HOW TO START UP A SALTWATER SWIMMING POOL

2023-03-31

So you're feeling salty, huh? It's actually a good thing! Salt pools offer a ton of benefits including less time spent on maintenance and more time enjoying your pool. Unlike traditional chlorine, salt pools are gentle on eyes, skin, and clothes. They can be harsh on some equipment though so make sure you follow these steps when starting up or converting to a salt pool!

*As with any product, always refer to your salt chlorinator's owner manual for detailed instructions specific to your model and brand.

PRO TIP: Regardless of the type of pool you own the water does not need to be drained, even when converting a chlorine pool to salt pool. This is especially true if you have a vinyl liner pool. We cover the only time you should drain your vinyl pool here.

Step 1. Find your Pool's Gallon Capacity

Find your swimming pool's gallon capacity

The first step regardless of your startup situation is knowing the gallon capacity of your swimming pool. Use our handy dandy calculator to find out how many gallons of water your pool holds.

Step 2. Test & Balance Your Pool's Chemical Levels

Once you know how many gallons of your pool holds it's time to test your water. The amount of water in your pool will help determine how much of each chemical you'll need to add after you've tested the water for it to be properly balanced.

Here's what you'll need to test for and their ideal range:

Alkalinity (80-120ppm)
pH (7.2-7.6)
Chlorine (1-3 ppm)
Cyanuric Acid (50-80 ppm)
Calcium Hardness (200-400 ppm)
Metals (0)
Salt (per chlorinator's manual, typically around 3200 ppm)

Step 3. Add Salt to Your Pool

Every salt chlorinator has a suggested range for salt so check your manual to make sure you the best dose for your pool. We'll be using the average salt level required which of 3200 ppm.

Make sure you are using the proper kind of salt for your pool, i.e. Sodium Chloride Salt that is at the very least 99% pure.

Use the below chart to see how many lbs of salt needs to be added to your pool based on the current salt ppm and the gallons of water in your pool. Salt is typically available in 40lbs bags.

To add the salt, pour a few bags directly into your pool at a time. Then use your pool brush to move the water around and help kick up any salt sitting on the bottom to help disolve the mixture. Once you start getting close to the final number of bags recommended, go ahead and test your water's salt levels. You can always add more but the only to remove salt is to add more water. If your salt levels are too hight this could result in needing to drain your pool several inches before filling it up again with fresh water. Start low and build your salt level.

How much salt o I need to add to my pool