They work great together, you should your PB's advice. Residential Ozonators need to be supplemented with another sanitizer.

what renovxpt said

yup^^

curious where you are locate, how much natural stone you have and where this stone is located in/around the pool?

Thanks, guys, that's the info I was looking for.

Natural one, I'm in TX...going to do stamped concrete (skins) on the deck, but natural OK stone coping and spa cap, with cream stone for the spa face. I've heard natural stone and salt water don't always mix well, so that's another question I have (which seems to be hotly debated).

The reason I ask about doing salt plus ozonator is, we had a very reputable PB recommend just doing the normal chlorine for sanitation, and using an ozonator, rather than doing the salt system (for reason mentioned above). He won't warranty a salt system w/natural stone anymore, and felt the ozonator did a good job of making the water less hard on the eyes.

I have two friends that put in pools within the past year and they went with salt systems. Both of them told me they would not do it again. Their gas grills / metal windows, patio furniture, etc. are all corroding as well as their wood floors in their house. Their stone is still fine, but it has been less than 2 years.

This was enough to push me away from the salt and to ozone with chlorine. We talked with 4 pool builders. One was 100% anti-salt, two were neutral, and one was adamant about salt.

Salt does have a downside but its a stretch to blame the gas grill and window corrosion on the pool.... unless the cleaner is hosing them down. Do they live near the ocean?

Regardless of what you decide the O3 wont work by itself. You will want to add an erosion feeder if you dont want salt.

we are going with saltwater and have flagstone decking and coping. I am running funny pipe around my deck with pop of misting sprinklers all the way around. this will rinse off the deck from the saltwater and also cool the deck when the kids are on it and it is hot. It is costing me almost nothing(less than $100)because I am using the sprinkler zone that pool has already occupied and the trench will be there already prior to back filling the decking. My pool guy thinks this is a great idea. I am also sealing my deck and coping.

Why stop there, maybe we should look into salt causing AIDS and 9/11

I have two friends that put in pools within the past year and they went with salt systems. Both of them told me they would not do it again. Their gas grills / metal windows, patio furniture, etc. are all corroding as well as their wood floors in their house. Their stone is still fine, but it has been less than 2 years.

Spare us the nonsense. A pool with a SWCG can't cause any damage to those things.

Gas grills rot naturally. Stainless grills are not all stainless.

Why are their windows made of metal? Aren't they properly painted?

Wood floors? Try waxing or urethane.

Scott

I've done both for years and had no problems. I always seal my stone pool projects (from any salt problems), as well as those decks needing the same. I also recommend a zinc anode of sorts for their pool system as it can become the "sacrificial" part of the pool, if so needed.
I have never heard a complaint from my clients in all these years about salt being a problem for them, they all actually love their pools as they are and would not change a thing.
Ozone, as mentioned, needs backup, which with a salt system will work just fine, they both compliment each other rather well.

When I build pools in the Houston area, I use a UV ozonator plus a chlorinator. It has worked well for me and I don't have the problems with salt erosion on stone. If you use salt and ozone, you might minimize the problems you can have with salt.

This is great info. Fletch58, how did your friends connect the salt system to the interior wood floor damage? That seems a puzzle, but I get how it could damage a grill or patio furniture. Poolguynj, I agree with you that metals corrode naturally in the elements, but less than 2 years...that seems like a lot to me.

Womanowned, that is the suggestion the other PB made (whom we didn't ultimately sign with). Ozonator plus chlorinator. Our PB thinks we're crazy if we don't go with salt, though--we have kids, it's easy on eyes, no figuring out chlorine...that all makes sense, but there's the big BUT.

I do live in TX, which seems to be an area where there are more issues with a salt system. I suppose I could go with a chlorinator now and see if we just *have* to have salt later?

This is a harder decision than I thought!

If you have concerns it is always best to stick with what you know works for sure. Salt systems and ozonators can both be added easily even after the pool is built. You can't even add salt to a pool for the first month anyway. I tell my customers try it out with regular sanitation first then if they want to add then we can. Otherwise put the expense of these systems back into other features they want on the pool.

Jenncjudd...
"Womanowned, that is the suggestion the other PB made (whom we didn't ultimately sign with). Ozonator plus chlorinator. Our PB thinks we're crazy if we don't go with salt, though--we have kids, it's easy on eyes, no figuring out chlorine...that all makes sense, but there's the big BUT.
I do live in TX, which seems to be an area where there are more issues with a salt system. I suppose I could go with a chlorinator now and see if we just *have* to have salt later?"

The reason I like the UV ozone with chlorine is that it gives you the same benefits as salt...easy on the eyes, skin, hair, etc. Maybe it is because of our humidity in Texas, but I have built salt pools for folks who have seen serious stone erosion around their pools (this is after warnings, sealing, etc) from salt. Not everyone has the problem, but a good percentage do. The good thing is that you can add an ozonator or a salt cell later. I would never go with straight chlorine, though, because of the harshness of the man-made chemicals and the expense. If I were you, I would do chlorine + ozone. You don't need much man made chlorine with an ozonator. If you feel that is not doing the job for you, then add a salt cell. Ozone is much less expensive than salt, so I would go with that route first. Be sure it is an ozonator that generates ozone through UltraViolet light rather than the type is generates ozone through a Corona Discharge. The later does not do well in humidity, so it can be problematic in parts of Texas, Florida, etc.