Any requirements for softened water?

[prh129]

I have a well with a water softener so I will get water trucked in initially to fill my pool but then will be using the softened water whenever more water is needed. I haven't seen hardness discussed much but I just pre-ordered the PS234 test kit and I see that calcium hardness is tested. Is there another chemical beyond the 3-Bs that I'm going to need to control hardness? Thanks. Peter

[waterbear]

First question I have is what type of pool do you have. Calcium hardness is a definate issue for plaster pool but not that important for vinyl and fiberglass unless you have a heater or a lot of grouted tilework. Calcium hardness is increased by adding calcium hardness increaser which I belive is 73% calcium chloride(someone please check me on that!). It can be found at your pool store and also at a home improvement store. I keep my calcium hardness at 140 ppm for my heated fiberglass pool/spa and I use softened water for my fill since my whole house including the outdoor faucets is plumbed thru the water softener. (I know, rather dumb, but I bought the house that way and it's just not cost effective to change it!)

[prh129]

It's an above ground so I assume vinyl. I was reading elsewhere about spa manufacterers not recommending the use of softened water. People had responded to that saying it was far easier to deal with correcting softened water than to have to remove the minerals you would get with bypassing the softener. That seems to make sense as my water has a lot of iron and manganese so it would seem a lot easier to add stuff to the water if I need to to bring levels up than it would to try to remove minerals that were already in it. My whole house is also plumbed through the water softener although there is a bypass mechanism on the softener. It would be a pain to keep having to switch it in and switch it out and it looks like there wouldn't really be a big benefit to doing that anyway.
Since a spa is usually fiberglass, I would assume then that the hardness would affect the heater somehow - is that right? Is it corrosive to metal? If that is the case, are there any concerns as far as the pool pump?

[aylad]

You are right, it will be a WHOLE lot easier to add calcium than it will be to deal with the iron and manganese in the water. You can add calcium just by using cal-hypo to chlorinate until you get the calcium where you want it to be, then just switch to bleach

Janet

[waterbear]

Be aware that a standard water softener does not remove metals. It will remove calcium and magnesium (Hardness) and replace them with either sodium or potassium(Softness) depending on what type of salt you use in the softener. Metals need to be removed by other processes (ion exchange (2 or 4 column), reverse osmosis, or special units for the type of metal(except for iron, there is a special water softener salt pellet that includes an iron reducer in it). If you have problem water you might want to get a unit that will take care of the problem that you have. The best place to start would be your local water utiltiy.

[duraleigh]

Hi, Waterbear,

That's a very informative post. So, for new pool owners who insist on filling with high iron content water, would it be economically feasible to then circulate the pool through a water softener with the special salt pellet?

That's a common issue on this forum and hard to find an inexpensive answer.

Dave S.