5 Basics of Salt Swimming Pool Care

Salt water pools can be a great choice when compared to a conventional chlorine swimming pool. With proper care and maintenance they can be less expensive and require a little less of your time. Salt pools also offer a more comfortable environment for the human body by reducing skin and eye reactions to the pool water. Below are five basic tips on maintaining a healthy salt water swimming pool.

Salt Level - your salt pool chlorinator owner's manual will document the salt level required for the chlorinator to produce chlorine. Become familiar with this range and be diligent about maintaining the proper level of salt in the pool. Check the salt level at least weekly and adjust as needed. After a year or two you will gain an understanding of when and how often salt needs to be added to the your pool. But remember, if the salt level falls outside of the required range, chlorine production will stop and pool problems are headed your way.

Stabilizer Level - the owner's manual will talk about this also, but it is an often ignored element of salt swimming pool care. The stabilizer (cyanuric acid) level in the pool must be maintained at the proper level in order for the chlorine produced by the salt chlorine generator to work efficiently. In traditional chlorine pools, the chlorine added is stabilized chlorine, so stabilizer is constantly being added to the pool and eventually the stabilizer level gets too high and needs to be reduced. With salt pools it is just the opposite. The chlorine produced by salt chlorinators is not stabilized and the level in the pool gradually decreases due to splash out and dilution by adding water to the pool and by rain. The bottom line is the cyanuric acid level needs to be tested periodically (once a quarter or so) to make sure it is in the proper range and the chlorine can do its job. For salt pools a good target stabilizer level is 60 - 80 ppm.

pH Level - with salt pools the pH has a tendency to continually move to the high end of the scale and needs to be adjusted down more often than with traditional chlorine pools. Test the pH at least once a week and add muriatic acid as necessary to keep the pH between 7.4 and 7.8 ppm. Some experts suggest the pH in salt swimming pools becomes easier to manage by maintaining an alkalinity level at the lowest possible level within the acceptable range, which is 60. But if the pH is not managed properly, it could quickly lead to calcium buildup on the salt cells and affect the efficiency of the salt chlorinator.

Salt Cell Maintenance - if the pH level of the pool water is kept balanced there shouldn't be a problem with calcium buildup on the salt cells. But it is still important to check the cell periodically. If a large amount of calcium is allowed to accumulate on the salt cells, the chlorinator will not be working efficiently and will stop producing the necessary amount of chlorine. A good time to check the cells is at the same time you clean the filter. If you notice a buildup on the cells, read the instructions in the owner's manual on how to clean the salt cells.

Run Time - you can get all four of the above tips correct, but if you get this one wrong none of them will matter. You must run the pool equipment long enough each day to produce the required amount of chlorine for your pool! Since the salt chlorinator is the only source of chlorine for a salt pool, skimping on this one issue will defeat the whole purpose of a salt system and algae and other pool problems are just around the corner.

The big selling point with salt chlorinated swimming pools is they are "maintenance free" and eliminate the need to add any chemicals to your pool. This simply isn't true. All parameters of the pool water should still be tested on at least a weekly basis and all other aspects of taking care of the swimming pool don't go away either. Without the proper care and maintenance of a salt water pool, just like a conventional pool, it can quickly turn into more than a handful of pool problems. But with a little knowledge and a small amount of time, a salt pool offers many advantages and can be well worth the investment.

An excellent and proven salt chlorine generator in today's market is the Hayward Aquarite Salt Chlorine Generator . It is designed to work for all residential pools up to 40,000 gallons.

Up to 15,000 gallons - Aquarite 15K

Up to 25,000 gallons - Aquarite 25K

Up to 40,000 gallons - Aquarite 40K

 

 

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