Lessons Learned from Maintaining My Saltwater Gunite Pool This Year
- Jennifer Coppola
- Aug 2
- 3 min read
Summer is officially halfway over and it's hard to believe. This summer I have spent a lot of time both in my pool and also inspecting my pool for water cleanliness, since I learned the hard way this year that our pool instructions, given to us by the pool company, were severely lacking.
The pool in my backyard is a gunite pool and contains saltwater. The salt essentially makes chlorine so as long as enough salt is in the water, then there should be enough chlorine to keep the water clean and to kill off any germs. Last summer, John and I followed those salt instructions strictly and kept checking the salinity about once a week, and only had to add salt in the beginning of the summer. This year, was a completely different story and included some lessons learned on maintaining a pool.
Get Comfortable with Chemistry All Over Again
It turns out that saltwater pools need the water tested for more than salt. There are also two types of chlorine levels to check, Free Chlorine Indicator (FCI) and Total Chlorine Indicator (TCI). Along with that our gunite pool causes the water pH to be high for the first few years. When the pH gets too high, it also raises the alkalinity, which is something else we need to check. Finally, the total hardness or TH, measures the hardness of the water and protection against damage for the gunite finish.
Confused yet? Been there. Thankfully all of these specific attributes come in one convenient water test strip that you can buy from any home improvement or hardware store.
Ask More Questions When Something is Wrong With Your Pool
I know this sounds obvious but this is where I went wrong in the beginning of the summer. The pool water was cloudy for almost the first month that pool was open and John and I couldn't figure out why. It looked clean but the water was not crystal clear and there was a lot of dirt at the bottom of the pool. After a few weeks of running the pool filter and cleaning system, it wasn't much better. That's when the multiple trips to the pool store started for water tests and vague instructions that were given as a result of those tests. After 4 trips, John started to ask ChatGPT questions based on the water test results to see if the pool store staff and ChatGPT were on the same page. It turns out they were! Once we got home, we asked ChatGPT more specific questions like how long to wait to re-test the water, what were the best at home testing kits and what we should do next if the first step of the treatment was completed.
Another problem we noticed was that the gunite finish was discolored in several areas. I tried vacuuming and was hoping this was something that could be remedied. Unfortunately, since the pH and alkalinity in the pool was too high for a little too long, it caused etching in the concrete. Now that I know this is a side effect, I'm much more vigilant about testing the water so this doesn't continue around the entire pool.
Shop Around for Pool Supplies
The last lesson learned was how expensive the pool water treatments can be. Each time we went to the pool store for a water test, they seemed to recommend a different product and size, so we bought the exact product and size that they recommended. But this didn't help us when the same problem returned and we didn't have any extra of that product. After a mini emergency late on a Sunday afternoon (when the pool store was closed), John and I searched on our own and found that Lowe's carried everything we needed and then some. Thankfully, with the help of ChatGPT diagnosing the problem and the products needed, we took of everything in one trip and cleared up the water problem.
It's now been a few weeks since our last pool water emergency, and I can confidently say that we now have crystal clear water with most levels in range. The pH is still creeping up, but I found out that it's normal for gunite pools. The key is to keep monitoring and bringing the pH down, so the water has a chance to even out. I was testing daily but am now doing it every other day to ensure that the water doesn't go rogue again.
If you have any pool maintenance tips to share, I would love to hear more! This is only summer #2 with my pool so I'm sure I have more to learn.
Water Strips I've Used
