suggestions on chem levels

[waterbear]

You may also want to add a few bags of solar salt to your pool to alleviate the "straw hair" as my wife calls it. I also find that it softens the water and helps with the dry skin.

Everyone that swims in my pool loves the added salt. Rave reviews all around.

-Troy

The salt does not 'soften the water'. It just brings the water closer to the isoelectric point of the human body so it is perceived as milder. All the fluids in our body are 'salty'. To actually soften the water you need an ion exchange resin that exchanges sodium ions (from the salt put into the water softener to 'charge' the resin) for calcium and magnesium ion in the water. Just adding salt to water has no effect on calcium or magnesium hardness.

All that being said, the vast majority of people do report that having 1000-3000 ppm salt in the water is a more pleasant swimming experience (less eye stinging, less 'pruning' of toes and fingers because the water is closer to the saltiness of our tears and the water in our skin cells.) All you have to do is dump in some solar salt or water softener pellet salt. It will dissolve in a few hours. Four 40 lb bags will raise 10000 gallon about 2000 ppm. (about eight and 1/3 lbs salt per 1000 gallons raises the salt 1000 ppm). If you have no salt in your pool anywhere from 1/2 to 1 bag per 2500 gallons will get you in the ballpark. Also, like CYA and borates, salt is only lost from splashout and backwashing, it does not 'evaporate' or get consumed in any way.

[sturev]

Are there any risks or downsides to adding salt to a pool that's not a 'true' salt water pool? Corrosion?

[smileitsachoice]

Thanks for the info. I have bought 4 40# bages from Lowes and some Accucheck salt strips. Looking forward to trying. Thanks again

[waterbear]

Are there any risks or downsides to adding salt to a pool that's not a 'true' salt water pool? Corrosion?

Corrosion is alway a risk in any pool, salt or not. (and any pool that uses chlorine will have salt in it. It's what forms in the water when the chlorine is used up sanitizing and oxidizing stuff!)

That being said, there is pool equipment out there that is not compatible with salt levels found in SWG pools (3000 ppm or higher), mainly steel frame AGPs, older heaters with copper heat exchangers, some ladders and a lot of the cheap stainless steel screws that manufacturers include with light niches and ladder mounts to save a few pennies. Most newer pool equipment had no problems with salt.

Also, it seems that the natural rock used in some pool construction in certain parts of the country (parts of Texas seem to have the most problems) are susceptible to damage from salt.
IMHO, this is because materials are being used in pool construction that should not be used. Period. I live on the coast (actually less than a block from the Atlantic and about a quarter block from the Intercoastal) so construction here (and not just pool construction) is designed to be resistant to salt effects.
This is why I say it is not the salt that is causing the damage but the selection of unsuitable building materials.

[sturev]

Thanks Evan! (like the name BTW )

[sturev]

That being said, there is pool equipment out there that is not compatible with salt levels found in SWG pools (3000 ppm or higher), mainly steel frame AGPs, older heaters with copper heat exchangers

Humm... I have a heater with a copper heat exchanger...http://www.haywardnet.com/abovegroun...oductID=81#six
I guess this means I shouldn't up my salt levels...? I wonder if I stayed on the lower end of the scale if it would be ok? (1000 ppm)

[chem geek]

It's a spectrum of risk. A copper heat exchanger is more susceptible to corrosion than a cupro-nickel alloy or a titanium heat exchanger, but it doesn't mean that it will definitely corrode too quickly at SWG salt levels (typically 3000 ppm). There is no question that it will corrode faster, but as to whether this will be a problem before the heater would fail for other reasons, that is not certain.

Given how many people have converted to SWG pools, I think the copper heat exchangers aren't the biggest problem -- at least that isn't the most common complaint. The other items waterbear mentioned seem to be the more common issues -- namely, cheap stainless steel or regular steel (or even zinc) used in screws and some softer stones used in parts of the country that also don't have regular summer rains. "Vanishing" aluminum headers on automatic covers and aluminum tracks are also a problem, but are usually mitigated by using a sacrificial anode. In fact, you could at least partially protect all the metal in your pool by attaching a sacrificial anode (usually zinc; sometimes magnesium) buried in moist soil to the bonding wire.

[thilbert]

Sorry, didn't mean to do a drive by and not answer your questions regarding salt. Waterbear nailed it. You could do a google search for pool calculator and find a nifty online tool that will tell you the effects of adding various amount of "stuff" to your pool, including salt.

Waterbear, thanks for clearing up the "softening" issue. Not being a chemist I was attempting to explain my own experiences with salt and "soft" was the only thing my feeble mind could come up with.