Conversion to salt water chlorination: pro and con

[merlin]

Hi Pool Doc,

The salt water questions are what I'm looking for. Maybe you can help. I have read allot of saltwater systems. And like anything else, all who stand to profet from the systems have nothing but good things to say and there are plenty of pages with bad things to say about salt systems. My concern is I did find a page that advocates salt systems, but they were admitting to many problems that come with salt systems.

First, all who seem to love salt systems use the fact that you no longer have to go and buy chlorine. OK, that's fine. But you still have to drive to the store and buy salt and acid for PH control when it get to high. Also the corrosion issue. Salt is salt. And even if it is considered to be a small amount of salt, I can't help but think it will corrode anything metal. Again, all who love salt say it will never happen, but there is plenty of people out there saying it will.

We have a vinyl liner. I have read plenty of sites that say if the salt system are not just right, it will coat the vinyl pool liners with whatever that can't be scraped off and it is better to replace the liner if this happens. Not to mention the gizmo that have to be changed out every 4-6 years that costs $500 - $700. And all of the sites that sell the salt systems want you to think salt systems are easier and cost less even though the systems are $1000 - $2000 and another $500 - $700 every 4-6 years. And that's if for whatever reason the electronic device is not damaged with some kind of electrical surge making it necessary to replace much sooner.

The more research I do on salt water systems it just seems like the scam of the year to get you $2000 deep before you get to the point where you have to replace the pools liner and switch the system back to just adding some chlorine. We do the chlorine at this time and it is very easy to keep a grate looking pool that feels wonderful to swim in.

So what is your thought?

[PoolDoc]

1. I've never seen ANY evidence that saltwater systems damage liners. That sounds totally bogus to me.

2. Using salt water does result in corrosion problems, ESPECIALLY on existing pools.

3. There's a fair amount of evidence that using salt water can damage decks and stone work in dry climates, where splash out evaporates and is not rinsed away by regular rain.

4. We've ALWAYS noted that using salt water does NOT save money, when all the costs are counted.

5. I'm finding that SWCG's generally do not last as long as claimed.

BUT . . .

1. SWCGs are a wonderful relief for people often away from their pool. They are probably the most reliable (but not perfectly reliable!) method of chlorinating a pool consistently during a 10 day vacation or business trip.

2. They benefit people who struggle with consistent pool care, and there's nothing wrong with paying $2,000 for a system that makes your pool more 'forgiving' of negligence, if you've got the money.

3. Many of the 'problems' with salt systems seem to result from people thinking that they have purchased a fully chemically automated pool, rather than just a method of chlorination. That's not a defect in the SWCG systems, though it is certainly a defect in the way they are marketed.

[chem geek]

The issues with SWCGs are real, but some can be mitigated. One can use harder (less absorbent) stone or seal softer stone on a regular basis. One can use a zinc sacrificial anode buried in moist soil and attached to the pool's bonding wire to reduce the rate of metal corrosion. One can use a titanium or cupro-nickel gas heat exchanger instead of copper.

[JimK]

1. I've never seen ANY evidence that saltwater systems damage liners. That sounds totally bogus to me.

2. Using salt water does result in corrosion problems, ESPECIALLY on existing pools.

3. There's a fair amount of evidence that using salt water can damage decks and stone work in dry climates, where splash out evaporates and is not rinsed away by regular rain.

4. We've ALWAYS noted that using salt water does NOT save money, when all the costs are counted.

5. I'm finding that SWCG's generally do not last as long as claimed.

BUT . . .

1. SWCGs are a wonderful relief for people often away from their pool. They are probably the most reliable (but not perfectly reliable!) method of chlorinating a pool consistently during a 10 day vacation or business trip.

2. They benefit people who struggle with consistent pool care, and there's nothing wrong with paying $2,000 for a system that makes your pool more 'forgiving' of negligence, if you've got the money.

3. Many of the 'problems' with salt systems seem to result from people thinking that they have purchased a fully chemically automated pool, rather than just a method of chlorination. That's not a defect in the SWCG systems, though it is certainly a defect in the way they are marketed.

Could you clarify what you mean by "ESPECIALLY on existing pools."?

To the OP, my pool was installed in early 2004, including a SWCG. The primary benefit has been convenience. This was especially apparent a few weeks ago when my pump failed and I had to manually chlorinate for a week. I really missed the SWCG during that week! I've not had any issues with the liner (still has the original) or corrosion. I also like the feel of the salt water, although you could add salt without having a SWCG. The salt cell has been replaced once and a circuit board had to be replaced in the control unit (it was still under warranty at the time).

If manually chlorinating isn't an issue for you, then save your money and forget the SWCG. Like has been said, a SWCG will not save money (but the BBB method of pool care will ).