Salt in Pool Filter: Why It Happens and How to Fix It
Converting to a saltwater pool offers silky smooth water and automated chlorine generation. However, new saltwater pool owners often panic when they open their filter housing and find mounds of undissolved salt inside. Finding salt in pool filter systems is usually the result of improper salt addition methods rather than a mechanical failure. Understanding how salt travels through your plumbing will help you prevent this issue and protect your expensive equipment.
Why Is There Salt Inside My Filter?
Pool salt is simply high-purity sodium chloride. When added to the pool, it takes time and agitation to dissolve completely. If salt ends up inside the filter tank, it happened because of one major mistake: dumping salt directly into the skimmer.
The Danger of Dumping Salt in the Skimmer
When you pour a 40-pound bag of salt into the skimmer basket, the pump sucks those heavy, undissolved crystals directly into the plumbing. The salt travels instantly into the filter tank. Because salt is heavy and takes up to 24 hours to dissolve, it gets trapped in the sand bed, cartridge pleats, or D.E. grids.
This causes massive pressure spikes, drastically reduces water flow, and can force concentrated, corrosive salt water over the metal components inside the filter, leading to premature rusting.
How to Safely Add Salt to a Pool
To prevent salt from entering your filter, you must add it correctly.
- Step 1: Turn off your Salt Water Chlorine Generator (SWCG) cell. Never run the cell while adding salt.
- Step 2: Leave the main pool pump ON to ensure maximum circulation.
- Step 3: Walk around the deep end of the pool and broadcast (scatter) the bags of salt directly across the water surface.
- Step 4: Grab a pool brush and vigorously brush the salt around the floor of the pool. Brushing speeds up the dissolving process and prevents the heavy salt from staining the plaster or liner.
- Step 5: Wait 24 hours until the salt is 100% dissolved before turning the SWCG cell back on.
What to Do If Salt is Already in the Filter
If you or a pool service technician accidentally dumped salt into the skimmer and the filter pressure is skyrocketing, do not panic. The salt will eventually dissolve, but you need to act quickly to restore water flow.
- Sand/D.E. Filters: Turn the pump on and let the water flow. The rush of water will eventually dissolve the salt trapped in the media. If the pressure is dangerously high, perform a quick 30-second backwash to flush the heavy concentration out to waste.
- Cartridge Filters: Turn the pump off, open the filter housing, and remove the cartridges. Rinse them thoroughly with a garden hose to blast the undissolved salt crystals out of the pleats. Reinstall them and turn the system back on.
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