SALT WATER vs. CHLORINE POOL: Which One Is Better? | Swim University

[@SwimUniversity]

We hope this helps you compare salt water pools vs. chlorine pools! A salt water system can be a great investment 👍 And if you need more help with pool maintenance, grab our free Pool Care Cheat Sheet at www.swimuniversity.com/cheatsheet

[@billybrooks1]

I'm having to clean my salt cell monthly due to excessive calcium buildup. Calcium hardness, PH, and chlorine levels are good. Any ideas why the heavy buildup is happening?

[@jonathanparker5375]

I never had my own pool but I swam in a salt water pool with my eyes open and my God. Best swimming pool experience I’ve had.

[@SwimUniversity]

Isn't it??

[@bigal1337]

Yes yes and yes to salt. I live in Florida so the rain does affect the levels but mostly just add a bit more salt and all good. I just get in the pool with the bag of salt and mix around myself, you cannot do that with chlorine! I also upgraded to the t-15 salt cell and that made a huge difference in generating chlorine for the pool. Of course a few other chems like calcium, stabilizer etc are added periodically throughout the year. Today I just got 100% on my chem levels for my water test! Local store said first one of the day! Great video!

[@thisisme7984]

What is the maintenance coat difference between salt and non salt ?

[@georgeascione8861]

So much false information about salt water pools. First of all the salt water generator produces an extremely high concentration (super high) of chlorine as the water passes through the cell. This serves to super sanitize the water. As the water passes over the cell the electrical charge disassociates the NaCl to produce Sodium and Chlorine ions (over simplified but good enough for this post). These free ions don't exist in this state permanently and in most cases much of the Cl has already recombined with available Na ions even before it finally returns to the pool. Yes, some chlorine makes it back to the pool. Most test kits measure chlorine levels in the pool water and are a throw back from chlorine dosed pools where you need to constantly maintain chlorine levels. My pool has barely detectable levels of chlorine in the pool. The reality of a salt water pool is that you really don't need to maintain stabilizer levels or total chlorine in the pool. The water will constantly be sanitized as it flows through the cell where there is truly deadly levels of chlorine present, nothing will survive. My recommendation from experience and chemistry knowledge, use a salt water generator and maintain as low as possible chlorine levels in the pool while still having the cell working. My cell rarely operates above 30%, and is only boosted when the pool is first opened for 24 hours. I also highly recommend a UV pool water system to further sanitize and kill bacteria and virus. Forget about stabilizer, you don't need it. Also if you are getting algae forget about chlorine to fix the problem, adding enough chlorine to kill algae will not be a good swimming experience. Take it from a salt water aquarium hobbyist, if you have algae you have phosphates in the water. Use a good phosphate remover regularly and you will remove the food algae needs to survive and you will not have algae. Do not waste money on expensive algae treatments or super chlorinate your pool, unless of course you open it up "green". My pool has run crystal clear for years and years and I ignore chlorine and stabilizer.

[@NwoDispatcher]

Isn't the actual active ingredient that kills microbes in a salt water pool the micro bubble oxygen produced by electrolysis?

[@nathanmannpiano5621]

​@@NwoDispatcherelectrolysis will also produce chlorine gas

[@Reuldonniedah]

Thanks for sharing your experience👍😁

[@nathanmannpiano5621]

To add a correction: the NaCl dissociates to Na ion and Cl ion upon dissolution in water. All of the salt dissolved in your pool is already split into its ions. The chloride ion is very bad at disinfecting, however chlorine is a good disinfectant because it wants to react with things to form the chloride ion, which is very stable and unreactive. The electricity will oxidize the unreactive chloride ion to reactive chlorine (and also reduce the water in the process but that's not important). This chlorine then hydrolyzes with water to form hypochlorous acid and hydrochloric acid. Hypochlorous acid is the best disinfecting agent form of hypochlorite and is what is doing the main disinfecting of most pools, of any type of chlorine.

[@EweKnowWho]

So do you have recommendations about whether or not a SWG is safe for the metal parts in a pool? My pool has an aluminum frame.

[@paulbaratta1566]

Love the ease of salt water pool.

[@DroidMastertaylor-gang-or-die]

Hey , what’s up . I was going through youtube to find a video on how to choose the right pool pump & i’ve noticed you haven’t made that video yet. It Would be really helpful.

