Pool Maintenance Tasks Reducing the Salt Level in Your Pool

With the uptick in popularity of salt water pool systems, more questions are surfacing about how these pools should be maintained.

One of the more common questions about salt water pool maintenance is how to reduce the level of salt in the water. Typically, this question will arise when a new pool owner or someone who has recently switched to a salt water pool has overestimated the size of the pool and has added too much salt.

The perfect salt level for swimming pool is 2500 ppm to 4000 ppm. An excessively salted pool will by and large not be a significant issue, yet at levels more than 5500 ppm there might be consumption harm to a portion of the metallic gear. Moreover, some salt water generators require the water to be at 3000 to 4000 ppm and may not work effectively outside of their given range.

As always, we recommend hiring a professional pool company to provide regular service; this will ensure that your pool is always properly cleaned, tested and maintained. If you have tested the salt water levels and there is too much salt in your pool, here’s what you need to know.

Dilute the Pool… if you Can

If the pool isn’t full, go ahead and add fresh water from a garden hose. Once the water has been added, use the salt test strip to see if the salt water level is acceptable. Repeat as needed. Of course, if the pool is already full you’ll need to drain it some first.

Evaporation is not the Answer

Metals and minerals do not evaporate with the water. So, if you sit around and wait for your pool water to evaporate, the salt concentration will actually be increasing. Adding water back in after it has evaporated will offset this to a degree, but you won’t be significantly diluting the water this way.

Drain and Refill

Try draining about six inches of water from the pool and refilling with fresh water. Turn on the pool pump to circulate the water, and retest the salt levels. If you’re still at a higher salt level than you prefer, drain another six inches and refill with fresh water again. This is a trial and error approach; calculate the exact amount to be drained involves determining what fraction of the pool’s water should be drained, calculating the average depth and using this to arrive at a volume of water to be drained.