Pool companies telling me I don't want salt water pool

I converted to salt this year and it’s so much easier on your skin and eyes. I used to feel sticky but now I feel clean after a swim.

Most pool companies also want to support the services. Taking care of a salt pool is a once a week affair, honestly. The water does feel better, I've had less scaling on the tiles, not more. The amount of salinity is a tenth of ocean water. Everyone in the family likes it better. Salt also gives the illusion that the water is "softer" than it is and it does seem to be better for people with sensitivities. The added SWCG is definitely the best part of the equipment pad. I figure if it even lasts two full years it's then much less expensive than the cheapest service in the area. I literally have to only add muriatic acid once a week and do my testing less religiously then when I was doing liquid chlorine.

By the way, adding it off season yourself makes a normal SWCG cost about $700-$1200 versus 2-3x that if you have the PB do it....

I Have had a salt pool for 17 years now. Mexican travertine coping and salt finished concrete. I did get some damage on a few of the softer stones which was quickly and permanently solved by sealing the stone. Concrete looks as good at the day it was poured As does the waterline tile.

Also, most people forget that chlorine (Pucks or liquid) break down into salt in the pool too. It’s not unusual for folks to have 1000ppm salt in a non saltwater pool.

my only guess as to folks pushing UV systems Is that there’s more profit in it for them. There are literally 1000s of,
folks on here Salt pools that would never go back to another Sanitizing method.

You should go with what you feel best about- both have their pros and cons-

I had only chlorine with in ground (now filled in), then salt water/chlorine with above ground.

The salt water generator was short lived, I think just because of more components although very intriguing with separating Na from Cl!

Honestly, I really couldn't see a difference with the water comfort. I did notice that AGP verticals by intake/return rusted quickly, after 2 yrears. I replaced AGP this summer and now chlorine only.

Also keep in mind that vendors for these UV/Ozone/Mineral have incentives, including reward trips/conventions to pool builders who sell a lot of their products. If they sell enough, you pool builder gets to go on a cruise, to vegas, etc.

The last I checked the reward for selling bags of salt was 25% off 1 appetizer at Denny's in Beaumont, TX.

TXlisa8 said:

They all say UV is actually much better and it won't burn your eyes just like a saltwater pool.

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You already have a UV system installed... its called the SUN!

OK, I'll take the hit and trash the UV systems... Ineffective. You will get much more UV from the sun than you ever will from that little bulb. They will say "its concentrated in the unit"... I don't think that is nearly good enough and even if it is you can say EXACTLY the same thing about super-chlorination in the salt cell in a SWCG. Ozone in a detached hot tub might do a little good to oxidize CC's but you'd need to scale that same system up from 200-500 gallons to 15K-40K for a pool for the same effect. IE you'd need a 6 foot Tesla coil running all the time to do the same!

The SWCG provides a measurable amount of the purest form of the known disinfectant that has been working since the beginning of pools and it does it with a relatively low amount of salt being in the water. My salt level after 6 months was 800 PPM as it was... so if you do TFP with bleach for 3-4 years you will already be approaching SWCG salt levels in your pool, anyway. If you do tabs and UV you never will because you will do at least a 1/2 drain and refill at year two.

The only place I have ever heard of salt hurting rocks is in designs that have rocks at the waterline or on a waterfall or whatever, but in many cases the calcium and water itself does the same. If you live in a high scale area like me, you don't want those in the design. Every pool I looked at locally had scaling and the rocks directly exposed to water were the worse culprits. I designed that out of the pool completely and don't have to worry about it. As for the equipment, pavers (I have pavers) or poured concrete? No issue at 2500-4000 PPM... none.....

mguzzy said:

You already have a UV system installed... its called the SUN!

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EXACTLY! They said the saltwater pool water burns your eyes? Are you freaking kidding me? Tears have a level of salinity close to the level of a salt pool...the pool is only slightly higher. The water is better for humans, it's closer to our own salinity levels overall!

My final suggestion to you is say: "Fine, I'll just do a floater". And then install a Circupool SWCG yourself early next spring like I did.

Ok.. here is my favorite thing to post:
Salinity of a typical saltwater pool: 3400 ppm
Salinity of your tears : 7000 ppm
Salinity of the Ocean average: 34000 ppm

Salt damage around a pool will happen whether you have a SWG or not most likely. stingy eyes are caused by high CC's .. the higher salinity of a Salt pool actually feels better on the eyes because the salinity is closer to that of your body fluids...

So.. here's a workaround I have seen done before, find out what SWG you want and purchase the blank cell for that model, its essentially a tube. And have the PB install it in the plumbing. Then the plumbing is done for the most part!

I’ll chime in w/ my 2pennies

1st cent- My kids love our saltwater pool just as they loved our manually dosed “chlorine” pool because they don’t have to wear goggles & can open their eyes under water unlike the other non tfp pools they have swam in.
2nd cent- Non-Recommended Pool Chemicals - Trouble Free Pool

Switched to a salt water pool beginning of this season. Would never go back!

First, as mentioned, all pools become saltwater pools in time. The salt is a byproduct of chlorine, acid and humans. It does not evaporate. It collects in your water. If something is placed near your pool that will react to saltwater, then that's going to happen whether you enjoy the incredible convenience of an SWG or not. Maybe slightly more slowly in a non-SWG pool, but that's about it.

