Answer: Check and ensure that the level of salinity in your pool is between 2500 - 3500 ppm for chlorine to be sufficient in your water. Refill with fresh water and test for salinity, repeat the process once or twice till you get your salinity within the range and balance your chemicals starting with pH and TA, then FC and Cyanuric acid then all other chemicals in your water. The second issue is Calcium buildup on the salt cell, make sure that your salt cell has no calcium building completely because this will impede the functioning of your cell in producing enough chlorine. Many pools are treated with SC-1000 weekly simply as a preventative maintenance dose to help keep calcium in solution, especially salt pools. Alternatively, you can shut your salt generator for some time and use tablet chlorine (has Cyanuric acid) to sanitize your pool, tablet chlorine will deposit Cyanuric acid into your pool then you can put your salt generator on after getting some Cyanuric acid level enough to stabilize your free chlorine. You need to ensure that all chemicals are balanced all the time to avoid cloudy water and growth of algae. Thanks! The second cause might be a lot of accumulated urine in your pool water. The harder you hit the algae in your first shock the better. Yes, saltwater pools are chlorine pools. Pools have literally had to cut open their filters and use jackhammers to get the sand out because of calcium phosphate formation in the filters. As you know, we are a manufacturer of a phosphate remover. Indeed, high phosphates do contribute to added chlorine demand, which is perhaps what people notice...but the phosphates themselves do not have anything to do with salt. Question: My husband uses bath soap in the pool after working in the yard. See the photo of the sand-boulders that were removed from a commercial sand filter only after being broken apart by a jackhammer. Question: How do I decrease the chlorine level in our salt water pool? All information provided is intended for educational purposes and is not implied to replace consultation with a qualified pool professional. I just opened my pool and added the recommended salt and it turned cloudy and my sand filter has been running and is still cloudy do I need to check chemical balances or should I shock it sand filter hasn’t been running for 24 hours yet before I start up the salt system, how to correct FCL in a saltwater swimming pool, Hayward's AQR15 AquaRite Salt Chlorinator. Located in NSW (Australia). Copper can get into your pool if you use a Well fill water or tap water with copper for your pool, or using hair products with copper. Barack James (author) from Green City in the Sun on July 12, 2020: My salt water is just 4000 gallons.Is it correct that it requires 3500 ppm of salt? Does the type of salt affect water quality? Free chlorine should be 3ppm, which should also be the value of total chlorine and that means your combined chlorine is always 0ppm for a well maintained swimming pool. Pool is used primarily for private Learn-to-Swim School and operates year round with heater. But we agree it cannot hurt, and it can help prevent calcium phosphate from forming. Answer: 4200ppm for salinity is too high and this will affect FC and other chemicals if not reduced sooner. Prevention requires an LSI strategy to not only balance the pool today, but for the entire week until the next service visit. Before adding chlorine, get your Cyanuric acid level in water. It eventually dissipates but reappears when I close then open the pool cover. Answer: Unfortunately, there is no alternative to Cyanuric acid. Scale Problems In Saltwater Pools. -Raise FC sodium hydrochlorite liquid chlorine to 2ppm and watch if more stains occur. Electrochemical Induced Calcium Phosphate Precipitation: Importance of Local pH. "It's the source of a phenomenon that many pool owners and service techs have noticed over the years, where they observe small white flakes next to the return on a saltwater pool. The major causes of cloudiness are chlorine, pH, Salinity, total alkalinity, cyanuric acid, and calcium hardness. Most saltwater pools do not run the salt chlorine generator 24/7. Why Maintaining A Saltwater Pool Is Different From A Traditional Chlorine Pool TA should be kept between 80 and 120 ppm to help keep pH stable, especially during the rainy season. 39. It is not very common and to cure your pool of this you would need to bring your chlorine level up to very high levels, around 10-20 ppm. Alternatively, you can use head gears when swimming to protect your hair from getting the green tint. Pool not exposed to direct sunlight. Yes, scale is most likely to form immediately after the salt cell and pump shut off. My above ground Saltwater pool (Kayak Pool) is turning green. So we looked into it.3  We have so far concluded that while calcium phosphate might be possible in salt systems, thankfully, it is rarely the case. When all chemicals are balanced and FC stable between 4 - 6 ppm, put on your SWCG and reset recommended percentage setting to maintain ideal FCL. Scale also causes pool finishes to feel rough and appear discolored. The "low Salt light ' is still blinking. Drain some of the water from your pool using a hose or pump. Thirdly, you might be having excess or less chlorine stabilizer (cyanuric acid) in your water, which is always one of the major reasons free chlorine does not hold longer in any pool, the ideal range for Cyanuric acid in order for your FC to hold in saltwater pool is between 60 and 80 ppm but this also depends on the temperature around where you stay, very low temperatures like in Canada needs Cyanuric acid to be around 60 ppm. Additionally, if you're relying on your salt chlorine generator to handle all the non-living organics in the pool, there's a good chance it will eventually fall short. And while this can help prevent scale, nothing is