Anyone changed the Pool over to Salt water system?

Thinking ahead a month of so, I'm thinking about changing over to salt water system. Anyone have experience with changing over? How do you like the salt water vs Chlorine?

 

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=94769&highlight=salt

Search is your friend!

 

You have to be the only person on the board who would ever think somebody here may have already asked THAT question!

 

DITTO!

 

Seen my pool?

But damn guys, it was only 6 months ago.

Or maybe because I asked it on the old forum!

 

Changing over to salt water is a great idea for those that don't know how to float.

 

Ha! In my hot tub I once dumped 10 bags of salt to see if I could float better. Man, it was cool!!!

 

Wowzer!!!

 

WOWZERS! You must really get bored at times!

 

Never been to the Dead Sea, so I tried it in my back yard.

 

The best!
No red eyes ,no bad chemical smell anymore.
You barely can taste the salt,computer controls the dosage and the amounts of salt aren't really high enough to alter the "feel and taste" of water.

 

Nah, I remembered the same thread as soon as I saw the this one.

 

And he'll probably hit you with the re-post card for calling him out

 

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!!! My mom use to tell me stories of when she was a kid visiting the Great Salt Lake when she lived in SLC. Go out on a hot day and just float around with only your swim suit on!

 

Oh why not!!!
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no idea about changing over, but i prefer salt to chlorine. doesnt hurt your eyes as much. and doesnt taste as bad...

 

OK part II-

What model do you guys use? I'm looking over a few on ebay and they look "cheap". Compu-pool is the best looking model at $699. others are $199 etc.

 

Ours is a Hayward Aqua Rite Salt System. Because of the size of the pool we have 4 of them installed. We have to replace the electrodes about every 2 to 3 years.
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How many gallons is you Pool?

 

About 250-300,000

My brother just corrected me too, we have 5 of them if you count the one that is connected to the hot tub.

 

Good I was just thinking, maybe I need more than one. You have a swimming lake it appears.

 

Yea, its a big one. 3 lanes.
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Just put in a pool this fall. Went with a salt water system off the bat, and i'm so glad I did. No maintenance, just watch the salt PPM on the digital display. When it gets low, dump a bag of salt in the deep end. Highly recommended!

 

When he was building his new house, I told my dad about the saltwater pool thread I had read on Ferrarichat and told him it seemed like a much better solution. He went with chlorine anyway, and after a year of that we now have a saltwater pool . Seems to be a much better system!

 

Dr.S be careful, looks like you just might swim right over the edge! Nice pool! Wouldn't it be cool to have a prop of an old pirate shop toppling over the edge?

Salt is the way to go....once you go salt, there's no going back! The main problem with chlorine is that it breaks down into chloromine (sp?), and that's the stuff that causes the red-eyes, the burn, the odor, etc.

Salt pools create natural chlorine that won't breakdown, it's soft on the skin, easy on the eyes and even gentle on the bathing suits (especially if your wife is fond of the $150+ suits). I've found three downsides:

1) The pump needs to be running for chlorine to be generated. I keep my filter super-clean and my solar heating does the job quickly...in the summer I only "need" to run the pump for 3 hours for a heated & sparkling clean pool....BUT, with the salt system you need at least 5-8 hours of pump-run time to generate enough chlorine. You may want to look into a 2-speed motor, especially as energy cost increae. Seems a shame to run a pump just to generate chlorine.

2) The pool may use a lot more acid. I have to add a gallon a week, but I'm using the Home Depot diluted stuff....the acid at Leslie's cost more but it's more concentrated: watch for % content. But yeah, what you save in buying chlorine may be spent on acid...but it's not the savings you're looking for, it's the softer and nicer water quality.

3) You need to keep the "cell" clean....every 3-6 months you should clean it. It's not tough, just remove it and use water. If you see scale, use acid...but be aware, each acid treatment eats at the metal plates and the cell is about $500 and you'll need one every 3-5 years depending on care & usage.

Again, it's the comfort of the water you're getting...not money savings. UV & Ion are also other options, but I hear salt is still the best bet.