Switching to salt

[CarlD]

I switched to salt chlorination about 8 years ago and haven't looked back. Look at the initial cost as pre-buying chlorine for the next 4-5 years. Beyond that, your costs are minimal, mostly an occasional bag of salt for replenishment, and acid to control pH. I prefer muriatic acid to dry acid. When my 1st gen Polaris swcg cell died, the cost of a replacement was as much as a new system, so I took the opportunity to upgrade to a system with more bells & whistles. Everyone I've talked to who switched from granular chlorine delivery to salt chlorine delivery has wondered why they didn't do it sooner. Also, search the internet. I bought my 1st swcg on eBay for $400 and paid someone about $200 to install it. It doesn't always have to cost $1500. Good luck!

Notice that under our B-B-B system the FIRST choice for chlorine is bleach or liquid chlorine, not dry forms of chlorine. One carboy of LC costs me about $18 and is the equivalent of over 10 gallons of 5% ultra bleach. I rarely use more than 5 gallons a summer CORRECTION: 5 Carboys, not gallons!, so your $600 for your new cell is 6 years of LC. If your cell only lasts 6 years, you break even, not including amortizing your original system.

It's not that I recommend against an SWCG--I put one in last summer and love it! But no matter HOW I do the math, I cannot COST justify my SWCG, yet I have new priorities that came up this year that outweighed the extra cost.

That's just how the numbers break, even using YOUR reduced cost figures. SWCGs are GREAT--but they are NOT cost-effective compared to bleach and LC.