Salt Water Chemistry



Salt water pools are very similar to chlorine pools and usually less maintanence to take care of. The chemistry of the water does have some tendancies that are important to watch out for and can easily go unoticed. 

pH:

The pH levels in salt water pools always tend to be on the high side. Motitor this and lower it when it gets above 7.8. Too high of pH is corrossive and can rust all the metals in your pool and equipment. 

Cya: 

Chlorine tablets have stabilizer built into them that gradually keep your Cya level where it needs to be. Since salt pools don't use tablets you'll have to manually add  stabilizer to the pool. Stabilizer protects your chlorine from the sun so if you are struggling to maintain chlorine you should check to make sure your CYA is high enough. If its low it will eat up the chlroine the cell is producing.  Your CYA level should be between ____ & _____, and stabilizer is added through the skimmer. Don't backwash for 24  hours after adding it. 

Calcium Hardness: 

Salt water pools tend to be higher on calcium hardness. If this level is too high, you'll see build up on walls? Pulling from plaster?