Salt Water Pool Maintenance | How To Maintain A Salt Pool

Salt Water Pool Maintenance

#1 - Take our chemical readings 2x per week during the swimming season, and one time per week on the off season. FC and pH should be tested weekly using strips or test kit. I always use and recommend the Taylor K-2006 kit. FC is 2-4 ppm and the pH between 7.2-7.8

Chlorine can be controlled by your main control box or on the cell, which is labeled "Desired Chlorine %". Most people will find that with a medium usage pool, the % can be dialed to 40 - 50 %, although yours might vary, depending on the usage. pH can be lowered using muriatic acid or dry acid. Salt pools pH will naturally rise, so using a pH increaser might not be needed.

#2 - Test monthly
CYA (stabilizer)
TA
CH
Salt
You can use salt test strips, or take a sample to your pool store for analysis.

#4 - Clean your filter. Cleaning your filter removes the dirt and debris. For sand and DE filters, you'll want to backwash until the water runs clear, which is normally about 1.5-2 minutes, then a rinse for about 10-15 seconds. This rinses the line of any residual dirt.

#5 - Inspect and/or clean the chlorine cell
Inspect the cell every 3 months. This means to open the cell and visually inspect it. In the case of this Hayward model, it says this right on the end cap, in all caps. If you live in a place with hard water, this step is even more important. Also on the control board, it has service light right here, where it says INSPECT CELL.

#6 - Remove debris from the top of the pool. Using a wide mouth leaf rake, remove all debris from the top of the pool. A wide mouth leaf rake makes this much easier, and you'll also get more debris in a shorter amount of time.

#7 - Clean out skimmer and pump pot baskets. Your skimmer basket catches debris floating on top of the pool. This should be cleaned out as needed. It's good practice to inspect it once per week, or more, depending on if you have trees and shrubs around you pool.