Tonight I add salt to my non SWG above ground pool

[The Raddish]

I have read as much of the salt threads as I could find, and as soon as my wife heard me say something about adding salt to the pool she insisted I go for it. So I'll be stopping by Lowe's tonight to pick up some salt.

From what I have read, I want to get the purest water softener salt I can find. Also, I'm shooting for low levels now as I can add more later as needed. I have a 24' x 52" round pool (about 12,500 gallons), so according to the bleachcalc I need about 100 pounds of salt to get about 1000ppm. If salt is sold only in 40# bags instead of 50#, then I'll only add 80# for the first run, as I can always add more later.

The only thing missing is a test kit for salinity (not included with my Taylor kit), so I'm going strictly by "feel" on this one. I'll post the results of adding the salt in the next day or two after we get some swim time.

[cleancloths]

I'm lost! WHY are you adding salt to a NON-SWG system? What will it do for you?

[The Raddish]

Many people here on this site and elsewhere claim that adding salt to your pool helps make the water less 'harsh'. The claim is that it is good for the hair and skin, and reduces or eliminates eye burn.

All of these things are attractive to my wife and I, so I figure why not give it a try? After all, it's the same concept used for in-home water softeners, so why wouldn't it work in a pool environment?

[cleancloths]

Not sure I buy that it does anything for you, but your pool already has salt in it. Think about it for a few minutes.

You add chlorine as either sodium hypochlorite or calcium hypochlorite. You add borax, or baking soda or other pH up chemicals. Thus you have Cl ions an Na ions floating around in the water. That is exactly what you get when you add NaCl (salt). These ions are all dissolved in the water. When you add salt you are adding more which may or may not dissolve depending on what levels you all ready have. You may actually create water chemistry problems, not to mention the potential for corrosion on certain metals. Don't think it a good idea.

[Sherra]

Cleanclothes,

There are several "veterans" on the board who have added salt to their non-swg pools with excellent results. Take a look through the Salt Generator forum and you'll find a couple of threads about it. It does no harm to a properly balanced pool, liners, finishes, etc.

[Rangeball]

cleancloths, hundreds, thousands or even hundred thousands of SWG pool owners probably disagree with you.

I added salt to my non SWG pool and the way the water feels while in the pool or after getting out is noticably better, much preferred.

If you have an open mind I recommed you do a search for adding salt. I've had absolutely none of the problems you mentioned, and expect never too. The salt levels I ended up with are less than half those recommended for SWG pools.

[cleancloths]

While it likely has done no harm, it will impact the overall water balance chemistry. Salts act as buffers and you should already be buffered, thus you will end up with slighly salty water - if you like that go for it, but I would never add a chemical that I really don't need.

There are millions of people that claim things do things that they really don't - that does not make them right.

I would be interested in seeing some technical documentation (not just opinions) that adding NaCl to a chlorine sanitized pool has value. Please let me know of a link where I can see that.

Thanks

[Rangeball]

If you have an open mind I recommed you do a search for adding salt.

Guess not...

[The Raddish]

Cleancloths, I'm not sure I understand your objections here. Many people use salt water chlorine generators to generate chlorine in their pools. They keep a salinity level around 3000ppm. Not all of that salt has been processed into chlorine at one time, so there will be salt in the pool.

Aside from the chlorine generating aspects of the equipment, I gather that the rest of the chemistry is identical to a non-SWG pool. In other words, it has no effect on the rest of the pool chemistry.

I'm shooting for roughly 1/3 to 1/2 the levels of salt for my non-SWG pool. I don't worry at all about corrosion, since everything in a pool is designed to be around chlorine. Since the reason salt is corrosive is because of the the reactance the world has to the chlorine in the salt molecules, there is no 'additional' corrosive effect from salt in the water.

As for a chemical that is not needed, as you have already pointed out, there is already salt in every chlorine pool, just at much lower levels. I don't need salt in my water, but salt in my water will make the water feel better on my skin and hair and eyes. Since my skin and hair and eyes are all important to me, adding salt to my water to make them feel better is a benefit. Since (as you have already pointed out) salt is a 'buffer' and has no adverse effects on the rest of the pool chemistry, I fail to see one single drawback of putting a modest amount of salt (approx. 1000ppm) in my pool water.

For everyone else, I'll post how much difference adding salt to the water feels after a few days of swimming in it.

[JohnInSoCal]

I did this recently and everybody likes the feel. I didn't tell anybody before I did it and the kids & wife noticed the difference imediately and asked about why the water felt different. It feels nicer/softer on the skin and is nicer on the eyes. You already have some salt in your pool but you can always add more. Most SWG's need around 3000 ppm in order to generate enough chlorine. I didn't go that high and decied to start with just a little and see how it went. Since all I wanted was the nicer feel I didn't need to go that high. Salt water in the ocean is much higher, about 35,000 ppm .

I have an inground gunite pool/pebble finish. I would worry about an above ground pool though as you have metal and more salt means quicker corrosion. Any water is going to corrode metal, add salt and it will do it quicker.

-- john