Salted swimming pool

[tontraveller]

Hello

At our condo we not long ago changed not long ago fro chlorinated to salt water pool.

Currently we have difficulties to keep the Ph level in order and the water clear.

Anybody residing in a condo where the salted system works wonders ?

3 Consulted pool companies came up with different solutions..

Thanks for any reply

 

[paahlman]

Increase either or both the salt amount in the pool OR increase the flow of the pump thus resulting in more salt passing the chlorinator. Make sure chlorinator is correct spec according to the size of the pool(often meassuerd in m3 on chlorinators) a "normal" home pool for example of 8x5=40m3. Chlorinators have this in the specs.

[arick]

56 minutes ago, paahlman said:

Increase either or both the salt amount in the pool OR increase the flow of the pump thus resulting in more salt passing the chlorinator. Make sure chlorinator is correct spec according to the size of the pool(often meassuerd in m3 on chlorinators) a "normal" home pool for example of 8x5=40m3. Chlorinators have this in the specs.

My pool is roughly the same size for years we just throw a few scopes of chlorine in every week after cleaning and dump a bag of salt once a month not rocket science but it works 

[1FinickyOne]

I have a private pool and a pool guy who comes in weekly - the water is perfect and clear all the time.. but not in Pattaya 

[AlQaholic]

We switched to salt chlorination a couple of years ago. Never regretted the move, everything works perfectly, because we use a pool maintenance contractor who weekly adjust pH and cleans the system. With salt chlorination, it is very important to add acid to control pH, because the chlorine generation byproduct OH is very high in pH, thus increasing pH constantly. The usual acids used for swimming pools are Muraiatic Acid and Sodium Bisulfate. These can be found in generic pool products such as acidBlue. My recommendation is you hire a competent pool maintenance company.

 

"3 Consulted pool companies came up with different solutions..":

The only solution is to decrease the pH and keep it constant at around 7.4 to 7.6. The three different companies most likely offered different ways to achieve this end result.

[JBChiangRai]

With a saltwater pool the Ph will drift up, you correct it by adding acid, preferably hydrochloric which doesn’t increase any dissolved solids in the pool.

 

If the water is not staying clear I suspect the electric chlorinator is not doing its job, either insufficient salt in the pool, or it’s undersized, or it’s not run long enough.

 

I have built lots of pools and currently maintain 2, I always ignore the sizing  requirements for chlorinators and fit double the recommended size. You need the extra capacity when you have a lot of swimmers and when the house is unoccupied you can save a lot of electric my minimising the pump running time.

 

Bear in mind, sunlight burns off chlorine, so your best time to chlorinate is dusk and if you still have a decent level of chlorine in the pool at dawn, the chlorine did its job overnight. Then you can think about how much to run during the day.

[SunnyinBangrak]

Maybe we are living in the same condo? but our salt pool is a constant headache. Seems every year we must buy a new filter system wasting 30 odd thousand baht. Pool often turns green or murky and pool boys throw a load of chlorine in there to clear it and then the next week they say Oh the filter system broken again. 

 I'd go with a chlorine pool if it were my own.

[crazykopite]

I had a salt pool got fed up with it that I went back to chlorine I put copper sulphate in the pool meaning I don’t need as much clorine I also have a uv light system to kill all bacteria 

[Lacessit]

If you don't measure it, you can't control it. That goes for chlorine AND pH.

A free available chlorine of 0 .2 - 0.5 ppm is ideal, but fairly useless if the pH is above 8.

Copper sulphate has no bactericidal properties, being acidic it will help push pH down. Its real purpose is control of algae. Put too much in, and the hair of all the pool users will turn green.

[thaiowl]

I changed from chlorine to saltwater in 2006. It was a pain in the bum...I went through 3 salt cells and had to put salt in at least once a week. I gave up in 2020 and went back to chlorine.

[samui99]

6 hours ago, paahlman said:

Increase either or both the salt amount in the pool OR increase the flow of the pump thus resulting in more salt passing the chlorinator. Make sure chlorinator is correct spec according to the size of the pool(often meassuerd in m3 on chlorinators) a "normal" home pool for example of 8x5=40m3. Chlorinators have this in the specs.

You need depth as well to get m3

[Peterw42]

OP, you need to understand some of the science behind a saltwater pool. You still have a chlorinated pool, you are just making the chlorine instead of introducing it. Salt is Sodium Chloride, when you pump the water through a chlorinator it creates the chlorine. A chlorinator is metal plates, an anode and cathode with a voltage across them, the voltage creates electrolysis and separates' out the chlorine.

The level of salt needs to be around 10% of seawater, around the salt level of a teardrop, ie: it doesn't sting eyes. The pump/chlorinator need to run at least 12 hours a day, or enough to cycle all of the poolwater through every 1-2 days.

Saltwter pools are often difficult during wet season as the salt is constantly being diluted as the pool fills up and is pumped out.

 

 

[paahlman]

23 hours ago, arick said:

My pool is roughly the same size for years we just throw a few scopes of chlorine in every week after cleaning and dump a bag of salt once a month not rocket science but it works 

correct.. Even with saltwater chlorination it is useful and if not mandatory to now and then "shock chlorinate" it a little bit now and then .. Depending on rain etc.. The weather in other words... Salt should be main source though for the chlorinator to do its work.

 

[paahlman]

17 hours ago, samui99 said:

You need depth as well to get m3

Of course.. of course.... 1.3 meter depth with my example is like you say bigger... equals about 52 m3

[LosLobo]

17 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

OP, you need to understand some of the science behind a saltwater pool. You still have a chlorinated pool, you are just making the chlorine instead of introducing it. Salt is Sodium Chloride, when you pump the water through a chlorinator it creates the chlorine. A chlorinator is metal plates, an anode and cathode with a voltage across them, the voltage creates electrolysis and separates' out the chlorine.

The level of salt needs to be around 10% of seawater, around the salt level of a teardrop, ie: it doesn't sting eyes. The pump/chlorinator need to run at least 12 hours a day, or enough to cycle all of the poolwater through every 1-2 days.

Saltwter pools are often difficult during wet season as the salt is constantly being diluted as the pool fills up and is pumped out.

 

 

Yet tears are 2% salt and seawater is 3.5%.

10% of seawater would be 0.35 %.

[arick]

46 minutes ago, paahlman said:

correct.. Even with saltwater chlorination it is useful and if not mandatory to now and then "shock chlorinate" it a little bit now and then .. Depending on rain etc.. The weather in other words... Salt should be main source though for the chlorinator to do its work.

 

I even put a couple of tablespoons of chlorine in the water tanks for the house. 

[JBChiangRai]

The electronics in a saltwater chlorinator is basically a constant wattage device.  If there is a lot of salt in the pool, the voltage it kicks out will be low, if there is only a little salt in the pool then the voltage it kicks out will be higher, but the energy deployed through the salt cell will be the same.

 

If it is operating within the range it can cope with, adding more salt won't achieve anything and usually they will tell you if they have salt concentrations outside of their operating parameters.

 

Be careful adding Copper Sulphate, it can stain hair green, can stain the pool and if you get low on salt it can plate your chlorinator cell with copper.

 

Occasionally you need to superchlorinate a pool, it's another of the reasons why I use a 50g/hr chlorinator in a small (45m3) pool instead of the recommended 15g/hr.

 

Another tip I would give anyone planning a pool is don't tile it, instead use granite flooring.  Granite will last the life of the pool, doesn't cost any more, never needs regrouting either, just ensure you have a waterproofer in the concrete mix.  Never use marble, it will dissolve.

 

If the electronics in your chlorinator fail and it can't be repaired, you can get another few years life out of the salt cell by using a 1,300 baht adjustable battery charger, the type that does 6, 12, 18 & 24v with a 1-10 adjustable knob.  Just remember to reverse the polarity every week and check the Ph regularly.  2 of my friends are into their 3rd year doing this and I did it with 2 pools for a couple of years until the salt cells started to wear out.  You need to be able to see the salt cell so you can adjust the charger to get an approximation of the chlorine output you had before.

 

 

 

 

[jacko45k]

On 9/29/2022 at 7:40 AM, arick said:

My pool is roughly the same size for years we just throw a few scopes of chlorine in every week after cleaning and dump a bag of salt once a month not rocket science but it works 

Why do you need to add salt if you are adding chlorine directly?

[tontraveller]

Thank you all for the replies...Some very useful

The problem has been solved..!

[jacko45k]

On 9/30/2022 at 7:37 AM, arick said:

I even put a couple of tablespoons of chlorine in the water tanks for the house. 

I do too, but a little less than that..... 

[arick]

23 hours ago, jacko45k said:

I do too, but a little less than that..... 

Yes it's strong but why don't you smell it in the pool when you put so much in it 

[jacko45k]

Just now, arick said:

Yes it's strong but why don't you smell it in the pool when you put so much in it 

Well I control and test the pool to keep it optimum twice a week, but seem to only smell it odd mornings. 

[arick]

Just now, jacko45k said:

Well I control and test the pool to keep it optimum twice a week, but seem to only smell it odd mornings. 

No swimming anyways its been raining every day then proably will get cold 

[PJ71]

1 hour ago, arick said:

No swimming anyways its been raining every day then proably will get cold 

very nice.