Would like to have LV pool owner's opinions (contractors, club)

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I test chlorine and pH every day until I've got it dialed in how much chlorine the pool is actually consuming. Then check pH every few days, chlorine maybe every week or after any heavy use. Add a little muriatic acid from Home Depot to counteract the pH upward drift. Every couple of months, pull the Salt Water Chlorine Generator and fill it with muriatic acid if there's any scale buildup (I have a stand for this purpose, so the acid doesn't spill anywhere). The main thing with Las Vegas' hard water it to make sure the pH always stays in range. Otherwise, you'll start to get scaling.

I pretty much do the same things as LVAllen. We have a Hayward Aquarite, and the inspect cell light will automatically start flashing after 500 hours of operation, which for me is about every two months. I will check the cell at that point and clean per Hayward's guidelines, if necessary. Once the cell is free of any scale, I reinstall it, and reset the system for the next 500 hours. I personally like it better than using the chlorine tabs.

I don't use the pool store for any of my tests. They are notoriously inaccurate, and you have to deal with the chemical sales pitches.

I use a salt strip maybe once a season. It just doesn't vary all that much unless I've drained some water out. If the Cell control unit is reading salt levels that seem too low, I'll use a strip to check if the Cell control unit is reading low because of scale buildup. If so, I'll clean the generator's elements with muriatic acid. Otherwise, if the control unit is happy, I'm happy.

I generally have been within 100 ppm on salt on my system when I have taken it to the Leslie's near where I live. I also have taken it to NPS and have received comparable results. As LVAllen stated in his post, you just need to take note of any salt level drops since that may indicate the cell needs cleaning. The cell will only generate chlorine when the salt reading is between a certain range so you want to make sure your system is within that range. With the Hayward Aquarite system we have, the salt level in ppm is displayed on the unit by default. You also can get an instant salinity value when the system is generating chlorine and can reset the amount displayed on the default screen to the instant salinity level if you think the value on the default screen needs to be reset.

A good item to buy if your using salt cells is an actual electronic salt water level tester. I have a goldline (hayward) and it is very accurate. Sometimes the strips are not really 100% accurate. Also when water temps drop and the cell does not produce anymore, its a good idea to put a dummy cell in its place and store your cell until it warms back up. This give it maximum life.

I have a question regarding the salt level and local water. We are in the Seven Hills/Anthem area. I drained and refilled our pool earlier this year and added salt up to the point where we were consistently getting a reading of about 2,900 ppm. However, as summer has progressed the reading has gradually increased to about 3,400 ppm. I have not added any salt, and I just cleaned the salt cell a few weeks ago. I stopped by Leslie's today, and they used what I presume was an electronic salt water level tester. It registered the same reading as my Hayward Aqua Rite which is 3,400 ppm. I welcome any thoughts on this. Thanks!

The water was probably colder when you got the 2900ppm reading. The salt level reading is a measure of conductivity, and is temperature sensitive.

Does adding liquid chlorine to salt pool lower ppm of salt?

Also, adding sodium hypochlorite (liquid bleach) to a pool raises the salt level 1.65 ppm for every ppm of chlorine (eventually).

I've also got the Hayward Aqua Rite system and I'm currently having issues. I've battled the "low salt" reading on the control unit for a couple of months now. I know that my salt level is actually a little high (around 3000 ppm) but I've had to reset the reading on the controller on at least a weekly basis to keep it from dropping below the point where it stops generating chlorine. Cleaning the cell has helped this situation, but a couple of days ago the controller was reading a very low salt level (about 600 ppm) and now it will not reset to a level above 900 ppm, which means it won't generate any chlorine. The cell was cleaned a month ago and my pH is in the proper range, so I'm a little baffled. Leslie's installed this system for me less than a year ago, so tomorrow I'm going to pull the cell and take it to them for testing. Maybe it's gone bad...

I also prefer Pentair.

I have a "knife edge" pool (or zero edge) where the water is level to the exterior walking surface. Here is a pic of what it looks like (not my house - just an image I found on the web but it is representative).

It is all a matter of personal taste, but I like the look of this. We used Anthony Sylvan.

ALSO, I have a light commercial reverse osmosis system to power misting heads on my patio with RO water (about 5 PPM) to prevent my windows & glass sliders from etching, and to prevent nozzle clogging.

I am thinking about replumbing my swimming pool auto-water-level system to use RO rather than Lake Mead's Finest (with a mixing valve). In theory, that way I don't need to drain the pool as often, as it is only replenished with RO. I haven't done it yet, though. You can't fill a pool with RO to begin with, but replacing evaporated H2O with RO water seems like a good idea.