The Top-3 Mistakes Salt Pool Owners Make According To The Experts

What To Avoid When You Own A Salt Pool

This is a quick summary of a great piece sharing expert experience with salt pool system maintenance, hosted at Orenda's blog. Orenda is an industry leader in pool water testing and pool maintenance

Maintaining a saltwater pool is typically very straightforward and convenient... unless you make one of these mistakes. If you are unfamiliar, saltwater pools, unlike traditional chlorine pools, use an electronic chlorine generator to produce chlorine from salt added to the water. If you already have a salt pool, click through for a great article based on lots of expert experience. Managing your pool system properly will help ensure a great ownership experience, long term maintenance savings, and consistently enjoyable pool water.

Here is a quick summary of the top-3 issues that, if properly understood, will help maintain water quality and extend the lifespan of salt chlorine generators. Regular testing and proper troubleshooting are emphasized to prevent common problems:

1. Understanding "set-level chlorination" to maintain consistent chlorine levels.

One of the most critical aspects of saltwater pool maintenance is understanding the concept of "set-level chlorination." This term just refers to maintaining a consistent chlorine level in your pool. Unlike manually adding chlorine to a traditional pool, the salt chlorine generator continuously produces chlorine as long as the system is running. However, this doesn't always mean you can set it and forget it. Regularly testing the chlorine levels is essential to ensure they remain within the recommended range, typically between 1-3 ppm (parts per million). If the chlorine levels are too low, your pool can become a breeding ground for bacteria and algae. Conversely, too high chlorine levels can cause skin irritation and damage pool surfaces and equipment - plus you'll wear out your chlorine generator's cell way faster than needed.

2. Avoiding "over-salting" by checking the actual salinity before adding more salt.

A common mistake in saltwater pool maintenance is adding too much salt to the pool. Salt pool systems usually tell you what you need to know, but there are certain situations that if you don't pay attention, you can walk right into a big headache of adding too much salt to the pool. Before adding more salt, always check the current salinity level with a reliable test kit. The ideal salinity range for most saltwater pools is often between 2,800 and 4,000 ppm, depending on the manufacturer's specifications for your salt chlorine generator. Learn how to avoid this common issue, because if you find that your salt level is too high, you'll likely have to go through the pain of draining some of the pool water and refilling (depending on how many extra unnecessary bags of salt were added).

3. Know when to replace the salt cell, and when it needs other attention.

The salt cell is the heart of your salt chlorine generator. It's responsible for converting the dissolved salt into chlorine through a process called electrolysis. Over time, calcium and other minerals can build up on the cell plates. Also over time, the salt cell gets depleted and wears out. Both will cause the chlorine production to stop. One of the most important and valuable parts of salt pool ownership is to know what steps to take in order to determine if your salt cell needs replacing, if it just needs cleaning, or if there is another troubleshooting issue that could be resolved simply so you don't replace the cell unnecessarily.

Read the whole article on the industry-leading Orenda.com

If you're dealing with salt pool problems or encounter issues every few years that you just don't understand, see more and get an expert overview of the most common issues that salt pool owners experience: