These days, you may often hear saltwater pools which literally use salt to sanitize it. But don’t worry, the water won’t be salty at all since the level is only 3000 to 3500 ppm (compared to the ocean which is around 50,000 ppm). Basically, you just need a drop of saltwater to add to your swimming pool.

So what makes saltwater better than the one which uses common chlorine sanitizer? Well, as natural material salt is more harmless than chlorine. It works just as great as chlorine without any risk of harming your skin, linens, and the pool itself.

Moreover, the pool which uses saltwater generator feels much silkier which makes it way more enjoyable. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to choose the saltwater swimming pool.

However, you may need to maintain the saltwater pool more difficult than the one with common chlorine. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t do it all by yourself or you have to spend a lot. The maintenance is totally worth the benefits that you will get.

This tutorial taken from divesanddollar.com on how to maintain a saltwater pool below will guide you to maintain the pool in a very convenient way.

How to Maintain a Saltwater Pool – Simple Tutorial

As has been mentioned above, you have to maintain a saltwater swimming pool on a regular basis. It should be performed daily, weekly, monthly, and every three months.

Daily Maintenance

Though it sounds quite tricky that you have to maintain a saltwater pool daily, it’s a very important step to do. The maintenance is so easy though, you just have to take a quit look and remove unnecessary matters on the pool.

Prepare this tool:

• Skimmer

Follow these steps:

• Take off all the leaves and debris that you spot on your pool.
• Make sure that you use the clear skimmer so you won’t leave any debris around the pool.

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Weekly Maintenance

It actually depends on how frequently you use the pool. If you use it often, you may need to clean it at least twice a week.

Prepare these tools:

• Skimmer
• Pool vacuum
• Pool tester strip
• Garden hose

Follow these steps:

• Skim off any debris and leaves before you deep clean the pool.
• If you use a manual pool vacuum, run it for about an hour.
• Check the condition of pump and filter, make sure they work properly.
• Use the water tester strip to check the pH of the pool water is in the ideal level. You can add soda ash if it’s too low and use sodium bicarbonate and muriatic acid to get the balance pH level.
• Clean the filter, pump, and skimmer with a garden hose.

Monthly Maintenance

The monthly maintenance is mainly about checking the substance of the pool water is in ideal range. It maintains the comfort, hygiene, and healthiness of the pool.

Prepare these tools:

• Saltwater test kit
• Pool stabilizer test kit
• Pool calcium test kit

Follow these steps:

• Use the saltwater test kit, make sure that level of the salt is in the ideal range recommended by the manufacturer. You just need to add more salt if it’s lower than the recommendation.
• The ideal level of pool stabilizer is 70 to 80 ppm. Add more water to the pool if it’s too high or add cyanuric acid if it’s too low.
• Make sure that calcium level is 200 to 400 ppm. If it’s too high, it can cause cloudiness and damage the pool.

Three-months Maintenance

This step is recommended by most of the manufacturers which is about inspecting the salt cell. Commonly, the chlorinator will give you alert once every three months.

Prepare these materials:

• Fresh water
• Muriatic acid

Prepare these tools:

• Garden hose
• High-pressure nozzle
• Plastic or wood stick

Follow these steps:

• Detach the salt cell, examine the scale buildup and debris.
• Flush the debris with high-pressure hose. Use the wood stick if you find hard-to-reach scale. If it’s still not clean enough, you can use the acid solution as the last water with 4 : 1 (water : acid) ratio then soak the salt cell  into the solution and rinse with water.
• Reinstall the salt cell when you’re sure that it’s properly cleaned.

So that is the easy tutorial to maintain a saltwater pool that you can try all by yourself!