saltwater or traditional chlorine?

Courtney V

5 years ago

In beginning stages of determining best pool construction and type for southeastern pa

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Comments (5)

HU-812802053
5 years ago
I had a chlorine pool for 15 years and it was fine, but there was more constant work trying to balance all the chemicals. I have had a saltwater pool for the last 9 years and the maintenance is so much less. I would highly recommend a saltwater pool. Less chemical expense and maintenance.
Courtney V thanked HU-812802053
PRO
Mystic Pools, LLC
5 years ago
There are pros and cons to SWG's. (salt water generators).

Some pros include: no need to store and use any dry chlorine such as tabs, deal with fumes from the tabs in the bucket or when placing them in an erosion feeder. Easier to maintain levels of chlorine. Some SWG's have a boost mode to "shock" a pool when the bather load has been high or weather conditions necessitate. Some say water quality/feel is nicer.

Cons: Salt itself is corrosive and has been known to damage concrete based materials such as concrete decks, mortar joints and or grout joints. Some possible issues with plaster.

Total alkalinity levels and pH levels tend to drift upward as SWG's produce a basic chlorine as opposed to an acidic chlorine. Acid must be added to control these levels. All pools and weather conditions determine amounts needed.

A sequestering agent must be used weekly to control any scale build up. Cyanuric acid/chlorine stabilizer must be used to prevent chlorine from dissipating due to UV or hot weather. This usually is added once at the beginning of the season and should be checked periodically.

The salt cell should cleaned annually to remove scale.

Salt itself must be added during the season to maintain levels around 3500 PPM. If its a wet season, more salt will be used.

It's not the end all be all product, but it does make pool maintenance a bit easier.

You still must test your water weekly and maintain your other chemicals. It's not a set and forget it item.

We install SWG's on all new builds, renos and existing pools. I do recommend SWG''s.
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O.K. now you talking about technical stuff. My chlorinator is Resiliece PSC 2.It was installed by company that re did my pool. The stuff inside is really hard white and I dig it out in chunks and it crumbles in between fingers but not that easy. the whole thing is grounded through the pump-I guess since it is attached to the filter and to the pump. There is two wires,One front,one back. When the pool isn't running, whole system is off, no lights on or any noise so I can't tell if anything is hapening since I have no idea what to look for. I definately think it's calcium that builds up. I remember many years ago pinch a penny told I had hardness around 300 and there isn't much I can do so I never worried untill I got the salt cell b/c the cleaning is driving me crazy. By the amont of build up I feel like I need to take it appart every week which in this case I would not use it, it just takes too much time compare just refill the tablets. Well monday I'll see hopefuly. O.K. since pinch a penny never really helped w/ the hard water where should I look for help. There must be something I can do. I found on line some conditioning product for hard water so It might help but does anybody knows more? Thanks guys for all you info.
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If you are not familiar with how salt water chlorine systems work in swimming pools essentially salt is the base ingredient that chlorine is made from. In a salt water pool you maintain salinity levels above traditional chlorine pools (3000 ppm average versus 500 ppm average) and a small electric current is passed through the water by a salt cell. This electrolysis process results in separating the salt from the chlorine. So if you were to run all 3 of the most popular salt water chlorine generators which one would product the most chlorine? First, the three in question are the Hayward T-Cell 15, the Zodiac (Jandy) AquaPure 35 as well as the Pentair IC60. The unit that generates the most chlorine of all of these is the Pentair IC60. Actually the Pentair IC40 system makes the same as the Hayward T-cell 15 (The biggest from Hayward other than the extended life cell which still produces less than the IC60) If you are interested in knowing more about salt water in swimming pools, or to read the article that provided the data for these results, you can read it in full here: Pool Salt Water Generator Reviews
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We just installed our third Hayward salt cell in June. Each of the previous cells lasted about five years before finally dying. My second cell died this past winter and I spent the spring battling green algae while waiting on a sale or rebate offer. It was a freaking nightmare of constant monitoring and testing. Right after installation I added several bags of salt to reach an appropriate level for cl production and haven't had to do a thing since except vacuum the pool. It is worth every penny to have a salt cell installed. Also, our pool is a 35K gallon vinyl liner and using a salt cell instead of liquid chlorine has kept the color of the vinyl from fading like it used to do using jugged chlorine. If you do go with the Hayward brand make sure to buy it at an authorized dealer as I read a lot of complaints on Amazon about them not honoring the warranty for ones sold through Amazon. My second cell came from Amazon but we luckily never had any problems with it. Hayward has been offering an $80 rebate on cells sold.
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Carolyn T
5 years ago
Saltwater hands down. Have had both and the saltwater was easier to maintain as well as better to swim in.
Courtney V
5 years ago
Thank you for taking the time to provide me your experiences and input. Very helpful.
PRO
Mystic Pools, LLC
5 years ago
Very welcome

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saltwater or traditional chlorine?

Comments (5)

HU-812802053

Mystic Pools, LLC

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Carolyn T

Courtney V

Mystic Pools, LLC

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