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

[brent.roberts]

The salt I got was pellets. They were the cleanest I could find without going to salts that have additives.

From memory the comfort level was about 1/2 of the level for a SWG

I'll measure mine tonight when I get home and post it here. I figure it has been diluted about 20% by rain and snow since I did it.

Sure wish we had access to all the old forum posts.

[Rangeball]

The salt I got was pellets. They were the cleanest I could find without going to salts that have additives.

Good to know. These are 99.5% pure. They "melted" that fast in the skimmer, huh?

From memory the comfort level was about 1/2 of the level for a SWG

I'll measure mine tonight when I get home and post it here. I figure it has been diluted about 20% by rain and snow since I did it.

That'd be sweet

Sure wish we had access to all the old forum posts.

You and me both. We hammered this out back then. I was all set for this year, until I came back and found out the posts were poof gone...

I've never added salt to my water. Pool was filled with city water supply. Is it safe to assume that tap water would be relatively salt free? We live in a hard water area according to Morton's website.

[Bleach=Chlorine?]

Have there been any confirmations one way or the other whether salt water would have negative effects on pool equipment/structure/patio?

[Rangeball]

Have there been any confirmations one way or the other whether salt water would have negative effects on pool equipment/structure/patio?

IF I remember right from last years discussions, if you keep the PPM low, just enough to get the water quality benefits, then no negative effects.

[brent.roberts]

I've kept boats and fished in salt water and it will wreck havoc on anthing that is not made for salt exposure, and even stuff that is made for salt is still affected by it. You really need to think twice about that.

If I had a concrete pool with steel re-bar I would never have gone this way just to make it feel better. Likewise if I had a heater ( I have plastic solar panels ) I would avoid it.

Just one man's 2cents worth.

[Rangeball]

I have a vinyl liner but a concrete deck around the pool.

Would this prevent you from adding salt?

[brent.roberts]

I just looked at the Morton link you posted.

They have "some stuff" added. Unknown stuff. I don't think it will be dangerous, just maybe have an affect on the other chemistry we use. I'd look elsewhere.

[Rangeball]

I can get solar salt at a local lumberyard, but it's a few more bucks per bag. It's supposed to be straight salt, but a google search says it also has a small percentage of calcium, mangnesium and sulfate ions as this is part of the TDS in seawater.

I'll wait and see what your readings are tomorrow before I get some and dump it in.

[Brock]

The amount of salt we are talking about is typically in the 2000-3000 range of PPM, I believe the ocean or true salt water is on the order of 16,000-20,000 ppm of salt. So it is no where near the concentration of true salt water.

I finally did it this year and I would swear the free CL is more stable. Although we have an indoor pool and with no stabilizer so maybe the salt acts as a stabilizer for the free CL as well?

It definitely made the water feel "softer" and much easier on the eyes as well.

We just dumped in 250lbs the 99.5% pure salt pellets. I turned on the swim jet and they were gone in 15 minutes, I was really surprised they dissolved that fast.

[brent.roberts]

I told you I would test and report my salt levels. Sorry ... got into connections on the solar panels and got chased inside by mosquitos. I'll try to remember to test tonight.

If you've already got the salt on hand, no risk to go ahead and dump the first couple of bags in. You can get a stick type test kit at most pool stores. I was a bit astonised at the price. I'm waiting on a complete test kit with salt water test from Pooldoc.