Anyone using salt w/o SWG in their chlorine pool?

[Rangeball]

I think I'll give this a try myself. I have a 20x40 inground. I'll start off with about 150 pounds, and then work up from there. Does it help or hinder algae growth in any way?

I've never seen anyone state salt helped with algae, just better water feel.

[brent.roberts]

I don't know how big your pool is. Just keep in mind it's easy to add a bit more a few days from now than to get rid of it. I guess in IL you get some snow once is a while ... just in case you buy too much.

[Bleach=Chlorine?]

Hmmm... this is very tempting. Have to price out the salt today at Lowe's.

[Scarlett]

How does the salt affect a pool heater? Is it corrosive?

Thanks!

Scarlett

[SLR_65]

Hi Guys,

Last year we had an Intex EasySet 12' pool. I followed the BBB approach from this forum and everything went very well - no major problems, no algae, etc..

Unfortunately my sister-inlaw's black labs ATE our pool last fall!!!! (and the pool toys, and the lawn furniture, and the insulation off the central ac lines!!! The puppies are no longer welcome guests . . . (and the jury is still out on whether my sister-inlaw is still welcome! <grin>))

This year I was set to buy a 16' pool, but a friend of ours gave us their 14' EasySet pool . . . they kept having algae, cloudy water, etc. last year and didn't use it much so they decided it wasn't worth the effort. I'm pretty sure it was just inattention to the water quality that was at the root of their problems last year.

They did a good job cleaning it up before storage last year - it was very clean when we got it, but I added enough bleach to bring the chlorine up to 20ppm last night and put the solar blanket on it. I bumped the chlorine high just in case any algae ickies were still lurking about. It's been cold here so we wont be swimming for a few days anyway, and I just added enough CYA to bring it up to 30ppm (used bleach calc to figure the amount) and it's currently disolving in a sock tied to the ladder so I figured with a low CYA level the bleach will dissipate fairly quickly anyway.

Well, onward to my question . . . I've been reading the discussion in this thread on adding salt to improve the water feel but there doesn't seem to be a clear target ppm. I've seen 900 to 1600 mentioned, and then 2,200 or so mentioned.

Anyone care to give a SWAG of what ppm to target? Maybe 1500 and call it good one way or the other??

Thanks for any input!

Steve

[poolbuoy]

I want to add the softener salt in a Esther Williams aluminum extruded vinyl 18x36 pool.
Questions:
how much to add to achieve 2k-3k ppm in 14,000 gallons?
Will it destroy the extruded aluminum or not affect it?
what is solar salt? IS it the same as water softener salt?

I want to try it soon.....

thanks, Scott

[SLR_65]

Hi Scott,

According to BleachCalc you will need 291.8 pounds of salt to reach 2,500 ppm in your 14,000 gallon pool.

TTYL,

Steve

[Watermom]

This thread is getting ridiculously long - 58 posts already. There have been numerous people who have tagged onto this thread with their particular problem. It is usually best to start your own thread. Please wrap up any loose ends that need to be finished and then we'll close this thread soon. It is getting unmanageable and hard to keep track of who needs what, etc.

Thanks.

[poolbuoy]

Hi Scott,

According to BleachCalc you will need 291.8 pounds of salt to reach 2,500 ppm in your 14,000 gallon pool.

TTYL,

Steve

Wow ! 291 pounds of salt... 8.5 bags@40#. Not bad I guess since about $4 a bag. Where did you see that chart? just for future reference.

Thanks Scott

[Rangeball]

Anyone know a good ppm recommendation to shoot for when using salt without SWG, just to get the water quality affects?

Brent, my IG is the same dimensions as yours, and holds 21,200 gallons. If it's the same capacity as yours, perhaps I'll start with 3 bags, swim a bit to see then add the 4th if necessary and skip the 5th

Spouse is gone for a few days, I'd love to dump some in and see if she notices