Water Softener for hard fill water

[Rickster]

Our tap water is hard (300+).

I'm in southern california where it's hot and never rains.
I never drain water I only add more and more Ch with every top off.

Ch is now at 1200 or so.

I'm looking at various ways to lower the Ch to a more reasonable level.

I'm considering a water softener for top off water.

I know with softened water, you get sodium instead of the dreaded calcium.

Will the buildup of sodium caise any problems?
It's a salt pool, so I imagine there is already sodium floating about and more might interfer with the process.
And if I ever add straight Cl (like if the cell breaks down for a week), that would convert to NaCl and I'd be over in the salt department...

[CarlD]

Different SWCG systems can handle different levels of salt. Theoretically, my Autopilot can handle up to 35,000ppm but I certainly wouldn't want to test it!

[mas985]

I have found that the easiest/cheapest solution is to just replace the water.

[kelemvor]

My fill water is softened. Sort of. Not especially for the pool, but just because I have a water softener for my house.

The thing you need to keep in mind is that water softeners need to recharge. Mine only softens for around 200 gallons and then needs to run a "recharge" cycle. It dumps a bunch of water to waste when that happens, and spits hard water out while it's going on. It also blows through salt like nobody's business.

If you don't have a water softener on your house fill line, you'll have to find a way to pump water through one. I'm guessing the pressure exerted by a pool pump will be way too much. You might be able to do it with a small fountain/pond pump from a home improvement store.

Maybe cheaper to do a partial drain and have some good water trucked in. Maybe not, but it's worth looking into before you spend any money on softening.