Tonight I add salt to my non SWG above ground pool

[sailork]

The reason you want to add salt to a non SWCG pool is the same reason contact lens solution and IV's are saline solutions. If you put purified water into your eyes it "waters down" the salt in your eye's cells and causes them to sting, swell from excess water and sometimes burst. The cell becomes waterlogged because the low salt water is moving into the cell to water down the salty water that is naturally inside the cell. (This is known as hydrostatic pressure.) Contact lens saline solution is normally about 9000ppm because that's what feels good and it's approximately what's in your eyes. The closer your pool water gets to this point the less it stings your eyes and the more it tastes like sweat. Thus giving us a balance to work with.. The end result is that salty pool water is kinder to your body because there is a smaller differential between the saltiness of the water and the saltiness of your body.

Also, if you add salt to your pool you will increase the corrosiveness of your pool because NaCl contains chlorine.

[The Raddish]

Well, my wife and I dumped 80 pounds of 99.8% pure water softener salt pellets into the pool this evening. She had a lot of fun playing with the pellets, piling them up and noticing the temperature differential around the salt. Adding this much salt actually dropped the temperature of the water by a couple of degrees.

My immediate impressions are that everything is definitely more buoyant. Prior to the addition of the salt, I could walk on the pool floor on my knees. This is no longer possible, as I tend to float away instead.

My hair and skin were both smoother after I had been out of the water for a while, and my wife says her hair was much more manageable to deal with when she took a shower.

There was no discernible taste to the water at all. Of course, 80 pounds is only about 760ppm increase. My wife wants me to add one more bag, so I'll probably pick up another bag this week.

All in all, I think this was definitely a good decision.

[sevver]

Well I am interested, how do you add it, just pour the bag of pellets in? Then get in and stir them around? What do you get, just water softener salt? I have an 8000 gallon pool, how much would a bag raise it approximately? Would a pool store be able to test for it?

[The Raddish]

Well I am interested, how do you add it, just pour the bag of pellets in? Then get in and stir them around? What do you get, just water softener salt? I have an 8000 gallon pool, how much would a bag raise it approximately? Would a pool store be able to test for it?

That is exactly what we did. To find out how much you need, just download the bleachcalc by mwsmith2 and enter your numbers. Don't forget to change your units to imperial instead of liters. This calculator will also help you with your BBB pool maintenance.

A good source of water softener salt is Lowe's or Home Depot. I also believe that Wal-Mart sells it, too, as well as stores like Sam's and Costco. Try to get the purest salt you can find. In my case, we were able to find 99.8% pure salt.

[sevver]

Ok, it says that if I add 80# of salt, the level will go up by almost 1200ppm for my 8000 gallon pool. I am thinking that if I start off with between 40# and 60# then it should be a good start. How long does it take for the salt to disolve? Do I have to be in there mixing it around?

[The Raddish]

It took about 20 minutes to half an hour for my wife and I to dissolve two 40# bags. She had fun playing with the pellets, piling them up, moving them around with her feet, etc. The biggest thing was that we essentially were in the pool to help stir up the water. I'd recommend helping the salt dissolve.

What I did was take a bag and open it in the middle of the pool, and spread it around a bit from the middle. We then shuffled it around with our feet until it was pretty much dissolved.

1200ppm is about where we want to get to, so adding two bags will probably be perfect for your pool. If you aren't sure, then just get one bag and start with that. You can always add another later, but if you are happy with the results of just one bag, then there is no need. I did the same thing, I started with two bags, knowing that three or four would be what I ultimately will want to add. Two is nice, but I'll be adding one more sometime this week, and maybe one more after that.

Just remember though that like CYA, the only way to get the salt back out of your pool is to drain and refill, so it's better to use less than you think you need than to overshoot your goal.

[NWMNMom]

So, does adding this salt have any effect on PH, TA, TC/FC? Is the luxury of having softer skin/hair and nicer feeling water going to result in any additional chemicals having to be added or any more work maintaining? I'm reading these posts and really tempted to try it, but if its going to be more maintc work.......(not that its so much now with BBB and a bit of leaf skimmer/vac work) But I AM the only one here doing the work, so less is better!

[medvampire]

I hope this is not too geekey.
The salinity of tears is around 9000 ppm dependant on body hydration. Body salinity is around 9000 ppm or isotonic at 0.9%. The ocean is around 0.35 % or 35000 ppm dependent on depth and temperature. Most salt used on the roads is Calcium Chloride witch is more corrosive than Sodium Chloride.
The reason cars and boats have more problems are higher concretions and other metals involved.
The reason it fells better is osmosis. Water is constantly trying to balance itself. You have less osmotic pressure at higher concretions of salt in your pool. Less water in to the skin means less flaking and itching. Think of it this way, you have a dead layer of skin at the surface the epidermis, as water enters these cells they swell and burst , when you get out of the pool these busted cells dry quickly, and cause itching and flaking. In salted water these cells have longer before they burst. The higher the salt levels to isotonic the less damage to the cell membrane.
I haven’t salted my pool yet but I do plan to as I learn the BBB chem. method better.
Later
Steve

[sailork]

Medvampire I would say you aren't being geeky enough. Shouldn't seawater be 3.5% not .35% by your own calculations?

[medvampire]

Shouldn't seawater be 3.5% not .35% by your own calculations

Opps, Finger slipped, hate it when that happens.

and dreams of a SWG

Me too!

Steve