Downsides to salt pools

[chem geek]

Brad,

OK, so with an off-line chlorinator he won't have the problem of the floating dispenser, but given this guy's history of not monitoring his water chemistry (which may have gotten the chlorine to a high level) he could now be in the position of getting his pH very low in his pool if he uses Trichlor exclusively and doesn't check the pH once and a while and add pH Up (Sodium Carbonate or Washing Soda). If the pH gets too low, then he can end up corroding his stainless steel again. Given his history, it would be a good idea to keep the TA on the high side, at least 120 ppm, as long as he's using Trichlor. Also keep in mind that with the CYA from the Trichlor he will have to maintain higher Free Chlorine levels as the CYA level rises in order to have proper disinfection and to prevent algae. See Ben's Best Guess CYA chart as a rough guide for how much FC is needed at various levels of CYA.

By the way, if you can get contact info for the metallurgist, then you can give that to me (via E-mail or Private Message) and I'll contact him to see where he got his 500 ppm salt limit for this type of stainless steel.

Thanks,
Richard