Strange action of my salt water pool

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  • Last Post 12 February 2018
dollard posted this 17 December 2017

I have a Hayward Aqua Rite salt generator system. It has worked well for 9 years. Suddenly last month the salt readings on the contol panel started acting odd. They should be in the range of 2700 to 3400 ppm. They jumped to 4200 so I added water to lower the reading. The next day they were 4400. The reading is staying up there regardless if I dump water and add new water. My T cell is 6 months old. The control panel is set right. I got a new mother board for the contol panel. Then it dawned on me that every time I add water I must be adding salt along with it. So I had the pool water and the water that I add tested with an eclectronic TDS meter and with LaMotte test strips.

Salt reading of pool water on Aqua Rite panel-4,400

  "        "        "     "       "     on TDS meter         2,830

  "        "        "     "       "     on test strips           4,000

TDS reading of the water I am adding to the pool-5,100. Is this high level affecting the salt reading on my Aqua Rite panel. Supposedly the Aqua Rite panel and the test strips are measuring salt whereas the TDS meter is reading all disssolve minerals. The water that I add to the pool comes from a well. Is that well suddenly getting saltier. What can I do?    

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InyoRob posted this 18 December 2017

Hello Dollard - Have you tried recalibrating the Aquarite? Check out our guide titled "How To Recalibrate the Salt Level on a Hayward Aquarite".

As far as adding well water, we recommend using hose filter. It's a great way to remove impurities before they enter the pool.

dollard posted this 18 December 2017

Thank you very much for posting that information. I will try it as soon as possible.

dollard posted this 18 December 2017

I tried recalibrating like you said twice today but it did not help. Today I also talked to the makers of the equipment in North Carolina and California but it did not help yet. Maybe tomorrow. It is so frustrating not to find anyone who can help. I am willing to pay but.....

dollard posted this 25 December 2017

I have ordered a meter to check both salt and TDS in my pool and in the water that comes to my house. It should arrive tomorrow. I think the water coming from our communal well is suddenly higher in salt and TDS and that is affecting the operation of my chlorine generator and control panel. I may have to convert my pool back to a regular (vs salt water) pool.

InyoRob posted this 04 January 2018

Hello Dollard - We wanted to follow up on your pool. Were you able to test the well water? What was the conclusion?

dollard posted this 04 January 2018

Thanks for asking. The well water coming to my property tested 440 ppp for salt and 780 ppm for salinity. So when I top up my pool with this water I guess I am adding salt. I am running my pool as a non salt water pool at the moment (the T cell and control panel without electricity). I am goiing to check the salt/salinity of different water suppliers by the truck load. If I can find one with low salt I can use it to get my pool salt down into the range where I can use my T cell. When the rainy season starts in June I will get sufficient fresh water from the rain. Does this sound reasonable? 

amanda007 posted this 12 February 2018

nice thread... Great info... thanks for sharing

dollard posted this 12 February 2018

I bought a salt water meter with which I was able to get my pool runnning porperly again. Part of the problem was the control panel can take up to 2 days to register a change in the salt water level in the pool. Now I can check it anytime.

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