Oceanwater pool?

[lowviz]

I have a tiny 14' round by 4' deep freshwater pool left over from the kids era.

It occurred to me that turning it into an oceanwater pool would be interesting as I'd not have so much trouble with ice during the winter. So I looked into saltwater pools. What a surprise! They are only 3,000 ppm salt. Nowhere near ocean water. Their intent is to conveniently generate chlorine. NOTHING can be found on true oceanwater pools. I can add chlorine, no prob.

I'm shooting for ocean water at roughly 35,000 ppm salinity. Spot-on buoyancy checks and far less icing. Anyone with any knowledge concerning this?

Givens:
Vinyl
Sand and chlorine
Big Hayward pump

Thanks!

 

[RainPilot]

Biggest challenge would be to keep salinity. You would need to top off any evaporation with FW regularly.

If you want artificial seawater then your best bet is to buy a bunch of aquarium salt from a reef shop and mix it to requirements.

After that it will be only top off with fresh. I would avoid chlorine and just get a UV system for bacteria killing.

 

[Steve_C]

Just note that the salt water may not freeze at 32 but that does not mean it does not get colder than 32. Ocean water freezes around 28.4 or so. I don't know but seems like that might impact on regulator freeze up if you are having a real cold snap..

 

[CuzzA]

Without chlorine there would be no way to keep it sanitary and my guess is it will be over run with marine algae in no time. Your pool would probably take after your username. The size and cost of the UV and the amount of aquarium salt needed would be an expense that would stop that idea in its tracks. Being an outdoor pool there's no way to keep nutrients out and the only way to remove them is with a protein skimmer or water changes. Again both would be ridiculously expensive. I would scrap this idea.

I'm not sure how the chlorine would or wouldn't react at that salinity. In my saltwater chlorine generating pool it's always a battle against high ph to keep the chlorine effective. Consequently I end up adding quite a bit of muratic acid every month.

 

[lowviz]

...//... Your pool would probably take after your username. ...

Ha! Possibly so. There is a good chance that we will find out.

@Steve_C As the water is constantly circulating, I can hold off freezing. But when it starts, the ice can really grow as the water is all the same temp. In my latitude, those few degrees between 32 and 28F will almost guarantee that I can keep water going through the skimmer. 28 degree (F) water presents other issues, especially frostbite. Never dove in water colder than about 34, which is the temp that is usually found under the ice.

Thanks, again, all.

I did find this just now: What is an ocean water pool? | R&R Pools

-Love those Canadians, just do it!

 

[CuzzA]

Interesting read. They do caution against the tons of different types of marine algae and of course premature equipment failure. The calcium deposits would be cured by maintaining ph through acid.

Give it a shot. If I did this where I live I wouldn't be able to resist the urge to turn it into a reef aquarium.

 

[lowviz]

Yes, (BUT) with artificial seawater, I can control the calcium. They caution against aluminum being exposed to salt spray. I agree! Just look at my hubcaps from driving on the beach surf fishing. The idea is to keep the salt away from the pool's structure. I am far from the shore, salt spray is a non-issue. I'm beginning to think that this can be done.

Reef aquarium. Jeez. Don't do that to me! Can you imagine??

 

[CuzzA]

I can imagine how broke I would be... lol

Wisdom from a 15 year old “extremely large” aquarium Coral, Coral Videos, Fish Videos, Long Island Aquarium, News, Public Aquariums, reef tanks, Video Reef Builders | The Reef and Marine Aquarium Blog

 

[lowviz]

Somebody check my math, this is unreal.

5,000 gallons US = 19,000 liters (roughly)
The seawater that I want has 35 grams of salt per liter: https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/seawater.htm
so 35 x 19,000 = 665,000 grams of salt needed
665,000 grams = (approx) 1,500 pounds

Wow! Forget pool/aquarium stores. Looking into water softener recharge supplies...

 

[CuzzA]

Yeah consider aquarium salt (which is very clean and high in calcium and alkalinty) costs $50 per 200 gallon box. Pool salt is what you want. Typically $5 for a 40 lbs. bag.

You'll need a refractometer and calibration solution to ensure you get 35 ppm.