ppm when the chlorine gets used up).

So if you are adding around 2 ppm FC per day, then that's an increase of almost 100 ppm salt per month. If you have a larger cartridge filter, so no backwashing and minimal cleaning, don't have much splash-out, and don't have rains that overflow the pool, then the salt can build up over the years.

You can dilute it by partial drain/refill.

Richard

I would guess that using the bleach in an AG pool you might be reaching
enough concentration that you would have "salty water". I used bleach
for about 4 years (have since gone to cal-hypo for easier handling) in my
16x32 IG and never noticed a salty taste but did notice the water was
softer over time.

Wally World is handling a SG in some of it's stores now, my brother is putting
one on his AG installation and we'll see how it does.

That's because bleach is produced from brine (remember: Salt is Sodium Chloride--has the Chlorine right there!). The "Dissolved Solids" in bleach that pool stores like the scare you with is all salt. The bleach is basically salt water that has had 5.25 or 6% converted to dissolved chlorine.