ever 100% with pool chemistry. And there is one other byproduct of this electrolysis reaction that is not shown in the formula: heat. Just like eliminating chloramine and algae, you need to shut down your SWCG and shock your saltwater pool manually using harsh chlorine in order to get rid of ammonia in your swimming pool. Use metal removers like Metal Magic to remove copper through your pool filter. There are three possibilities of what the white flakes are. Taliyajking@gmail.com. Also, make sure your chemicals in the pool are all balanced, especially pH, TA, and calcium hardness as these may affect salinity and free chlorine production levels. The flakes occur because salt chlorine generators create byproducts (heat and a high pH) that lead to scale formation in the salt cell. Question: The salinity level of my saltwater pool goes from 3200ppm to as low as 2200ppm by the end of the day. -Put your filter on circulation and Add ascorbic acid targeting stain-affected areas, if the stain is not all gone in 30 minutes, add more ascorbic acid, repeat until you see no more stains. What you need to know is chlorine gas is created by electrolysis through saltwater (brine), and that chlorine gas dissolves in water. Please help!!! al.. 2017. If you have more questions, feel free to contact us. There is no huge difference between a salt water pool and swimming pool with regular chlorine. Scaling starts out just looking a little like white foam around the water line.. That foamy looking white … Alternatively, your pump runtime might also be high and you may need to reduce your pumps runtime alongside percentage settings to lower chlorine production faster. This not only maximizes chlorine production, it also maximizes heat and the production of high-pH sodium hydroxide. Question: The salt level on my display says my pool is at 3900 ppm, and the stick is reading low free chlorine and total chlorine, as well as pH. Dead algae turns gray as it dies and must be removed from the water through filtration. Using a metal like iron, for example, would require much higher salt levels in order to produce chlorine. But also, stability of chlorine level will depend on readings of other chemicals especially the pH, Cyanuric acid, TA, and calcium hardness. The process of eliminating algae is not a one day venture, but can take longer depending how frequent you add chlorine. If it's chlorine pool avoid calcium hypochlorite shocks and use Sodium Hypochlorite(liquid chlorine) to sanitize your pool. To avoid escalating Cyanuric acid levels in your pool, avoid using stabilized chlorine-like dichlor and tablet chlorine to sanitize your pool, but use liquid chlorine(Sodium Hypochlorite). Barack James (author) from Green City in the Sun on April 06, 2019: Hello Kings, I recommend using a better test kit like Taylor Technologies test kit or Lamotte ColorQ Pro test kit for more accurate readings and best results. Question: Why is my saltwater pool's pH level always high even if I add pH reducer? In most cases, balancing pH and TA in both saltwater and chlorine-based pool is tricky and the only way is by first reducing both chemicals using muriatic acid and then raising pH through aeration to get the correct balance. Answer: Seems your you have a high percentage settings in your Chlorine Generator, remember the higher than percentage setting in your chlorine generator the more chlorine it will produce and the higher your FC level will be in your saltwater pool. © Copyright 2020, Pure Planet Science & Technology, Inc. CE-Clarifier: Chitosan Clarifier + Enzyme, Calculadora de Dosis para Albercas de Orenda, How to get rid of flakes in a saltwater pool, How to prevent flakes in a saltwater pool, LSI Balance and Calcium Management (Pillar 1), scale is most likely to form immediately after the salt cell and pump shut off, How to Avoid Salt Pool Maintenance Issues, Calcium phosphate is more likely to be found in a heater, chlorine is not really designed to remove the oxidant demand, reduce the oils and other non-living organics, Electrochemical Induced Calcium Phosphate Precipitation: Importance of Local pH, FILMTEC Membranes Water Chemsitry and Pre-treatment: Calcium Phosphate Scale Prevention, Flush out and cool the salt cell with circulation. If you have a saltwater pool and it's … Electrolysis has been around for over 100 years. Also, the amount of cyanuric acid you need will depend on the amount of free available chlorine. Add sufficient muriatic acid to a bucket of water: Avoid too much acid, as it may reduce your cell life (about 6 oz of muriatic acid per quarter bucket of water is fine). Namely, salt cells generate heat and a high pH byproduct. We have 2 yr old, outdoor, pebblecrete pool holding 20000 litres. We have seen calcium phosphate in commercial filters and heaters before...it's like concrete. Also, try cleaning the salt cell, it might be dirty and therefore cannot produce enough chlorine. Is the Clorox pool salt bad or am I missing something. Barack James (author) from Green City in the Sun on May 29, 2020: These could be calcium buildup coming up as a result of high Calcium or salinity levels in your pool water. It also shows little white flakes on the surface sometimes as well. To the chemists reading this, we're just making this distinction for simplicity's sake. Chlorine might be reading low even though salinity is high because of a faulty or dirty salt cell that needs some repair or cleaning respectively. Remember to be very careful when using tablet chlorine since you can't lower the cyanuric acid level unless you drain and refill part of your swimming pool water. Sure, it's possible to have calcium phosphate if you have levels high enough, but it's rare. Do you have Saltwater pool? In that small chamber, a very high pH sodium hydroxide is formed on the cathodes, which raises the LSI in the immediate area substantially.