[@scottH18370]

I had both and I vote salt water

[@bertkutoob]

I love SW pools but my beef is the hidden costs... I guess this depends on where you live and what products are available at any given time. My experience is this.... Year 1 : Install unit at considerable expense including modifying pipework if retrofitting. Year 3 : Need to replace cell (yes - they DO wear out☹️). It will come as a shock to find that the replacement cell costs almost as much as the original entire unit. Year 4 : Need to replace cell again but find that that cell is no longer available and other cells are not compatible so you have to replace the entire system including modifying the pipework again. Repeat every 4 years or so.... Do the math before using long term cost as a motivating factor...

[@Maria-vp1po]

Yikes!!! Thanks for the input. I’m staying with my original chlorine system.

[@jackdawson3276]

Great video!. I have a salt water hot tub. Phosphate and water hardness are also of heightened concen.. Definitely worth it for hot tubs.due to less water changes needed. There isn't any Cyanuric Acid in the chlorine which allows less changes i use regular chlorine with Pool Marvel Enzymes. Much easier. I can keep my chlorine lower

[@Jrbrass]

Had a Salt Water Generator when first got the pool, 1992. After about 1 or 2 years, generator broke down. Never replaced it, went with chlorine going forward. Since the price of chlorine has really gone up, been thinking of going back to a Salt Water Generator. Could you do a video of the top Salt Water Generators or tell us which one is the best or you prefer? Thank you, always love your videos.

[@Jasheon]

Hayward is the best and longest lasting

[@SwimUniversity]

We'll probably have a post with recommendations up soon on our website! But Hayward is definitely a very reliable brand.

[@bludika]

Circupool RJ series is great and longest warranty in the industry

[@jmb3d]

I hated kepping up with the chlorine with our old pools. This year we are switching to salt water based on reviews and people I know that have one.

[@iamwooth1729]

Did you ever switch over to salt water? How did u like it?

[@jmb3d]

@@iamwooth1729 We love it. There's no chlorine smell and you skin feels better. I'm trying a solar copper floater this year. Supposedly you can run you pump less with it. Right now I'm running my pump 24/7 because I'm running my solar water heater. When it stays warm I'll start running the pump less.

[@aussiegolfdoctor]

Hey SU, great video! I was wondering if we could get your opinion on "freshwater"/ copper/silver ion managed pools...a breakdown of the pros and cons like in this video would be magic 👌

[@jhc82681]

I second this.

[@karenshort3880]

You check the ph in a chlorine pool too. And you have to check a chorine pool pump too several times a year. And you still have to check pool equipment all the time. Because Mother Nature likes to destroy equipment too. So it don’t matter you still have to watch for rust.

[@HotSauceStain]

Considering all this, I’ll stick with chlorine. Nice video!

[@davenc8527]

I've had a salt pool for 12 years. This video fails to mention one of the biggest drawbacks of a salt pool if your pool surface is gunnite. The chlorine produced by a salt generator is high in pH. If you have a gunnite pool, that likely means that you'll be adding lots of muriatic acid to your pool throughout the year. Muriatic acid is VERY expensive, is dangerous to be around, and if you use an automatic acid feeder (e.g., IntellipH), those parts require constant maintenance as well (e.g., the pump on the feeder will need to be replaced every year). I'm currently looking at ways to move away from my salt system to eliminate this problem.

[@Jasheon]

Salt water pools by far especially Hayward

[@averagejoe112]

Solid video as always.

[@samanthamarasca8864]

I live in the northeast so the winters are cold. How different is the opening and closing process for a pool?

[@gettingthatlove419]

Question: you say the salt water pool has water that is smoother/silkier and gentler on the skin, but I don’t think you say why? If saltwater pools and chlorinated pools are both kept clean by chlorine, why is it one is smoother/gentler/silkier?

[@NwoDispatcher]

Because of the effects of reverse osmosis on your biology in water that is devoid of dissolved ions and water full of ions

[@aaronjarmstrong]

@@NwoDispatchercan you elaborate on this? I’m not sure I understand

[@NwoDispatcher]

@@aaronjarmstrong your cells have a certain level of ions in the tissue. If you bathe in water without ions, osmotic pressure will pull those ions out of your cells, which dilutes them.

