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Does anybody have a soft water pool?I have one in my back yard and I was wondering if I could put Shady and Scooby in for a swim. I asked other sites and they said it was fine. I put them in for a while and they loved it!!

In a soft water pool there is no chlorine added but every year my dad adds a big bag of salt in it. To keep the water clean, he adds acids to the pool every 1 or 2 months but I wait 2 days before I put the turts in for a swim after he adds the acids.

My turts seem really healthy and I haven't had any problems with putting them in the pool (with supervision of course). I was just making sure that it was safe for them .I've been putting Shady in the pool for about less then a year now(Scooby has not yet). Not constantly but once in a while I put him in. Does it sound safe?

I guess nobody knows...

Shady,
Got a few questions. What is the pool used for? How big is it?What 'acid' is your dad adding to the water? Are you feeding your turtles in that pool? When your turtles are in that pool, they will drink the water, just because turtles get thirsty and if you are feeding them in that pool, they are ingesting the water as it helps them swallow their food. Is there any kind of filtration in that pool that would work for turtles? What is the purpose for the 'soft' water?
I read your post a number of time and these questions kept coming to me because the words, 'salt' and 'acid' were a little disturbing to me in relationship to a turtles outdoor habitat. Please answer,as best you can, okay? George

Just thought of few more questions. Is this a swimming pool? Is your dad adding chemicals to it to make it less alkaline and are the acids chlorine? If these answers are,"yes", then please don't put your turtle in that pool. You will kill it, dead! That is the truth! George

This link may give you some more info on turtles in the pool, I refer to this site when I need some answers:
http://www.turtlecare.net/pool.htm

I hope that helps you out

Yes, this is a swimming pool which is 100% chlorine free. No chlorine added what-so-ever! Its not like ocean water either. My dad said you can practically drink the water so that means the turts can drink it too. He adds acids in the pool to clean all the junk like acid rain which is this green stuff but i wait 2 days after he does that. Its like a regular pool but it just has a tiny bit of salt added to it, which you can't even taste. Its supposed to not hurt your eyes when you open your eyes under water.(not make your eyes red)or it won't hurt your skin. My pool is not a living area, its just to take a dip in for a couple of minutes. the pool is about 6ft deep

Okay, Shady,
You've convinced this Oldturtle that your pool is safe for your turts. You have also added new information that not many aquatic turtle owners were aware of and I, for one, am greatful to you for this info. Also, thank your dad for his expertise as a pool maintenance guy. I set up an 18 foot pool years ago for our 7 children and I can remember the dry skin and red eyes we all had after a session in the pool. It was still a relief to get into during a hot day. George

It sounds like water that's gone through a water softener in that salt has been added. I'm still curious to know what kind of acids he adds to it, though...

He's been in my pool hundreds of times before and nothing has gone wrong...well, since you guys are so concerned, maybe I should cut the dips in the pool. Maybe some deadly bacteria will come in my pool..
but only for the love of my turts

The acid that I know for a fact that is used in pools is Muratic acid, it is supposed to either lower or raise the Ph level of the water, I maintain a pool at the hotel where I work, I am the Maintenance Supervisor, which isn't much because I am the only maintenance man

I sure know what Muriatic acid is as I used it to clean off the white lime deposits left on brick from the mortar I used to lay brick and stone. Whoa Back! Hydrochloric acid (old name) will knock down the ph in water allright but the fumes will kill you and if you use it without good rubber gloves, it will take off your fingers. Our body secretes the stuff as a aid in digesting the foods we eat. If you want your turts in water, out in the sun, I would suggest that you get a 4 foot kids wading pool, drop in a small log and some big Romain lettuce leaves for shade and resting places for the turts. You could place the log on a brick or flat rock to keep it from rolling. if you are worried about critters snatching your babies, then get a 4' by 4' length of 1/2 inch galvanized screening and lay it on the wading pool. Please, Shady? No one is angry with you. You asked us, remember?
George

i would like to suggest you buy a water test kit (they are different colored strips on a piece of paper) to check the different chemical levels in the water. i don't have too much info on them right now, but maybe someone on the board might know...

You can check this site for a look at test strips and what they test for:
http://www.poolcenter.com/aquachek_testing_strips.htm

Sorry guys I didn't know, I feel so stupid now because i gave you the wrong facts . I'm glad somebody new what those acids were. My dad is on a bussiness trip now so i cant ask him about the acids. Now that i know, I will never ever put my turts in any kind of swimming pool like mine again!! I'm ssoooooooo glad I asked

I just logged into this forum and read about the soft water pool concerns. I have owned a "salt-water-chlorinated" pool for several years. The salt is added because an electrolytic cell in the pool separates the sodium from the chloride and creates a natural chlorine protection. Yes, it is much better on hair, eyes, and clothes. Regarding the addition of muriatic acid, the salt-water pools tend to lean towards an alkaline PH balance. Since the pool needs to be perfectly PH balanced, it is necessary to add muriatic acid to the water to bring the PH level back into balance. Except for the fact that one should wait 24 hours before swimming just to avoid any potential burning from the acic, there is no acidic residue. THe alkalinity of the pool uses up the acid to create the PH balance. It won't hurt anything: people, animals, clothing, etc. However, it's improbable to leave a turtle in a pool because it can't get out and it will leave it's own "residue". Hope this helps.