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Pool Salt Calculator

For saltwater pools with a chlorine generator. Enter your gallons and current salt reading to see exactly how much salt to add, in pounds and 40 lb bags. Need your gallons first? Use the pool volume calculator.

Your pool

0 if it's a fresh fill. Read it off your salt cell or a test strip.
Most salt cells want 2700 to 3400 ppm. Check your unit; 3200 is a common target.

Add

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pounds of salt
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40 lb bags
Go slow. Add salt with the pump running, broadcast it over the pool (not in the skimmer), and brush it around to dissolve. Wait 24 hours and one full turnover before you trust the cell's reading, then retest. You can always add more salt, but the only way to lower it is to drain and dilute.

Log salt and chemistry per pool

Krewbase is built by the crew behind Workhand, a job app for pool builders and service techs. Keep a chemical log and startup history for every pool you run, right from your phone.

See Workhand's pool logs

How much salt does a saltwater pool need?

Salt is measured in parts per million (ppm). Most saltwater chlorine generators run best between 2700 and 3400 ppm, with 3200 a common target. Too low and the cell stops making chlorine; too high and you can trip a high-salt fault or risk corrosion.

The math

Pounds of salt to add = gallons × (target ppm − current ppm) × 8.34 ÷ 1,000,000. The 8.34 is the weight of a gallon of water in pounds. This calculator runs that for you and rounds up to whole 40 lb bags.

Example: a 15,000 gallon pool going from 2400 to 3200 ppm needs about 100 lbs, or three 40 lb bags. Use pool-grade salt (99% or purer), not water-softener or rock salt.

What if my salt is too high?

You cannot remove salt with chemicals. Drain a portion of the water and refill to dilute it. This tool only calculates salt to add; if your current reading is already at or above target, it will tell you no salt is needed.