Been thinking of converting our pool to Salt.

How much does it cost to run Salt in a pool vs Chlorine? How expensive is it to have a Salt-to-Chlorine Generator installed?
My pool is 15,000 Gallons, and I live in Peoria.

The guy at my local Leslies pool told me that Salt Pools don't need to have salt water constantly added to the generator like with Chlorine being added to the pool. That you only have to put in the initial salt, and then it just generates chlorine. Which... makes no sense. How does the salt not run out?

This is relevant to my interests.  13,000 gal pool near Cactus High School.

Once the pool is at the proper salt level (around 3500ppm) you may need to add a bag every year. This mostly due to water that is splased out of the pool. The salt generator releases the cloriine from the calcium chloride (salt). There are web sites that explain the chemistry behind it.
https://autopilot.com/how-does-a-swimming-pool-salt-chlorine-generator-work/

The salt cells are good for around 10000 hours of run time, around 5 years. Good water balance will help them last . The cell I have (pentair ic30) is about $800.

The cell and power supply will be around $1200. You will also need a timer to turn it on.

Not sure what it would cost to have it installed.

Haha. Practically neighbors!

So the Salt Cell is like a cartridge that interacts with the salt to facilitate the chemical conversion?

So a bag of salt... lasts an entire year? How much is a bag of salt?  What is the salt volume?

There are plates in the cell that have low voltage passing between them, it cause a chemical reaction with the salt.

On a 15k gallon pool you will need between 400 and 500 pounds to get the levels where they need to be to start. Then you will add salt maybe once a year to keep the levels up.

The salt does run out, eventually. But once you have ~3000 ppm salt in the pool the SWG consumes the salt very gradually. You will add probably a few hundred pounds the first year, then maybe a few pounds the next year as well, mostly due to splashout.

Right now chlorine is ~$200 per bucket, a SWG will run you anywhere from $800-1500+. You want to get a SWG that generates enough chlorine for DOUBLE what your pool capacity is. This way you can run the SWG at a lower rate, and it will last longer. Do not go by what the manufacturer says is ok, look at the overall production number.

I inherited a Jandy truclear (~.9 lbs chlorine per day) that I had to run at 100% and add chlorine to during the summer. It was undersized for the pool and I knew that it wasn't going to last that long. I recently just put in a circupool rj-60 that makes up to 3 lbs of chlorine per day. I have it set at 40% right now and it's actually still over producing a bit.  

I had some issues with the order, but after getting into my hands and installing it the rj-60 has been pretty easy. Install was easy enough, just minor PVC work, and I opted for the vertical install kit because the space was going to be tight. There is a 7 year warranty (pro-rated) and there is no DIY penalty. I'd say if you've done sprinkler work with pvc, you'll probably be fine.

You may not need a timer or a switch, most SWG's need a flow switch now to run, so when your pump runs the SWG will run at the same time. Electric isn't too bad, just make sure that the SWG is setup for the correct voltage. Most will come set for 220 because of this. Electrical wiring wasn't that bad either, but that'll depend on your comfort level.

It took me maybe 3 hours to plan and do the entire install, honestly maybe 30 mins of that was actually cutting and gluing the SWG in. Most of that was running to the store and looking for my tools/batteries. I did not get quotes as I knew I was going to do it myself, but I've heard it can be 300-500 to install.

The biggest thing a SWG allows you is a convenience. I spend maybe 30 mins a week on the pool. Checking chemistry, and emptying filter baskets.



Salt, is just salt. I lean towards the solar salt, but it's the same salt that you'd buy for water softeners. When I inherited this system there was very little salt in the pool. So I had to add roughly 250 lbs of salt to get it running.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Diamond-Crystal-Solar-Naturals-Water-Softener-Salt-Crystals-100012454/100172669

Are you planning on managing the pool yourself? or do you have pool guy? A pool with a SWG is really quite easy to manage. The water chemistry tests are just titration tests and the test kits aren't difficult to get or use.

The troublefreepool forum is a very good website, and their app makes everything pretty much plug and play. You do the chemistry tests, plug in the number and the app tells you what to add, what concentration and how much.

The salt water cell I had installed by home seller cost him $1100 and lasted less than a year before the rest of the system crapped out.  All the pool guys all told me it wasn't worth fixing.  But this was five years ago when chlorine was $75 a bucket.

If its like most everything else involving a pool, it will last half as long and be half as good as they claim.  By the time you break even, something will need to be replaced.

