Any reefers with a pool...salt or regular?

[saltyhog]

We sold the house we raised our kids in (lived there for 24 years). I was tired of maintaining 30 acres and my wife wanted a pool. We started on the pool at the new house in Feb and it got wet in late June.

Questions....if you have a salt water pool what do you use to check your water parameters? I guess I'm OCD but I can't stand the strips, especially for pH. I have a Hanna pH meter and check free chlorine and alkalinity with Hanna checkers. :D Has anyone struggled to keep their pH down with a new gunnite pool? Everytime I turn around pH is back up to 8.3-8.4. I literally am having to put in a gallon of muriatic acid a week.

 

[Cherub]

nice pool!

 

[saltyhog]

Water going in.





Finished!

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[Potatohead]

I honestly didn't know a saltwater swimming pool was a thing, other than cruise ships of course.

 

[saltyhog]

Much less maintenance, The salinity is roughly 1/10th that of NSW. The salt is used to generate chlorine to keep the pool algae free. Never have to buy/use chlorine tablets. Supposedly more comfortable as well.

 

[Reefbuds]

If I had the money to build this pool it would be a reef tank half the size. Just saying.

 

[saltyhog]

If I had the money to build this pool it would be a reef tank half the size. Just saying.

LOL, me too........if it were for me. I use the hot tub and occasionally jump in to check my scuba equipment or swim a few laps. This was mainly for my wife, kids and grandkids. She's in heaven because they come over all the time now. I would love a 10-12' foot tank but I have a pretty nice size tank now and I enjoy making my family happy.

 

[Diesel]

Is this a salt pool if I may ask?

 

[bean2986]

From what I hear, pH upswings are pretty common with saltwater pools. Mine is freshwater and gunnite, so when I have a problem it's because the pH is going too low.

 

[Diesel]

Everytime I turn around pH is back up to 8.3-8.4. I literally am having to put in a gallon of muriatic acid a week.

If it is a salt pool than that's normal cause the ALK cel.
It's less maintenance to at the right chlorine and clean the walls of the pool but testing twice week with a salt pool is normal and that's why MA is only $0.90 wholesale for me as a pool builder.

 

[jpcrash1]

Hi, I am a pool guy. And yes you will always being adding acid to a salt pool. It is normal for a salt pools ph to increase,especially a new one. It is very important to keep ph at good level to keep salt cell from scaling and surface from scaling.

 

[jpcrash1]

A new surface will also cause ph to rise untill it is cured.

 

[saltyhog]

Thanks Diesel and jpcrash1. Yes it's a salt pool. I only have my salt generator running 10% of the time and my Free chlorine is running 2.5-3 by Hanna. Turned it down to 8% tonight. Alkalinity is 119, pH is 7.3 now but it will be back around 8.0 in a few days.

Diesel was that $0.90 a gallon for muriatic acid?! Yikes! I'll have to look but I paid several times that the last time I bought it if I remember correctly!

Did you build the pools in your pictures above Diesel? Those are incredible!

 

[Diesel]

Thanks Diesel and jpcrash1. Yes it's a salt pool. I only have my salt generator running 10% of the time and my Free chlorine is running 2.5-3 by Hanna. Turned it down to 8% tonight. Alkalinity is 119, pH is 7.3 now but it will be back around 8.0 in a few days.

Diesel was that $0.90 a gallon for muriatic acid?! Yikes! I'll have to look but I paid several times that the last time I bought it if I remember correctly!

Did you build the pools in your pictures above Diesel? Those are incredible!

Thank you.
Those are just a few but I build only just a few of these a year.
I'm not your average pool builder.
Mostly Chlorine pools in the south here, Salt has a lot wear on natural stone and equipment as well.
I buy 1000 gallons of MA at the time.

 

[dowsetts101]

Here in OZ most of the home swimming pools are salt water...much nicer than chlorine only in my experience. We installed our pool around 4 years ago and initially I went down the manual testing path.

I lasted a month and then went and purchased a Chemi-gen pool controller to automatically dose acid and control the operation of the chlorination cell.

The chemi-gem is hooked up to a probe and then to a dosing pump to an acid drum.

I top up the acid drum when it runs low...virtually maintenance free...I wouldn't do it any other way.

http://www.poolcontrols.com.au/chemigem/chemigem-domestic-controllers.html

 

[ReeferBob]

I just completed my pool a few weeks ago. It is also saltwater but still running straight chlorine (bleach) since it is in the 30 day break-in period. Did you have a pool-school with your build? High pH is always the case with new plaster and you'll need to monitor daily and add muriatic as needed to keep it down around 7.4. Also buy some baking soda to increase your total alkalinity since that is probably low at this point. I am just about to add my salt. I suggest the below site for your pool needs. It is the best there is. Get a real test kit and toss those test strips. Get this kit.

https://www.troublefreepool.com/forum.php

Here is my pool.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=VFlubTNQa1NURXl5UVVBbnRNdk1DU25NMGV0clFR

 

[saltyhog]

Yeah, not using test strips, they stink. I'm using Hanna checkers for alk, free chlorine and also using their pH meter.

I do have to add alkalinity occasionally after adding muriatic acid a few times. It's currently 120.

Thanks for the link! That looks like a great resource.

 

[ReeferBob]

Yeah, not using test strips, they stink. I'm using Hanna checkers for alk, free chlorine and also using their pH meter.

I do have to add alkalinity occasionally after adding muriatic acid a few times. It's currently 120.

Thanks for the link! That looks like a great resource.

120 is way too high for TA! It should be no higher than 80 for a saltwater pool. You should add more muriatic acid and try to get to 7.0 until it equalizes.

https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/134-recommended-levels

 

[alton]

Wow those are some nice pools. Two of our three kids moved out so the wife decided instead of a new car, she wanted a pool. Of course I get to take care of it, but its not bad the pool manufacture hired someone to come in and show me his process on keeping it perfect. I did find out a robotic cleaner is a must, I would hate to vacuum all the time. I did have an unwanted guest last week.

 

[Greybeard]

Old gunnite chlorine pool here... I'd just as soon fill the darned thing in, maybe build a nice fire pit where it is. Maintenance, labor and costs just don't make sense for me, since I don't use it. Still, the kids and grandkids like it, and probably visit more often because it's here. That makes it worth while, I suppose.

I've looked into going salt with it, but everyone I've asked tells me that the low circulation rate of my old (1972) pool in comparison to today's pools, just doesn't work with a salt system.

Now... the hot tub. That, I use. Every night, when it's cool enough outside.