Saltwater pools are growing in popularity across the country, and with good reason. For pool operators and swimmers alike, they offer several benefits–including water that’s softer and gentler on skin, consistent sanitization, simpler maintenance, and the ability to forgo toxic chlorine storage. That said, they do still require upkeep to ensure everything is working properly and pool water is healthy and balanced. That includes regular pool water testing.

best digital pool test kit

Whether you’re new to saltwater pool operations, or simply looking to upgrade your current test kit, in this blog we’ll walk you through some of the fundamentals of saltwater pool maintenance, including the pool chemicals you do still need, why it’s important to regularly test saltwater pools, and our pick for the best pool test kit for saltwater pool maintenance.

Keys to Saltwater Pool Maintenance

The first thing to remember is that saltwater pools are still chlorine pools. Instead of adding chlorine and other traditional pool chemicals to your pool water though, you add salt that then gets converted into hypochlorus acid by the pool’s chlorine generator.

In the water, the hypochlorus acid combines with the sodium in the water, and converts back into salt–making it possible for the salt you add to get constantly recycled throughout the season. This means that you typically will only need to add pool salt (which should be at least 99% pure) to pool water a few times per year: at the beginning of the season, before you open the pool, after a heavy rain, or any time you add fresh water as this will dilute the pool’s salinity.

Test Pool Water Salinity Monthly

In order to effectively sanitize a saltwater pool, you need to maintain salinity levels in the water between 2,700 to 3,400 parts per million (PPM). Typically a 3,200 ppm level is recommended as the ideal, but saltwater generators do vary so it's best to check the manual for the manufacturer’s recommendation.

Once you have established effective salinity levels, you still need to test these levels on a monthly basis to ensure they are holding. As we mentioned, since events like heavy rain can also dilute the pool’s salinity levels, you should test following a rain storm as well. Test manually, using a digital saltwater pool test kit, even if the pool’s saltwater generator provides a salinity reading. You’re testing to double-check and affirm the generator’s reading is correct, and not a false reading.

Test Free Chlorine Levels

Just like with a traditional pool, the pH and free chlorine levels in a saltwater pool are critical to maintain healthy, balanced pool water. And, just as it’s a good idea to test salinity levels, even if the pool’s saltwater generator gives a reading, it’s a good idea to regularly test free chlorine levels. If your saltwater pool is a commercial pool you need to test chlorine levels and water chemistry at least once daily according to your health department's regulations.

A saltwater pool’s free chlorine levels should be maintained at approximately 3 PPM to ensure effective sanitization. Add testing to your maintenance checklist, and adjust your generator accordingly based on the test results.

Balance Saltwater pH

Because saltwater generators naturally produce a high pH, it’s common for the pH in saltwater pools to run a bit higher. However, pH levels that are too high can cause eye and skin irritation, in addition to scaling on pool equipment. This means it’s extra important to test saltwater pools’ pH levels, and adjust accordingly. If they are too high, you can add muriatic acid or pH decreaser to rebalance it.

Test Alkalinity, Calcium, and Stabilizer

There are a few more pool water tests it's important to run at least weekly. The first is alkalinity: alkalinity acts as a natural buffer against a too high saltwater pH–but because the saltwater generator produces a high pH, it gets counteracted. Test alkalinity levels to ensure they stay between 100 and 150 PPM, and add muriatic acid or pH reducer if necessary to balance it.

It’s also important to maintain calcium hardness levels between 200 and 400 PPM, as high calcium hardness levels can lead to the mineral calcifying and causing scale build up or potentially damaging your salt cell. Test calcium hardness, and if necessary, either drain some pool water or add fresh water to dilute it, but make sure the calcium hardness levels in the fill water is lower than the calcium hardness levels in your pool! You should also check the pool’s salt cell for build-up on a quarterly basis, and clean it either with a hose or diluted muriatic acid to remove deposits. Because saltwater pools and generators are already prone to calcium build up, you should also avoid using chlorine shocks with calcium.

Finally, stabilizer levels, also known as cyanuric acid (CYA) levels, need to be checked monthly as well. These levels should be kept between 20 to 50 PPM in order to help maintain chlorine levels.

Maintain Consistent Water Circulation

Saltwater pools do have the benefit of more consistent chlorine and sanitation levels–but to maintain this, it’s critical to maintain water circulation. If water isn’t circulating properly, the pool can see areas with high salt concentrations.

When you’re checking salinity levels, check in multiple areas across the pool water to ensure levels are consistent throughout. Make sure to run the pool pump and filter for at least 8 hours a day to keep water circulating. If you find areas that are more heavily concentrated, aim pool jets towards them to help move water around and dilute them.

The Best Pool Test Kit for Saltwater Pool Maintenance

While saltwater pools are, overall, less maintenance than traditional pools, you still want to ensure testing accuracy for all the same reasons you would a typical chlorine pool. Safe, balanced pool water means safe, healthy, and happy swimmers and less risk for your aquatic business. You are also still required to maintain accurate records to keep your operations Health Department compliant, avoid fines, and have logs available to protect your business in the case of a health or safety incident.

Especially if you operate multiple pools or locations that include both saltwater and traditional chlorine pools, our recommendation for the best pool test kit for saltwater pools–and best overall pool test kit–is the LaMotte WaterLink Spin Touch.

While manual pool test kits invite user error into the testing process, the Spin Touch virtually eliminates every risk for human error by combining a high-quality, automated photometer with pre-measured cartridges for each testing reagent. It also runs all water tests–including salt–in 60 seconds, making it a tremendous time saver with a high level of accuracy.

The WaterLink Spin Touch is also certified to NSF Level 1 accuracy. This certifies that you have the most accurate test results and apply the most accurate adjustments to pool water. It will also become more important moving forward, as the state of Florida is transitioning to requiring all public and commercial pools to use Level 1 NSF Certified Pool Test Kits in the future.

The LaMotte WaterLink Spin Touch features:

NSF Level 1 Certification
Features a saltwater setting that allows the disk to detect the saltwater concentration and include salinity levels in readings
Every sealed SpinDisk® cartridge contains the exact amount of reagent needed to run the complete series of tests
All an operator needs to do is fill a reagent cartridge with less than 3mL of water, press a button, and they’ll have accurate test results for all water tests in 60 seconds
Performs all water tests, including free chlorine (DPD), total chlorine (DPD), pH, calcium hardness, total alkalinity, cyanuric acid, and salt.

Because of its accuracy and time-saving ability, we’ve partnered with them to make adding your test results to the Pool Shark H20 app seamless.

Simply tap a button to transfer the information via bluetooth. This logs and locks test results in your PoolShark H20 app, ensuring you’re health department compliant. Even with the reduced testing that comes with saltwater pool maintenance, this makes the daily and weekly pool testing you do need to perform virtually painless.