Secondly, UV systems do sanitize water, but here's the rub. Chlorine is both a sanitizer and an oxidizer. Once it's added and mixed in, it protects every cubic inch of your water, almost instantly. It's killing germs and burning up organic matter, 24/7, everywhere in your pool at the same time, whether your pump is running or not. UV systems work by passing water past a component that subjects that water to UV. Think about that. It's only sanitizing the water that is passing through it, and only when the pump is running! It doesn't treat the water out in the pool, and doesn't protect it out there either. There is no residual effect after the water is treated.

So here's the gross part. If someone pees in a UV-only pool, or a bird or other critter uses your pool for a toilet, or someone brings a pathogen into your water, that ickiness distributes and floats around until it happens to get sucked up in the skimmer and run past the UV. How long do you think that would take? With chlorine, remember it's everywhere in your pool, the ickies get attacked instantly, and are made harmless and then get burned up in short order. Which pool would you rather swim in? That's why your builder no doubt also included some sort of chlorine dispenser, because he knows, or should know, that UV alone does not provide the residual protection people need, so chlorine is added. Huh? Yah, a UV pool has to be a chlorine pool to be safe enough for people! They'll tell you that you can use less chlorine, and that's probably "not quite a lie." But if you follow TFP guidelines for proper chlorine levels, you won't "feel" any chlorine. So all you need is chlorine. An SWG pool and a non-SWG (liquid chlorine only) pool sanitize and protect the water in the exact same way. An SWG just makes it a whole lot easier: it maintains a constant level of protection without you having to buy, lug and pour in chlorine, every day. And both cost about the same (some say an SWG is less expensive over time). Which pool would you rather own?

And unless you're building your pool inside or under constant shade, you already have UV protection. It's called the sun!

Say "no" to the UV and decide if you want to have the PB put in an SWG or add one later, maybe DIY and save some money. He'll likely then suggest a chlorine tab feeder, if he hasn't already. But you cannot sustain the use of tabs. They will eventually backfire and cause you problems that can only be resolved by draining water out of your pool and replacing it with new water. You really only have two choices: buy, lug and add liquid chlorine on a regular basis or use an SWG.

I have had a salt water system, The Jandy Aquapure Ei, for 5 years. We love the salt water as do our guests. We have no issues with eyes burning and follow TFP recommendations to the T. You are being fed a line.
Dont expect to save money, but do expect less hassle with the daily additons of Chlorine. The salt cell replacements can be expensive. You still need to keep bleach on hand and use it from time to time. Consider adding an acid dispenser using a Stenner Pump with a timer to save dealing with manual acid additions on a daily or every other day basis.

CRobPool said:

You should go with what you feel best about- both have their pros and cons-

I had only chlorine with in ground (now filled in), then salt water/chlorine with above ground.

The salt water generator was short lived, I think just because of more components although very intriguing with separating Na from Cl!

Honestly, I really couldn't see a difference with the water comfort. I did notice that AGP verticals by intake/return rusted quickly, after 2 yrears. I replaced AGP this summer and now chlorine only.

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In the earlier days of swgs reliability was a concern. I ended up replacing my jandy aquapure complete system every 3 years due to various pc board and cell failures. About 6 years ago, jandy did a significant redesign and that system has been trouble-free. All the major brands seem to be at that stage now too. Now, if you’re talking about a $600 agp system, that’s a whole Different animal. I wouldn’t expect the same reliability from a $600 system than a $1500 system.

Tell us a bit more about your proposed pool. Gallons, equipment & automation (with model numbers), type of coping & decking, pool & spa or pool only. Maybe we can assist you in getting the best equipmemt for your pool.

It seems many Texas pool builders use less then stellar grades of flagstone/limestone for coping/decking. This less then stellar grade of flagstone/limestone tends to flake a little - and pool builders like to blame salt water pools for the flaking. In reality, it's the poor quality flagstone and not the SWG that is to blame. And remember - any pool treated with chlorine (SWG or liquid chlorine, etc.) is a salt water pool.

Salt is definitely inexpensive. I bought bags at Lowes.
But honestly, daily checks are still necessary along with adjusting the SWG, based on timer, bather load, and weather-temp and rainfall
Again, it's about preference- I just prefer simpler maintenance ,timed pump, liquid chlorine, daily tests and best dog pool!

When we bought our house, the pool was already installed and had a UV system. I found that it was actually useful, though... How you ask? Well, when I installed my SWCG, I didn't have to drill into the brick to mount the controller, I was able to use the existing holes from where the USELESS UV smoke-and-mirrors machine was installed.

I have had a SWCG for about 3 weeks now and really wish I had gone down that road when we bought the house a couple years ago; no more schlepping chlorine to the house and the already pretty easy maintenance is even easier. The only *real* difference is that I have to add a little acid every 4-5 days to bring the PH down.

CRobPool said:

Salt is definitely inexpensive. I bought bags at Lowes.

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Just to be clear, an SWG-pool doesn't consume salt. The SWG uses electricity to convert salt into chlorine. When the chlorine does its thing out in the pool, it reverts back to salt and the SWG then "reuses" that same salt (I'm greatly simplifying, but that's the gist). So you don't have to regularly put salt in your pool for the SWG. You might have to adjust the salt level once a year, to account for accumulation or splash out or heavy rain, but that's usually just a bag or two, if any. I think I've added one bag of salt since I started using my SWG years ago. Where I live and because of the type of pool I have, my pool does accumulate salt throughout the year, but then the rain I get dilutes the pool water enough to counteract that accumulation. Pretty even-steven on the salt.