Which meter to know when to add salt, a salinity meter or TDS meter?

[Alanso]

Hello guys,

My first post after my introducing post.

I take care of a public salt water pool.
It is a big pool with tiles and sandwash and is about 160m3

Two emaux chlorinators are working together with two sandfilters and two pumps.

After a lot of Googling I found out that the alkalinity is important and that regular PH meters are sold as alkalinity meters.
So far I understood it is not the same.

Correct me if I'm wrong:
You need the alkalinity to be good otherwise the PH will go down after a little rain.
I found an alkalinity meter from Hannah but it is strange that PH meters are sold as alkalinity meters?

Now the same confusing meter is the TDS meter vs the salinity meter.

If I read on google the TDS meter is total desolved solids in watter and not salinity.

My question is: Can I use the TDS meter to see if the pool needs more salt or do I need a salinity meter for that?


Thank you for your time



regards Alan

 

[domct203]

Hello guys,

My first post after my introducing post.

I take care of a public salt water pool.
It is a big pool with tiles and sandwash and is about 160m3

Two emaux chlorinators are working together with two sandfilters and two pumps.

After a lot of Googling I found out that the alkalinity is important and that regular PH meters are sold as alkalinity meters.
So far I understood it is not the same.

Correct me if I'm wrong:
You need the alkalinity to be good otherwise the PH will go down after a little rain.
I found an alkalinity meter from Hannah but it is strange that PH meters are sold as alkalinity meters?

Now the same confusing meter is the TDS meter vs the salinity meter.

If I read on google the TDS meter is total desolved solids in watter and not salinity.

My question is: Can I use the TDS meter to see if the pool needs more salt or do I need a salinity meter for that?


Thank you for your time



regards Alan

Hello Alan, welcome to the forum.

Have you researched the availability of the Taylor K-2006C test kit? Check Amazon or eBay to see if you can have that shipped to Thailand.

The six main items that we check and maintain are (in no specific order):
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

If you are experiencing grout erosion I would suspect low pH, as well as low CH creating aggressive water.

With a SWCG, we normally recommend the Taylor K-1766 Sodium Chloride test kit to check salt levels, but again, being in Thailand, I do not know if that presents an issue for you.

A TDS will measure ALL dissolved solids in the pool, not just the salt.

pH and Alkalinity are not interchangeable.

 

[mknauss]

Re: This is Alan from Thailand, hoping to learn how to take care of salt pool

Welcome to the forum! :handshake:

Alan - I have a Salinity meter from Hayward. It seems to work really well. Though if you are having to constantly adjust your salinity I would suggest the K1766 test kit is better. I do not get any rain and thus never have to add salt unless I drain the pool water.

pH meters are OK. They need to be calibrated with the proper solutions, often.

 

[Alanso]

Re: This is Alan from Thailand, hoping to learn how to take care of salt pool

Welcome to the forum! :handshake:

Alan - I have a Salinity meter from Hayward. It seems to work really well. Though if you are having to constantly adjust your salinity I would suggest the K1766 test kit is better. I do not get any rain and thus never have to add salt unless I drain the pool water.

pH meters are OK. They need to be calibrated with the proper solutions, often.

Thanks for your reply, I will have a look around if it is available here.

- - - Updated - - -

Dom, thanks for your reply

to be sure what is the answer on my question.

Because a TDS meter gives results from more then only salt you can not use it to see if the salt water pool have enough salt?

You can only use a salinity meter to see how much salt is in the pool?

is this correct?

regards Alan

 

[tomfrh]

Hello guys,

My first post after my introducing post.

I take care of a public salt water pool.
It is a big pool with tiles and sandwash and is about 160m3

Two emaux chlorinators are working together with two sandfilters and two pumps.

After a lot of Googling I found out that the alkalinity is important and that regular PH meters are sold as alkalinity meters.
So far I understood it is not the same.

Correct me if I'm wrong:
You need the alkalinity to be good otherwise the PH will go down after a little rain.
I found an alkalinity meter from Hannah but it is strange that PH meters are sold as alkalinity meters?

Now the same confusing meter is the TDS meter vs the salinity meter.

If I read on google the TDS meter is total desolved solids in watter and not salinity.

My question is: Can I use the TDS meter to see if the pool needs more salt or do I need a salinity meter for that?


Thank you for your time



regards Alan

TDS (total dissolved solids) gives you a good approximation of salt because 90%+ of the TDS in a salt pool is salt. HOWEVER, commonly available TDS meters are fairly innaccurate. Most people test salt by chemical test kits, or the pool stores TDS machine.

I personally test mine now with my hydrometer:

DIY hydrometer mark 2

 

[Alanso]

thanks for your clear answer, highly appreciated.