Pentair has a 3 year warranty on their salt cells.  It'll fail between 3 & 5 years unless you clean it on a very regular basis.  The power center usually don't go bad until much later, so you can wire in just the salt cell.  I actually picked one up from a pool we demo'd just to have a spare or to give to somebody that has a failed cell.  Of course the cut the chord too short, but it can be spliced in.

On a new pool install, it adds about $2000.  There is $200-350 in salt that needs to be added and then you add as needed.  Pools need to run for 30-60 days with a new interior before you add salt.  I don't know what it cost to add it after the fact.  If you have automation on a pool (control panel that you control via WiFi), it acts like the power center and can lower the cost.

The big downsides to salt is that the cell fails within 5 years, so you have to replace the cell.  It is also corrosive to pool decking, particularly some of the softer natural stones.  You may still have to add chlorine during heavy use in the summer as it may not be able to keep up.  A storm, heavy use, and a dog can really mess with water chemistry.  

There are also some other systems you can use to lower chlorine use.  U/V, Ozone, Jandy's Tru-guard, etc.  AZ really pushes the limits of pool chemistry.  The hot weather, storms, heavy pool use can really tax chlorine.  

U/V flashes the water with U/V light to sanitize the water.  You still use chlorine, but the U/V does the heavy lifting.  There is also Ozone, which as the name implies, adds Ozone to your pool.  There are some dual U/V & Ozone systems as well.  The Jandy Tru-guard adds a chemical tab that you add every 6 months.  I'm not positive what it in it, but I think it is a slow release combo of multiple things that most pool guys may add on a weekly basis.

I design new pool installation for a living.  But I still hire a pool guy as it's worth the money vs. my time, not to mention he knows what he is doing.  I know enough about pool maintenance to be dangerous.  I know how to design a new pool, so I got the front end covered.  I leave maintenance to those that know more than me.

I had salt for about 7 years. Finally quit taking care of it myself and hired a pool company - so I switched back.

The big advantage is if you are taking care of the pool yourself it saves time and effort. No lugging chemicals after the salt is in. No coming home from vacation to find the pool full of algae.

I also like the water better with a little salt in it. Also I put some borax - I think 50ppm - improves the feel of the water, makes it sparkle more, and inhibits algae a bit.

The salt cells do not last as long as the sellers say. I go through them every 1-2 years. They always get me through at least one season. I did generally keep the chlorine a little higher than most recommend for salt pools to help with avoiding algae, something like 5-7 more like what you would do with a normal not salt pool.

Don't trust warranties - I tried on a couple but they immediately want you to send them photos of the readout and a water quality report - bunch of work while you need a replacement ASAP. I imagine they use those things to get out of the warranty. I used hayward and then when I gave up on the warranty replacements I switched to Chinese knockoffs at the lowest price. The flow switches fail every few years as well - very cheaply constructed switches - easy to replace but the salt cell will turn off so you do need to check your chlorine level fairly frequently even after you get it dialed in. Here in AZ you need to run it on a much higher setting in the summer than the winter.

The only chemical you need to add on the regular is muriatic acid - the salt cell generates a lot of base.

You have to keep the stabilizer levels low compared to with added chlorine - that means a partial drain and refill is often needed when you convert to salt.

Before I converted to salt I was told about all sorts of problems - messing up the stone, rusting the metal - I didn't see any of those issues. I was pretty happy with it overall but I just didn't want to put the time into it anymore and hired a pool company. They do the stuff I hated (and therefore usually skipped) like brushing it every week. Without the cost of salt cells, acid, and cleaning robots the pool company will still cost me more, but I don't think drastically more.

You absolutely need to oversize the cell. My pool is about 30k gallons and I had the biggest normal hayward which is supposedly for 40k gallons - not enough. Go with the biggest cell you can get at a reasonable price.

Hope that helps.

I've got a 15,500 gallon pool with a Heyward AquaRite Salt Cell system.  Can't say how much it is to install one new, now - mine's been installed since 2007 when the home and pool was originally built.  The only maintenance I've had to do with it is clean the salt cell every 3 months or so (takes about an hour), replace it every 3 years or so (costs about $400-500).  Do NOT buy non-name-brand salt cells.  While they work once in a while, you will spend more time, money and aggravation over just spending more to get the quality, name-brand cell.

In the last decade, I've only had to add salt to the pool once.  If you add too much salt, the only way to fix it is to empty the pool and refill with new water.

One downside to salt is that it will cause any metal you have near the pool to corrode over time (gate, fence, etc).