Salt FAQs

Electronic chlorinators convert salt into chlorine and therefore it is very important to maintain the proper salt level in the pool for optimal operation.

Type of Salt
You can use any salt that is at least 99.0% pure. Do NOT use rock salt or any salt that has more than 1% of additives such as "anti-caking agents", "yellow prussiate of soda", or "sodium ferrocyanide". These compounds may cause staining of the pool.

Many pool stores now sell salt for use with electronic chlorinators. If your pool store doesn't stock this salt then you may use "solar salt" that is used in home water softeners and is available in home improvement stores and other outlets.

Determining the amount of salt to add
For existing pools, the first step is to determine the gallons (liters) of water in the pool. If you dont already know how much water is in your pool, you can calculate it with these formulas.

Next, use the appropriate chart below to determine the amount of salt to add based on the current salt level and the size of your pool:

Addition Chart -US units.
Salt Addition Chart -Metric units.

Whenever you need to add salt, you will probably have to add some stabilizer (cyanuric acid) as well.

How to add salt to the pool
Never add salt in the pool's skimmer--you can damage the pump impelller. Dump the bag of salt directly into the pool. If you are adding multiple bags, move over a few feet each time you dump an addtional bag. Make sure that the filter pump is running and that the pump is drawing water from the main drain. Since salt water is heavier than fresh water, it will tend to concentrate in the deepest part of the pool until the salt get s evenly distributed by the pool filtration system. Brush the piles of salt around to speed up the dissolving process which , in any case, should not take longer than 45-60 minutes.

Salt Display
The salt display is updated once every 100 minutes and responds slowly to rapid changes in salt level. Because of this and the time it takes for the salt to be evenly distributed in the pool it may take up to 24 hours before the salt display on the chlorinator is correct. Be patient and do not over-react by adding too much salt.