Unlike chlorine and other chemicals used to regulate swimming pool sanitation, salt stays in the water and does not need to be replaced. The only time you need to replace salt is when your add or change water. There are steps to take to make sure you maintain the proper levels of salt to keep your pool clean. Most adjustments are made at the start of the season, or the end of the season. Salt water pools save their owners a lot of money in constant chemical additions throughout the swimming season.
Keep your pool free of visible dirt. Use a skimmer, net, and pool vacuum regularly to remove dead insects, leaves, dirt and other debris.
Test for sale and stabilizer levels at least once a week. Salt should be 2500 to 3000 ppm (parts per million) in concentration. That is a very small amount of salt, and salt water pools are still considered fresh water. If your salt levels tend to drop too low frequently, add rock salt to a skimmer to slowly dissolve in the water. The stabilizer should be 60 to 80 ppm to protect the water from sunlight that burns up salt chlorine. Run these tests with the proper testing kits whether your salt water chlorination system lights are indicating low or not.
Adjust the pool filter timer to run longer if the salt dissipates too quickly. It may not be running long enough to send the proper amounts of salt back into the system. The pool filter should always run during the hottest part of the day when sunlight is its most concentrated. Keep the system on from 10 am until 6 pm during the swimming season.
Keep a good pool shock treatment on hand for unforeseen events, or unusual circumstances. Even with a salt water system if your pool is overcome due to unusually heavy use from parties, heavy rain or other unusual circumstances it may need extra help. Adding extra rock salt will improve the salt levels, but it takes the pool time to produce chlorine from the salt so if you want to use the pool right away at safe levels of sanitation you will need to supplement the chlorination with pool shock treatment.
Check the salt cells in the chlorination system if your indicator lights remain on even after adding salt. Soak the cell to remove scale buildup on the plates using an acid preparation made for the specific purpose.
Drain 20 to 25 percent of the pool’s water if there are white flakes floating in the water. The white flakes are calcium deposits and will not harm you. Add fresh water. Retest with salt water test kit. Add the appropriate amount of rock salt. Check cells for calcium or scale buildup. Soak cells in acid preparation if required.
