Pool Salt Calculator – How Much Salt Do I Need for a Pool?
Your swimming pool has various chemicals one of which is chlorine in the form of salt. This salt needs to be at the right amount to keep the water safe from germs, algae and other unwanted microorganisms. When you check for the level of salt and realize it’s either too low or too high, you need to add it or replace water respectively.
To determine the amount of salt your pool presently has, you need a salt chlorine generator or other suitable test kit. This kit is used by testing the amount of salt in a sample of the pool water. It gives the reading in terms of the amount of salt in the water in ppm (parts per million).
In this guide, we focus on the pool salt water testing process, the right amount of salt in the water and how to achieve it if yours isn’t right. Keep in mind that the pool water salt testing procedure should be done at least once every week for a healthy swimming pool.
How much salt does the pool need to have?
The best range for the amount of salt in your swimming is between 2700 and 3400 ppm (parts per million). I I think this range, 3200 ppm is the ideal amount.
Obtaining the ideal amount salt in the swimming pool can be difficult but, as long as it’s within the range above, the pool is safe for use.
How to measure salt levels in a swimming pool
First, you need a sample of the pool water since you can’t directly test it. You can collect the sample with a sterilized container such as a jug or other appropriate container. The sample should be collected early in the morning before the sun comes up and affects the chlorine levels in the sun water. Ideally, collect the sample some distance from the surface and from either end of the pool.
After collecting the sample, use either a salt chlorine generator or salt testing kit to get an accurate measure of the salt in the pool water. Keep in mind that each kit has its own procedures and precautions which are to be adhered to to obtain an accurate reading.
How to adjust the salt level amount in the pool
After obtaining the reading, the next step is to correct the salt amount in the water. If it’s within the 2700 to 3400 ppm range, you don’t need to do anything to the pool. However, if it’s below that, you’ll need to add salt to it to increase its value to within then ideal range. If it’s higher than that, you’ll need to replace the pool water.
How to calculate the amount of salt needed
You first need to obtain the volume of your swimming pool before calculating the amount of salt you need to add to it. Most pools will be either rectangular, circular or square and with one shallow end and a deep end as well. If the pool is a single depth, you’d simply calculate the volume with the formulae for each shape. The formulae are as follows:
- Circular pool: V= 3.142 x r2 x h
- Rectangular pool: V= L xW x H
- Square pool: V= L3
For pools with shallow and deep ends, you need a specific pool volume calculator such as this one. This formula entails entering the shape, length, width, radius, shallow and deep end heights and then clicking CALCULATE to get the desired volume. The following table also shows the approximate volumes for different types of swimming pools:
Liters (pool size in meters) | Gallons (pool size in feet) | |
Rectangular | Length x width x average depth x 1000 | Length x width d average depth x 7.5 |
Round | Diameter x diameter x average depth x 785 | Diameter x diameter x average depth x 5.9 |
Oval | Length c width x average depth x 893 | Length c width x average depth x 6.7 |
For the amount of salt needed, you need a pool salinity calculator which uses the pool volume in gallons, the current salt amount in ppm, and the desired salt in ppm. The desired salt can be the ideal amount at 3200 ppm. If the salt is too low, it’ll show you the amount of salt needed to be added. On the other hand, if the water is too concentrated with salt, it’ll show you the amount of water needed to be replaced.
Besides the formulae used above, you can use the following table to add salt to your pool:
Current salt level (ppm)/ Pool Volume in gallons | 8,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 | 14,000 | 16,000 | 18,000 | 20,000 | 22,000 | 24,000 | 26,000 | 28,000 | 30,000 | 32,000 | 34,000 | 36,000 | 38,000 | 40,000 |
0 | 213 | 267 | 320 | 373 | 427 | 480 | 533 | 587 | 640 | 693 | 747 | 800 | 853 | 907 | 960 | 1,013 | 1,067 |
200 | 200 | 250 | 300 | 350 | 400 | 450 | 500 | 550 | 600 | 650 | 700 | 750 | 800 | 850 | 900 | 950 | 1,000 |
400 | 187 | 233 | 280 | 327 | 373 | 420 | 467 | 513 | 560 | 607 | 653 | 700 | 747 | 793 | 840 | 887 | 933 |
600 | 173 | 217 | 260 | 303 | 347 | 390 | 433 | 477 | 520 | 563 | 607 | 650 | 693 | 737 | 780 | 823 | 867 |
800 | 160 | 200 | 240 | 280 | 320 | 360 | 400 | 440 | 480 | 520 | 560 | 600 | 640 | 680 | 720 | 760 | 800 |
1000 | 147 | 183 | 220 | 257 | 293 | 330 | 367 | 403 | 440 | 477 | 513 | 550 | 587 | 623 | 660 | 697 | 733 |
1200 | 133 | 167 | 200 | 233 | 267 | 300 | 333 | 367 | 400 | 433 | 467 | 500 | 533 | 567 | 600 | 633 | 667 |
1400 | 120 | 150 | 180 | 210 | 240 | 270 | 300 | 330 | 360 | 390 | 420 | 450 | 480 | 510 | 540 | 570 | 600 |
1600 | 107 | 133 | 160 | 187 | 213 | 240 | 267 | 293 | 320 | 347 | 373 | 400 | 427 | 453 | 480 | 507 | 533 |
1800 | 93 | 117 | 140 | 163 | 187 | 210 | 233 | 257 | 280 | 303 | 327 | 350 | 373 | 397 | 420 | 443 | 467 |
2000 | 80 | 100 | 120 | 140 | 160 | 180 | 200 | 220 | 240 | 270 | 280 | 300 | 320 | 340 | 360 | 380 | 400 |
2200 | 67 | 83 | 100 | 117 | 133 | 150 | 167 | 183 | 200 | 217 | 233 | 250 | 267 | 283 | 300 | 317 | 333 |
2400 | 53 | 67 | 80 | 93 | 107 | 120 | 133 | 147 | 160 | 173 | 187 | 200 | 213 | 227 | 240 | 253 | 267 |
2600 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 100 | 110 | 120 | 130 | 140 | 150 | 160 | 170 | 180 | 190 | 200 |
2800 | 27 | 33 | 40 | 47 | 53 | 60 | 67 | 73 | 80 | 87 | 93 | 100 | 107 | 113 | 120 | 127 | 133 |
3000 | 13 | 17 | 20 | 23 | 27 | 30 | 33 | 37 | 40 | 43 | 47 | 50 | 53 | 57 | 60 | 63 | 67 |
3200 | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal | Ideal |
3400 | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok | Ok |
3600+ | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute | Dilute |
The top row shows the volumes of swimming pools while the leftmost column shows the current sat level in the swimming pool.
So, if you have the volume of the pool and the current salt value of the water, you can easily find the salt needed to be added to the water by finding the figure that connects the two. For example, if your pool is 12,000 gallons large and it’s current salt value is 600 ppm, you need to add 260 ppm of salt to reach 3200 ppm of salt.
How often should I add Salt to my Pool?
There is not set timeline to add salt to your pool. Rather, only add it or dilute the water when the amount is too high or too low respectively.