[@cutoats]

I have heard You can actually just put some salt in a non swg pool if you want the feeling

[@Antdogg566]

Salt water is no where near as hard to maintain a pool... it takes care of its self ... test chlorine once week and adjust generator as needed... add salt when needed depending on amount of rain or fresh water you need to add .... I don't even use any other chemicals and it does its own thingb

[@NoMasksNoJabs4Children]

can you please tell us which generator brand you use? I am looking for one withOUT a digital screen to mitigate need for Chinese part replacements. Thank you

[@poolmonkey7479]

They are all unreliable, just don’t.

[@louisfain]

I think PoolRX is more worth it than a salt system. I keep my chlorine levels low and the water is crystal clear.

[@executiveinvestments]

and you still have water 10x harsher than a salt pool. And that chlorine smell. Enjoy.

[@louisfain]

@@executiveinvestments try it out before you post ignorant non-sense

[@poolmonkey7479]

Indeed…he is a know-nothing

[@Eluiciq]

@@executiveinvestments, the chlorine smell is from combined chlorines. Salt water pools also have...wait for it...chlorine. Combined chlorines are going to happen with any chlorine system, you just have to correctly manage the chlorine of whatever system you have to keep those combined chlorines from climbing and causing the harshness and smell which you seem to think are inherent with a "chlorine" pool.

[@executiveinvestments]

@@Eluiciq salt water pools are also…wait for it….much softer on the skin and have NO chlorine smell. You will ALWAYS get chlorine smell in a chlorine pool. You will never get chlorine smell in a ……..wait for it……salt pool. Next time actually know wtf ur talking about before you try and troll.

[@ccrx2640]

Chlorine all day..!! Run Borates@40 and Salt@1800 😎Smooth as Silk 😎

[@executiveinvestments]

yeah chlorine is as smooth as silk. Another guy that cant afford a swg.

[@SeanFitz-vo4fm]

@@executiveinvestments low dose of chlorine combined with ozone and uv makes excellent water. And yes, I can afford swg but put about the same amount of money on AOP, which is a great alternative to swg.

[@richboutin4044]

Still have to add chlorine if the salt generator can’t keep up with the sun burning off the chlorine produced by the generator. I have to use tablets to subsidize my salt gen.

[@SwimUniversity]

How's your CYA levels? Most salt water pool owners need to keep theirs higher at 80 ppm.

[@seanmorgan4715]

You are also adding cya(stabilizer) through tabs. Clean your salt cell.

[@AnthonyGarcia334]

Is salt water pool like sea water? Where we barely can open our eyes

[@SwimUniversity]

No, it's way less salty. About as salty or less than human tears (which is fine for eyes)

[@VinMaida]

No mention of still adding shock every week or two with salt. I think people should know you will still need to add it.

[@seanmorgan4715]

Clean your salt cell .

[@andrewmoore1536]

Most salt systems have a button to push to superchlorinate your pool

[@executiveinvestments]

I NEVER add shock. Only when I open i add NON chlorine shock.

[@poolmonkey7479]

🤣

[@Jasheon]

Hey man, i am having an issue and no one seems to know whats going on. Brand new 40k gallon CMP salt cell, and brand new aquarite board. All working fine except when system shuts off for the night and pool gets back on, it will read low salt 2200 CHECK salt light is red and INSPECT cell is red. I reset the system by going from auto to off a few times. System reads 3000 salt, stays that way until system turns off for the night then comes back on, back to 2200PPM. This is my 3rd salt cell I have tried and my 2nd aquarite board. Something is going on and i have no idea what it is. Next step is to contact a local Hayward rep, but have you ever experienced this issue before? Thanks.

[@SwimUniversity]

Dang, that's frustrating. Without seeing it, sounds like you'd need to contact Hayward :-(

[@ryanc6811]

Salt water generators are quite cheap. Chlorine is like dumping Clorox in your pool!

[@daradiant1]

Basically

[@bubbabubbie1]

Major health hazard

[@traviswright5073]

Hey swim university im new to pool owning just wondering how many chlorine tablets for a 24x52 round pool plzz help

[@seanmorgan4715]

3 to 4 tabs a week . Add or reduce with temperature change.

