New pool-what to do?

[dawndenise]

I am not personally familiar with any salt systems for above ground pools, but I know that you can consult your owner's manual that should indicate the water chemistry targets for proper operation of the system, including calcium. If you don't have your system yet, you might try downloading the manual from the mfr's website.

"...will it help keep other problems away?" No...Hardness will not keep away algae and it will not sanitize your water, keeping the icky stuff at bay, so be sure to follow duraleigh's advice to keep your chlorine in proper range based on your CYA/stabilizer reading.

[GraceByDesign]

A vinyl pool has no calcium need. It is generally stated here that a level between 0 - 500 is acceptible for a vinyl pool.
If you have a heater, you do need calcium. I saw a recommendation from Ben that said 60ppm is probably enough.
By "salt water system" do you mean that you want to add salt to your pool, or that you are going to purchase a salt water chlorine generator (SWG)? I do not think calcium has any bearing on a SWG, but I could be wrong about that. If you are simply salting your water for the 'soft-water feeling' then the less CH the better. Hard water has loads of Cal and Mag, and the less you have the softer the water.

[PoolPatient]

I have read all of that, and maybe my pea brain is on overload. Our supply water is very soft, it only has 10 to 20 ppm calcium to begin with. It is a SWG that we are going to use. I was afraid that if we dumped all that salt in the pool, it might be one big slimey mess with the water being so soft. We are currently using 3" chlorine tablets untill we get TA down and can hold PH to a decent level. Thanks for the input.

[GraceByDesign]

trust me, I know the "overloaded pea brain" feeling!

Just keep your water balanced and the salt will not adversly affect it. What I've read indicates the salt may actually help keep your chemistry more stable

[duraleigh]

Poolpatient,

Be very careful with the use of the tabs. They will drive your pH down pretty quickly and yours is as low as it should go. Clorox would be a much better choice.

[PoolPatient]

I got busy and quit posting on here. After two weeks of slowly adding muratic acid and aerating our TA came down to 90. Also after adding some stabalizer to get CYA up, the chlorine lasts much longer and everything is just fine. We decided to forget the salt for now. All we do is put a little bleach in each week and a little muratic acid every 1-1/2 to 2 weeks. Our water is crystal clear and we are enjoying the pool very much. It is still very hot here in NE Texas. I have had to add a few hundred gallons of water to the pool each week. The air must be thirsty.

[waste]

Poolpatient, welcome to the forum. I realise this post is a little old, but I've got an idea that might work well for you. As you seem to have high alk fill water, is there any way you could 'pretreat' the fill water (acid and airation) before adding it to the pool? What I'm thinking about is a 55 gal plastic container - put a little of the fill water in it and add some acid (you're adding it bi-weekly anyway) and let the water bubble and splash (airation) as the container fills - I'm thinking that this will knock the alk of the fill water down before it enters the pool, reducing the amount of acid required (it takes less to treat 55 gal than 15,000, you'll also have really low pH for some of the filling which should increase the alk lowering. I don't know if this would be practical for you, but thought I'd offer the suggestion.
If you're happy with the way you've been doing things, keep doing it the way you have been. Again, welcome to the forum - Waste

ps. RE: calcium and SWCGs - liner pools don't need cal, they don't mind it, but don't need it. However, the manufacturers reccomend 200+ ppm (the 'stumper' is that most units switch polarity regularly to remove any calcium buildup on the plates, so they obviously don't want it there - yet they tell you to add cal to a pool that doesn't need it ) (If anyone has thoughts on my suggestion or my SWCG observation, please post, I'd love to hear from the pros! THX)