Salt in non-SWG pool result observations

[waterbear]

** No offence water bear you are an exception to that statement. **

Steve

No offense taken. I tend to share your views of pool stores. To give an example of the type of incompetence that I find I went to a local one yesterday (NOT where I work but closer to my house) for a few things I needed. I told the kid ringing me up that I also needed 2 gal muriatic acid. He asked me if I got it already. I know they keep it in the back and I said no, not yet. (Gee, that's why I was telling him that I needed it!). A girl working there said she would get it and he rung up my sale. She carried it out to my car and I loaded it in along with my other purchases. (At least they offer good service) I was stopped at a red light while driving home so I looked at my reciept. He never charged me for the 2 gal of acid! I guess he was too busy trying to impress me with his knowledge commenting on the reagents I purchased for my Taylor kit! (He didn't have a clue about them either!) I guess the right thing to do is tell them the next time I go back there. It will be a while since I only use them for Taylor reagents and acid.

Sorry for going off topic!

[NWMNMom]

We too added the solar salt to our pool and posted the results under Rangeball's thread on this. It was solar salt at $3.27 for #40 - 3 bags. This was probably 2 weeks ago. We are almost thinking of one more bag.

The water DOES feel great, hair/skin/eyes all benefit. The heat retention theory is interesting and makes me wonder....our pool sits around 84-88 these days, but then its been 80s one week, 90s another, now 80s......nights in high 50s, low 60s (one or two exceptions that were higher)

[Sherra]

I'm going to add salt to my pool next season. I told hubby that a few days ago and he's fine with it...but I do all the pool stuff, so he really doesn't care as long as he gets to swim in it. As for the heat thing...man, I hope it's not true! Our pool temp hasn't been below 90 in a couple of months! July 3rd it was 101 when we took the solar cover off...can you say hot tub?! We've pretty much had it off since then with the exception of a few days. But, we all (my hubby and daughter and myself) all feel "refreshed" if the water temp is below about 95. But, our pool is in full sun from about 8:30 in the morning until sunset, so maybe we've just gotten used to the warmer water.

[NWMNMom]

I wonder if circulating your water at night or leaving the cover off at night might cool it down some? Do you have a solar panel heater? Running that at night will definitely cool the pool down (kind of a reverse heating system) Ours was sitting at 89 today, but we forgot to open the diverter so it had been going through the panels during the day. Lucky for us, 8 teenagers had a swim this afternoon and splashed out a LOT so we got to top it off with some nice cool water - the salt REALLY does make such a nice difference in the way the water feels. I am picking up another 40# tomorrow along with my bleach supplies.

[KirstenHW]

Well, I took the plunge yesterday. Got four 40# bags of the stuff MedVampire recommended from Lowes ($4.43/bag) and dumped in in both the skimmers and into a leaf net over the side. I noticed a difference immediately! Verrrry nice. I am assuming my salt ppm is around 800 ppm (per the BleachCalc app). I took before and after water samples that I will try to get tested today at the pool store. Not sure if I'll add any more - I can't believe the difference it made - especially with my hair - no more nasty tangles after a swim. I did see the temp drop 2 degrees - it was wild. I have a floating digital thermometer that read 80 all day yesterday - as soon as I put the first batch of salt in, it dropped to 78 before my eyes. Pretty cool science experiment!

[NWMNMom]

We threw in that additional 40# yesterday, so a total of 4 - 40# bags. Yep, we are convinced this is better and probably our limit as you can ever so slightly taste salt but not enough to start stinging open scratches or cuts. Eyes wide open under water with no redness or stinging. Hair nice, yep, the way to go.

[amyinraleigh]

I really would like to try this - is there any reason I should NOT add salt to an Intex inflatable ring pool?

Thanks!! Amy

[Rangeball]

None that I can think of

[amyinraleigh]

sweeeet.....

Thanks, Rangeball!

[medvampire]

Thought I would update on my salty experiment.
Pool Chemistry
FC 4
TC 4
CC 0
ALK 120 - 130 (Run fountain again)
pH 7.3
CH 310-320
We haven’t been able to swim in a few days due to storms but finely we was able to paddle in this evening. I still can taste the salt but it does seem less than a few days ago. The water still has that slicker feeling than it first had when I filled the pool. The open eye test passed very well and most important, the ole up the nose with water did not leave me snorting with pain. After crawling out and doing the drip dry thing in the deck the skin and hair felt very soft but I had to go jump in the shower too quick to notice. I have not seen greater rusting of metals but most of my hardware is stainless steel. I have noticed salt deposits on the deck that quickly was off with a hose. All in all I am very happy with the salty pool and I am one step closer to a SWG.
Steve