[@chrisboyce1]

I have a 11000 gallon salt water pool . I keep fighting with high ph levels . I am putting in half gallon acid and it’s still not enough once a week . Any suggestions

[@patrickdelcher177]

That's one of the downfalls of salt systems. You have to handle the harshness of muriatic acid which will corrode metal or spend too much on the powder form. You will tend to fight the ph constantly. When your ph starts to climb in the 8+ range, your chlorine works less effective and have to increase your chlorine output, which makes your system work more leading to replacing your cell earlier. Saying that, i have a salt pool too, lol.

[@davidclark39]

Do you have to add water frequently? I was blowing through acid and salt until i found out I had a leak in one of the skimmer baskets. I had an auto refill valve so never had to manually add water and found out when i shut off the auto valve the pool level dropped a fair amount in one night. Fixed the leak and fixed a lot of the problem. Still i have an automatic acid feeder because salt systems I am told will always battle high ph levels a bit. ill be curious to see what you found.

[@phillipchristensen3202]

Turn the salt generation down. My guess is your chlorine levels are high too. You have to play with it until it consistently holds 3-5 ppm of chlorine and needs to be tested regularly. Get a quality test kit like Taylor. You also need to monitor the other key chems in the pool. Too many folks just worry about chlorine and ph and NEVER look at cyanuric acid (stabilizer), calcium, or alkalinity. Those are very easy to maintain and only adjust significantly with heavy rain. Check ph and chlorine levels weekly and the others only really need to be looked at monthly. If you get the 5 of those dialed in, the water will be pristine, smell better, your eyes won't burn at all, and there will be less scaling and discoloration to walls and accessories. There are plenty of videos on how to take care of all of that and it's not hard. It becomes second nature pretty quick. I typically only ever have to add a little acid to bring ph down and some baking soda here and there because the acid lowers alkalinity. Don't waste your time with the overpriced "alkalinity" stuff at the pool store or warehouse center. It's literally baking soda. Buy arm and hammer baking soda in big bags at Walmart for cheap (they even keep it in the pool section).

[@shroommcfanta2020]

What surface has your pool.. if it is concrete (ish) improve the sealant

[@highoctaneadventure]

@@phillipchristensen3202Cheers to Arm & Hammer grocery store trips for a quick TA adjustment :)

[@samclark3651]

Salt water is such a pain. I regret so much ever doing it.

[@executiveinvestments]

lol. Yeah such a pain. Explain what is so much of a pain about it?

[@samclark3651]

@@executiveinvestments 50 year old concretr block exposed to sun all day 20k gallons florida weather. Makes the pool a pain

[@executiveinvestments]

@@samclark3651 still can’t explain why. All newer pools in Florida are salt and have no issues.

[@executiveinvestments]

@@samclark3651 let me guess you have a 15 or 20k generator?

[@enviedasmr5287]

Is it safer for health to have a salt pool ?

[@seanmorgan4715]

No

[@executiveinvestments]

yes it is.

[@poolmonkey7479]

Lmao…🤡

[@ni_wink84]

You guys over complicate everything, you still have to add chlorine!!!!

[@bertkutoob]

Absolutely... One heavy rainstorm and you're running off to buy some "shock"....

[@drivebyquipper]

Saltwater.

[@naruto-dk5mt]

😮

[@MrLickMyBallz]

Can you please do a video on UV sanitizers please 😃

[@failzgamer]

Those are only needed for indoor pools. If you don't have one, you don't need it. PERIOD.

[@SeanFitz-vo4fm]

@@failzgamer You are obviously not up to date with AOP trends. AOP is the '3rd option' in the debate between 'salt' and 'chlorine'. UV can be used as standalone or better yet, it can be used as a key contributor in the AOP process, when it is used in conjunction with ozone to produce powerful disinfection action. AOP is used in combination with significantly reduced chlorine dosing, such that chlorine residuals can be as low as 0.5ppm, which makes for near-drinking water quality of the pool water.

[@failzgamer]

@@SeanFitz-vo4fm PIPE down sales rep. AOP is over 7+ years old by now. The system costs 3000+, lacks any real results and still requires chlorine. This is nothing but a snake oil.