Salt Water vs Chlorine for inground pool (Youngsville: home, landscaping)

[dkrahe]

We are in the planning process of designing and installing an inground pool with a vinyl liner and would like to find out the pros and cons of having salt water vs chlorine.

Also, if you have had experience working with Gress, Inc or Rising Sun Pools, please let me know how it went and if you have any good advice. If you worked with Rising Sun Pools, who did your concrete and landscaping work?

Thanks for any adivce you can give me to make this process go as smooth as possible and to avoid any surprises later in the process.

[brooks2007]

When we lived in FL we put a pool in and opted for the salt system. We lOVED it. The main things we liked were

* No stinging or burning eyes
* No stinky chemical smells
* No chemical chlorine to ruin your swimsuits
* Also, I was glad not to have to handle more chemicals.

There is alot of information on those systems online if you google them - just type "pros and cons of salt chlorination systems".

Let us know when the pool party is - I am SO ready!

[Lana537]

Hello,

We have a concrete in-ground pool with a salt water chlorine generator. We love the salt water, which is only 10% of the saltiness of the ocean. Our pool remodel was done by Aquatic Artists of Youngsville, NC; they do not do vinyl pools.

If you have not yet discovered a website called Trouble Tree Pool, please find it, go there, read its content and Pool School thoroughly. You will then be much better educated as to how to care for your pool and what going with an SWG can do for you. If you choose to chlorinate manually, you will learn how and why.

Whatever you do, make certain you learn early on about CYA, cyanuric acid, and how its levels affect the effectiveness of your chlorination, be it from an SWG, or from the myriad powders and tablets, etc. on the market. We use the BBB method of pool care, which does not involve any of the pool store products. It is very much worth learning about, and you will NOT learn about this from any pool store.

Also, the message boards are visited frequently by professionals working in North Carolina. They will be a big help to you not only as you build, but as you care for your pool in the future.

Good luck with your new pool--summer must be just around the corner!

Lana

[sll3454]

There was a discussion about this last summer: //www.city-data.com/forum/ralei...lt-system.html

[Lana537]

Originally Posted by sll3454

There was a discussion about this last summer: //www.city-data.com/forum/ralei...lt-system.html

I just read through that thread. There is some good information there, but even more misinformation.

To the OP, learn whatever you can about keeping a pool safe with correct sanitization/chlorine and keeping the water balanced, so that it is comfortable for the people and safe for the equipment. No rusting or trouble with a well-maintained salt pool.

A well balanced and maintained pool requires a very good test kit and daily use of it. Taylor K-2006 (order onliine from Taylor Technology) is the thing to have. Don't go cheap on a test kit after all you'll have spent on the build. Have the ability to test for free chlorine and combined chloramines (that's the chlorine smell) with a FAS DPD test. Leave any OTO tests for once you've become an expert on your pool and its SWG; the OTO can be used for simple monitoring.

Do your own home work. Don't wait and rely solely on the pool indoctrination that will be provided by your pool builder.

Lana

[mrcarolinas]

Floating on your back in the summer morning sun is awesome in a salt water pool great buoyancy

[RDUBiker]

We're about to build an in-ground concrete pool and are contemplating the same question. My neighbor has a vinyl liner pool and switched from "old fashioned" chemicals to salt and he loves it. My main question will be not whether it's better than managing chemicals "manually," but rather what the long term costs are when a salt cell has to be replaced versus the "old" way. Report back on what you decide and I will do the same with some figures and facts that I base my decision on.

[Lana537]

Originally Posted by RDUBiker

..... what the long term costs are when a salt cell has to be replaced versus the "old" way..

As you shop for your SWG, you will find out what the costs are for the replacement cell. The life of your equipment will be different than mine and that of your neighbor's depending on, foremost, how well you maintain the water balance of your pool, and then how often you monitor and, if needed, clean your cell, and how many hours per day and days per year you run your pump and what the percentage-on time is of your SWG.

Lana