How Much Pool Salt Do I Need

Q: How Much Salt Do I Need For A Salt Water Pool

The amount of salt you need will vary for each salt generator and will also be dependent on your pool size in gallons.

But in general, adding 8 lbs of pool salt raises the level by 1,000 ppm per 10,000 gallons of water.

So, if you have a 20,000 gallon pool, you would probably need about 12 40 lb bags of salt to get it to the recommended 3,000 ppm level.

Of course, that assumes you are starting from zero, which most new pools will be at.

How To Dilute Your Saltwater Pool

For the times where youve made a calculation error and the pool has too much salt, there is only one way to reduce it through dilution.

Diluting pool water is a bit of a pain, but you should only ever do partial draining of the pool. If you take out too much water, you run the risk of having the pool pop up out of the ground.

Heres how to do it:

Salt Water Pool Maintenance

Here is more of our research to help you confidently maintain your salt water pool.

• Saltwater pool maintenance guide. We go through the basics of keeping your pool in pristine condition.
• Pool salt options. Dont know what kind of pool salt to buy? Read this guide.
• Salt chlorine generators guide. Everything you need to know about this critical piece of equipment for your pool.

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Determine Pool Size & Quantity Of Salt Needed The Next Step Is Figuring Out How Many Gallons Of Water Are In Your Pool If Youre Not Sure You Can Use The Following Formulas To Calculate An Estimate Depending On The Shape Of Your Pool

For this example, our goal salinity is 3500 ppm and the pool has zero existing salinity. In that case, Youll need to add 30 lb of salt for every 1000 gallons of water.

Therefore, if you have a 20,000 gallon pool and want to determine how much salt youll need to buy, you would use the formula 30/1,000 x 20,000, which equals 600. Meaning, the pool would require approximately 600 lb of salt.

So, youve installed your saltwater system or youre in the process of buying all your materials for your installation, and now its time to buy the most important aspect- the salt itself!

You can find pool salt and water softener salt at any big-box, home improvement or pool store , but if youre looking to save even more money, plain regular water softener salt is less expensive.

Its virtually the exact same thing, and ranges from around $5-$7 for a 40 lb bag- which is the typical size youll find at most stores! Using our previous example, we would need to buy about 15 bags of salt for the 20,000 gallon pool.

A few extra tips:

• Always use non-iodized salt that is at least 99.8% pure sodium chloride

• Avoid any salt with anti-caking agents

• Do not get anything that has any special formula additives , as they can cause staining in your pool.

Adding the Salt

So instead, add most of what you calculated for salt instead, just in case there was a margin of error in your pool size measurements. Let the salt dissolve and then retest your salt level before adding the last of your salt.

How Much Salt To Add To Your Swimming Pool

If youre asking this question, youve probably already invested in a salt chlorine generator. Once you familiarize yourself with your new chlorinator youll enjoy higher water quality with less effort. Don’t have a salt chlorine generator yet? , or , then return to this page to determine the amount of salt you require.

How Much Salt Do You Need?

The salt level required to maintain a safe, salt water chlorinated pool is between 2500 and 3500 PPM . The human tongue cannot taste salt until the parts per million of salt is close to 5000, and the ocean has a salt content of approximately 40,000 parts per million. To identify how much salt you should add to your pool, you first need to…

Size Your Pool

To size your pool in gallons , take the area of the pool and multiply it by the average depth , then, multiply that number by 7.48.

G = A x AD x 7.48

To find your average depth , add your deep end and your shallow end measurements, then divide that sum by two.

AD = / 2

The table below will give you an idea of how much salt may be necessary to reach the desired level of 3500 ppm.

*Important Note: All pool sizes above are based on a constant depth and shape the actual amount of salt required may vary.

Where to Find Pool Salt

Add Salt to Your Pool in Four Simple Steps

Now that youve gathered all the relevant information, its time to start adding the salt to your pool.

Step 1. Measuring the Current Salt Level

Orders

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How Does Pool Salt Work How Much Salt To Add To Pool

2021-06-04

Adding salt to water is a commonly used method for disinfection of swimming pools. Furthermore, salt water pool treatment stands out with its numerous advantages compared to other disinfection methods.

In this article, we will explain the specifics of pool disinfection with salt, and theideal salt level for the pool.

