SaltWater Pool - Which meter/tester?

The basics of swimming pool maintenance.
New swimming pool owner's questions.
Help getting started with daily pool care.
User avatar
HardTrance9
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue 29 Sep, 2009 20:46
My Pool: New in managing mostly Salt Water Pools
Location: Cabo, Mexico

SaltWater Pool - Which meter/tester?

Postby HardTrance9 » Fri 02 Oct, 2009 17:06

Hello,

First post over here.

I have been doing some extensive theoretical research on which water testers (electronic/digital) from TDS, Hanna, Extech, etc., could help me out to monitor the basics on salt water pools.

Still don't find which are the different "things" that have to be tested on a normal fresh water pool and a salt water pool.

Also I have read in some places that basically one should test pH, ORP, Minereal/Salinity and Temperature.

But in other places they say it should be: pH, Chlorine, Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness and Temperature.

How to know which to monitor? I leave on the beach (Los Cabos) and most of the pools over here are Salt Water systems.

It wouldn't worth to buy testers, let's say the TDS COM-100 + the TDS ORP-200 to monitor and take care of some salt water pools if they don't measure what I need right?
http://www.tdsmeter.com/products/com100.html
http://www.tdsmeter.com/products/orp200.html

Also I was looking for the Hanna HI93745 which tests CHLORINE, HARDNESS, IRON & pH METER and it is also more expensive as well as the HI 98204 Water Test from Hanna Also (pH/ORP/EC/Temperature in One Unit)
http://www.easymeters.com/

Or any listed here: http://www.easymeters.com/cart/home.php?cat=242

I am not a professional on this. I am starting with this and I am thinking on investing maybe a max. of $200 USD for this. Just need to check that the pools are ok. Also found other testers around $900 or $2,000!

These pools are not used heavily. Are from houses.

If my question has to go in another thread I will gladly move it to where it belongs. Any help will be much appreciated!

Thanks!

Hector


Me...
Swimming Pool Superstar
Swimming Pool Superstar
Posts: 302
Joined: Thu 26 Feb, 2009 11:11

SaltWater Pool - Which meter/tester?

Postby Me... » Sat 03 Oct, 2009 08:23

pH - You want to keep the pH correct for bather comfort, chlorine effectiveness. Hi or low pH will damage surfaces and equipment.

Free AND Total Chlorine - Free is what we want and you need to measure total so you know how much COMBINED CHLORINE is in the water so you can eliminate it.

Alkalinity - Buffers the pH so it doesn't wander all over the map. Hi or low also damaging to surfaces and equipment.

Calcium Hardness - Again too low of high is damaging. In most cases low levels of something tends to be corrosive and high levels create scale. Soft water also foams much easier.

Cyanuric Acid - Protects the chlorine from the effects of sunlight. Don't have enough in the water and your chlorine consumption will be much higher.

Salt - This is the only one required for SWG pools. You could toss it in any pool if you wanted a saline pool unless maybe you have an Ion system or such. The increased conductivity of the water would make the system very difficult if not impossible to control.
User avatar
HardTrance9
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue 29 Sep, 2009 20:46
My Pool: New in managing mostly Salt Water Pools
Location: Cabo, Mexico

SaltWater Pool - Which meter/tester?

Postby HardTrance9 » Sat 03 Oct, 2009 11:53

Many thanks for the info.

One additional question, the conductivity should be tested for what reasons? Many electronic testers measure this but still can't find why.

:eh:
chem geek
Pool Industry Leader
Pool Industry Leader
Posts: 2381
Joined: Thu 21 Jun, 2007 21:27
Location: San Rafael, California

SaltWater Pool - Which meter/tester?

Postby chem geek » Sat 03 Oct, 2009 20:17

Conductivity testers are used to estimate the Total Dissolved Solids in the water. For saltwater chlorine generator (SWG) pools, most of the TDS (all but around 200 ppm) is sodium chloride salt.
Me...
Swimming Pool Superstar
Swimming Pool Superstar
Posts: 302
Joined: Thu 26 Feb, 2009 11:11

SaltWater Pool - Which meter/tester?

Postby Me... » Mon 05 Oct, 2009 00:04

HardTrance9 wrote:Many thanks for the info.

One additional question, the conductivity should be tested for what reasons? Many electronic testers measure this but still can't find why.

:eh:


Copper/Silver Ion systems have electrodes which lose the Ions by passing current either between 2 electrodes within its cell or from a single electrode to the cell casing itself. They work much better now because Metallurgy has made the electrodes tough enough to better withstand erosion and the systems are much better at controlling low voltage to provide the current. If the water has no TDS there is no current and the system will not work. 3000 or 4000 ppm salt makes it real hard to control the current. They are built to operate in the parameters of normally balanced pool water.
User avatar
HardTrance9
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue 29 Sep, 2009 20:46
My Pool: New in managing mostly Salt Water Pools
Location: Cabo, Mexico

SaltWater Pool - Which meter/tester?

Postby HardTrance9 » Wed 07 Oct, 2009 18:46

Many thanks Chem Geek and Me...

I will do some more research on this. The pools & spa's have their interesting ways.... much more than I thought but will do my best to understand..

Saludos!
cabillot
I'm new here
I'm new here
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri 24 Apr, 2009 22:30
My Pool: Really old Inground Cement 25000 gallon
Location: Austin TX

SaltWater Pool - Which meter/tester?

Postby cabillot » Sun 01 Aug, 2010 13:23

I also am looking for a meter that would accurately test and display Pool water results.
I find the test strips to hard to estimate the actual readings.

I have been searching the internet and found some but from past experience there are usually some upsides and some downsides to every product. In this case some of the variables would be ease of use, accuracy and so forth.

Maybe I misunderstood the purpose of the post but the response had nothing to do with what meters are accurate, easy to use, etc. The response covers what should be measured. I have done research on what needs to be measured and that is a different subject.

I am interested in other pool owners or pool maintenance workers who use meters to test the pool chemicals and which meter they prefer or dislike and the reasons why.

Is there anyone out there using meters and would like to share their opinions ??

Return to “Basics for New Pool Owners”

Who is online at the Pool Help Forum

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests