Hi, I just bought an Intex salt water system with copper ionization. My pool guy connected it this year and added 7-8 bags of solar salt. The water was crystal clear in the beginning but started to get cloudy. I called Intex and they told me to add more salt “and not to add any other chemicals, because they were not needed” I talked to a couple of pool contractors and they told me that I DO need to add other chemicals throughout the season to maintain the clarity. HELP !!!

Question:

Hi, I just bought an Intex salt water system with copper ionization. My pool guy connected it this year and added 7-8 bags of solar salt. The water was crystal clear in the beginning but started to get cloudy. I called Intex and they told me to add more salt "and not to add any other chemicals, because they were not needed" I talked to a couple of pool contractors and they told me that I DO need to add other chemicals throughout the season to maintain the clarity. HELP !!!

Answer:

The pool contractors are right, you cannot get by on salt alone. You still need to test and adjust pH and total alkalinity, and it is probable that you will need to shock with a chlorine shock occassionally to help the salt generator to keep up with high demand times (extra swimmers, rain, etc.). The cloudy water can be caused by high or low pH or a lack of free chlorine if the salt generator is not keeping up.