Do I Need To Shock My Pool When I First Fill It

At first youll add chlorine in whats called shock levels an extra heavy dose to start your pool off. A shock dose coupled with extra circulation will ensure that all the water gets treated properly in the beginning. Now its time to keep the water hardness in check, otherwise known as alkalinity.

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Chemicals For A Salt Water Pool

As previously mentioned, saltwater pools are not chlorine-free, nor are they chemical-free. A salt water pool is a chlorinated pool, with an alternative delivery system. As such, you will still need other pool chemicals when using a salt chlorine generator.

Sanitizers: Most of your sanitation will be taken care of with your chlorine generator. It can be helpful however, to keep a small supply of chlorine tabs or granular chlorine, in the event of problems with the pump, filter, plumbing or the salt cell itself. Salt pool owners also often use granular pool shock for oxidation, algae removal or super-chlorination. Many chlorine generators have a Shock feature, but they are slow to act, and using it creates a heavy demand on the salt cell, and may shorten the lifespan.

Balancers: Just like any pool, you need to pay close attention to pH, Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness and Cyanuric Acid levels in the pool. Chlorine-tablet treated pools tend to gravitate towards the low end of the pH and Alkalinity scale, while salt water pools tend to slowly rise in pH level, requiring pH reducer. Salt water pools are most stable with a pH of 7.6, and Alkalinity of 70-80 ppm. A stabilizer level of 50-80 ppm is recommended by most salt system manufacturers. High calcium hardness levels have no effect on salt water pools, but a level of 180-200 ppm may result in less scale on the salt cell plates.

Taking Care Of A Saltwater Pool

Now that you know how to create a saltwater pool, it’s vital to talk about maintenance. It might please some users to know that maintaining saltwater pools is quite similar to taking care of chlorine-tablet pools. While the pool system controls the chlorine level, you need to conduct regular checks, ensuring that everything is in working order.

So, what are some of the things that you need to do? Firstly, the salt cell is the most vital component of the pool that needs regular maintenance. Since it uses electricity, the charged plates attract calcium which starts depositing on the plate surface.

Over time if the amount of calcium increases, chlorine production drops, thereby damaging the salt cell. As a result, youll need to clean the cell regularly using a slightly acidic solution for optimum results.

Users can also install a self-cleaning in-ground salt system that works by reversing the polarity of the plates. Meaning, itll be easier to reduce calcium deposition while the system preserves the integrity of various components.

Also, people who have additional pool features like ladders and pool lights need to be vigilant of the corrosive properties of salt. Remember how we spoke about adding the right amount of salt? Well, if you don’t, the corrosive nature tends to erode stainless steel surfaces leading to injuries.

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What Is A Salt Water Pool

Most people think of the ocean when they think of salt water, but a salt water swimming pool is not the same thing.

In other words, when you get a mouth full of ocean water, you can taste the salt.

But in the world of swimming pools, a salt water pool is one that uses a salt chlorine generator instead of traditional chlorine for sanitizing. This means that the pool is still chlorinated, just with a different type of chlorine.

The way the salt generator works is by creating its own chlorine with an electrical reaction between the salt in the salt cell and the electrode in the generator.

So, instead of pouring chlorine into your pool or adding tablets, the generator is constantly creating it.

And if it’s working right, it will also monitor the levels you set it to in order to keep your sanitizer levels balanced.

When And How Much Pool Salt To Add To My Pool

If you have a salt chlorine generator that does not have a mechanism to tell you when and how much salt to add to the water, you will need some salt water test strips. Salt water test strips allow you to measure the sodium chloride level in your water. You will need to use the test strips to determine when and how much salt to add.

A few things to remember:

• When adding salt to the pool, make sure to turn off the salt chlorine generator but leave the pool pump on to distribute the salt.
• Add pool salt around the deep end to have it circulate through the main drain. Brush the salt towards the main drain. The salt should be dissolved within 24 hours.
• After the salt dissolves, the salt chlorine generator can be started. If you dont have any test strips available, you can potentially take a sample of your water to the nearest pool store.

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How To Calculate The Amount Of Salt Needed

You first need to obtain the volume of your swimming pool before calculating the amount of salt you need to add to it. Most pools will be either rectangular, circular or square and with one shallow end and a deep end as well. If the pool is a single depth, youd simply calculate the volume with the formulae for each shape. The formulae are as follows:

• Circular pool: V= 3.142 x r2 x h
• Rectangular pool: V= L xW x H
• Square pool: V= L3

For pools with shallow and deep ends, you need a specific pool volume calculator such as this one. This formula entails entering the shape, length, width, radius, shallow and deep end heights and then clicking CALCULATE to get the desired volume. The following table also shows the approximate volumes for different types of swimming pools:

For the amount of salt needed, you need a pool salinity calculator which uses the pool volume in gallons, the current salt amount in ppm, and the desired salt in ppm. The desired salt can be the ideal amount at 3200 ppm. If the salt is too low, itll show you the amount of salt needed to be added. On the other hand, if the water is too concentrated with salt, itll show you the amount of water needed to be replaced.

Besides the formulae used above, you can use the following table to add salt to your pool:

The top row shows the volumes of swimming pools while the leftmost column shows the current sat level in the swimming pool.

If The Level Is Low Determine The Number Of Gallons In The Pool And Add Salt According To The Chart Below

How much salt to add to my pool calculator. How much salt do i add to a salt water pool? Use the calculator below to calculate the salinity of your pool. All you need to do is plug in your pool volume and your current salt levels and hit calculate..

Pool 9 pool cleaning supplies you absolutely need. You should always exercise caution when adding salt directly to an aquarium: Pool volume if pool size = 10m long x 4m wide x average depth of 1.5m, volume = 10 x 4 x 1.5 = 60m³.

The amount of pool pro salt needed for your salt chlorinator to produce sufficient chlorine varies, depending on the type of chlorinator. Residential pool pump energy savings calculator Set the current salt level slider to match your pools current salinity reading.

Heres how to do it: How much does a 12×24 inground pool cost. Like i mentioned above, you either add baking soda or muriatic acid to raise or lower your pools total alkalinity level.

You can determine how much salt to add by taking your fingers, one for current salt level and one for pool size, and moving it across the table until they touch or intersect. This calculator estimates the weight and volume of salt required to increase salinity to a target level. Adding salt to a swimming pool is pretty much as easy as it sounds, but there are a few nuances to be aware of.

How to add salt to your saltwater pool. Calculate what chemicals to add. Pool calculator and other related tools.

How much salt do you add?

Pool Salt Calculator

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Are Saltwater Pools Costly

We’ve covered several aspects, but before wrapping up, it’s critical to discuss the cost of having a saltwater pool. Although the difference in price with chlorine-tablet pools is negligible, saltwater pools tend to be more expensive on account of their many components.

The price of chlorine generators can vary from $250-1,250 while replacement salt cells don’t come cheap either. If your salt cell malfunctions, it might cost up to half or even more than the total cost of the pool to change the metal plates.

Plus, you need to factor in the expense of salt lost due to backwashing, splash out, and reduced water levels. To counter this, most people use annual boosters, bought separately.

On top of that, some components have a short lifespan of 3-5 years, after which it’s essential to make changes. So, you need to have a flexible budget to enjoy the comforts of a saltwater pool.

What Should My Salt Chlorinator Be Set At

We suggest you start your salt chlorine generator at 50 percent output and run it for a couple of days, then check the chlorine level. In a balanced pool, a good chlorine level is 1-3 parts per million. If your chlorine levels are low, you can raise the percentage, and if its high you can lower the percentage.

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Get Your Current Salt Level

First things first, you need to test your pool water for its current salt level. This can be done easily with specialized salt test strips, a saltwater liquid test kit, or with a digital tester that measures for salinity.

The best way to test is by dunking a glass of water elbow deep in the deep end of your pool. You can then take the water sample and subject it to whichever testing method you prefer.

For pinpoint accuracy, you may even want to bring the sample to a pool shop where they can measure the salt level .

Converting Your Pool To Salt Water

If you do decide to convert your pool to a salt water system, there are some basic things that will help you out.

For example, choose your salt water generator based on cost and pool size. These babies can get expensive, so dont go overboard with the biggest one when a smaller model will serve your purposes.

Make the decision upfront as to whether you’ll be installing the system yourself or hiring a professional.

Read up on exactly how its done and decide whether or not you have the time, patience and willingness to learn to get the job done right.

If you think you need a professional, get estimates and include that in your financial decision.

Know that you’ll sometimes still have to use regular chlorine.

While salt chlorinators do usually have a super chlorinate function that will give it a boost, its not a substitute for pool shock.

Usually, your pool will still need to be shocked at least once a month to keep algae at bay.

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