How Much Salt Do I Need?
Quick estimates for ice melt, water softener salt and pool salt. Enter your numbers and we will show you how much to buy.
Ice melt for a season
Estimate based on the common winter salt-awareness rule of thumb: a 12 oz coffee mug of rock salt (about 1 lb) treats roughly 250 square feet. Faster melters usually need less. Always follow the rate on the package, shovel first, and do not use ice melt on concrete less than one year old.
Water softener salt per month
Estimate assumes about 75 gallons of water per person per day and a softener that uses about 1 lb of salt for every 3,000 grains of hardness removed. Your softener's settings, iron in the water and the salt type change the real number. If you know hardness in parts per million, divide by 17.1 to get grains per gallon.
Pool salt to reach your target level
Pounds of salt = gallons x (target ppm minus current ppm) x 8.34 / 1,000,000. Use the target level in your salt chlorine generator's manual (often around 3,000 to 3,400 ppm), test before adding, add salt in the pool itself with the pump running, and retest after it dissolves.
