How to Use Cyanuric Acid in Saltwater Pools: Balancing & Maintenance

As an alternative to the traditional chlorine pools, saltwater pools have increasingly gained popularity in recent years, for their uncomparable ease of maintenance. They don't require you to add some chlorine tablets; instead, they rely on the pool's own chemical reactions to ensure a balance in chemicals. However, counterintuitively, you still need to add cyanuric acid to a saltwater pool.

Why? To understand this problem, you may have to know how the saltwater pool works and the role played by cyanuric acid. At their core, saltwater pools and traditional chlorine pools aren't fundamentally different in terms of disinfection: both rely on free chlorine (FC) to kill bacteria, germs, and various algae in the pool water. The only difference is the method of chlorine production—the former generates it naturally, while the latter requires manual addition.Free chlorine can dissipate rapidly without the protection of cyanuric acid. Under the influence of ultraviolet rays, up to 90% of the free chlorine in the pool can be depleted within just two hours. Cyanuric acid can extend the effectiveness of FC by three to five times, which is quite significant, isn't it? Therefore, to ensure the stability of chlorine in the pool, it's necessary to add cyanuric acid (CYA) to the water.

Surprisingly, you need to add more cyanuric acid to a saltwater pool than to a traditional chlorine pool. As mentioned earlier, saltwater pools also rely on FC for disinfection, and they produce FC through the reaction of the pool's own salt with water to generate sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), which also breaks down under UV light. Therefore, when maintaining chlorine in a saltwater pool, you need to consider not only the photodecomposition of FC but also how to maintain sodium hypochlorite. Faced with these dual challenges, the cyanuric acid level in a saltwater pool must be maintained at 60-80 ppm, compared to the standard 30-50 ppm for a traditional outdoor chlorine pool.

You should get to know your pool's current levels of CYA and chlorine before adding cyanuric acid. Use test strips or a liquid test kit to check these levels. Based on the results and the volume of your pool, calculate the amount of CYA needed to achieve the desired level.

There are two forms of cyanuric acid: the powder and liquid. You can choose a suitable one according to your own needs. Follow these tips, and the whole process would be quite straightforward.

• For the granular powder: After measuring the required amount of cyanuric acid, mix it in 5 gallons of warm water, stirring until it is fully dissolved. Slowly pour the solution into the pool, distributing it evenly around the pool to ensure proper mixing.
• For the liquid form: Add it directly to the pool water or through the skimmer. Let the pool's circulation system run for several hours to ensure even distribution.

After adding the cyanuric acid, allow some time for it to dissolve and circulate throughout the pool. Then, retest the water to ensure the CYA level is within the recommended range. If the level is too low, you may need to add more cyanuric acid. Conversely, if the level is too high, you might need to partially drain the pool and refill it with fresh water to dilute the CYA concentration until it reaches an ideal level.

By following these steps, you can effectively add cyanuric acid to your saltwater pool, ensuring optimal chlorine stabilization and protection against UV degradation.