While the average salt cells used in a residential salt water pool will last around 10,000 hours of operation, or around three to five years, there are things you can do to ensure it lasts as long as possible.
Annual booster additions of pool salt are usually required, but only to replace salt lost from backwashing, splashout or lowering the water for winter. If you fully drain the pool for maintenance, you will need to replace all of the pool salt.
The ideal salt level is between 2700-3400 ppm (parts per million) with 3200 ppm being optimal. Before adding salt to your pool, test the water to check your salt level. If the level is low, determine the number of gallons in the pool and add salt according to the chart below.
The salt added to a swimming pool's water continuously cycles between salt and chlorine indefinitely. It's never consumed and it doesn't evaporate. Therefore, swimming pool salt only needs to be replenished with backwashing, splash out, or rainstorm overflows.
A short video produced recently by the American Chemical Society answers the question, “Is it OK to Pee in the Ocean?” with a resounding “yes!” Ocean swimmers, relax, and know that your, eh, “contribution” is processed by the marine environment. Pool swimmers, you are not off the hook.
Pros of Saltwater Pools
There's less chlorine and less of the heavy chemical scent and content. They're gentler on the skin, with less irritation to the eyes, hair and swimsuits. The water has a softer, silkier feel to it compared to chlorine water. They have lower maintenance costs than chlorine pools.
For safe swimming conditions, the ideal salt level is going to be between 2500 ppm and 4000 ppm. An overly salted pool will generally not be a major problem (aside from salty-tasting water), but at levels over 6000 ppm there may be corrosion damage to some of the metallic equipment.
Therefore, if you have a 20,000 gallon pool and want to determine how much salt you'll need to buy, you would use the formula “30/1,000 x 20,000”, which equals 600. Meaning, the pool would require approximately 600 lb of salt.
So, not only is shocking a saltwater pool okay, but it's actually important to your pool's health. Shocking is the process in which you overload your pool with chlorine (3-5 times the normal amount) to improve your pool's cleanliness and kill off organic matter.
Maintenance Level of Difficulty
Is a saltwater pool easier to maintain than a traditional pool? Absolutely! As your salt chlorinator will do the work, you don't need to buy any chlorine, just add salt and you'll get clear and clean water.
Adding salt, without a SWG, gives the water what many people describe as a silky feel, but it doesn't give you any of the other advantages of a SWG. For example you can't use lower FC levels with salt the way you can with a SWG.
Example: If you have a salt level of 0, in your 8,000 gallon pool, you'll need approximately 213 pounds of salt, or roughly (5) 40 pound bags of salt, to bring your water in proper range.
Yes, a salt water pool has a reduced cost of operation as compared to a traditional chlorinated pool. This cost savings is primarily because chlorine is generated from salt and there is no need to buy chlorine. Additionally, salt water pools require fewer chemicals to keep the water clean and clear.
3400 is the recomended high limit, but the readings on the panel are notoriously inaccurate. Generally it's better to have the level on the high side than low, so 3800 should be fine.
The overall cost of salt for a saltwater pool will vary by the type of salt that you use and the size of your pool, but you can expect to pay on average between $10 and $25 per every 40 pounds of salt (or 25¢ to 63¢ per pound of salt). Some brands may even sell a 40-pound bag of pool salt for as much as $40.
Just like a chlorine-based pool, saltwater pools turn cloudy when chemicals are not balanced. You need to ensure that all chemicals are balanced all the time to avoid cloudy water and growth of algae. The major causes of cloudiness are chlorine, pH, Salinity, total alkalinity, cyanuric acid, and calcium hardness.
The ideal level for salt in a saltwater pool is 3200 ppm, but between 2700 and 3400 ppm is also acceptable. Pro tip: Only use sodium chloride (NaCl) that has a purity of 99% or higher.
Certain species of mosquitoes breed in saltwater pools. Two of the most common species are Aedes taeniorhynchus (also known as Saltwater mosquito) and the dangerous Asian Tiger mosquito that spreads diseases like encephalitis.
A saltwater pool is more expensive than a traditional pool because it requires a higher initial investment. Compared to chlorinated pools, a saltwater pools system is more complex. Both minor and major repairs will call for the expertise of a licensed (and specialized) technician. Saltwater can damage.
Unlike chlorine, pool salt is actually just standard NaCl, sodium chloride. It is really just table salt in a different form. The primary difference is that pool salt comes in a larger cuts or sizes. The two chemical elements that comprise pool salt are sodium and chlorine.