Chlorine swimming pools were the standard residential (and commercial) pool type for decades.
Salt water pools first appeared in 1972, way down south in New Zealand. While they initially faced some scepticism (as many new technologies do), over time more pool builders started to offer them and eventually salt water pools found their way north and started to appear in the USA and Canada in give or take the 1980’s.
As time passed, and overall acceptance increased, saltwater pools started to be seen by many as the better option to chlorine pools.
Which brings us to today, and a question we’re often asked.
Should you switch your chlorine swimming pool over to a salt water pool?
And the answer to that question is, it depends.
There are pros and cons on both sides.
Some of the benefits that salt water pools offer include
- lower maintenance costs, (at least at first)
- they are typically less work to maintain,
- and salt water is also much softer and you don’t get the skin or eye chlorine irritation.
All of this sounds great, but hopefully you did notice the comment we made that about those lower maintenance costs only being at the outset.
The reason we say this is because salt is an extremely corrosive material.
Anything within about twenty feet of your pool will will have an extremely short lifespan, and we do mean everything!
Your pool ladders, diving boards, the concrete or stone around the pool, pool lights will all have a reduced lifespan. Even things like your lawn furniture and your wooden deck will deteriorate faster if a salt water pool is near it.
Further to this, the internal elements of heaters, pipes, jets etc that are used in chlorine pools are different than those used in salt water pools. If the change from chlorine to salt is not done properly, and thoroughly, you can quickly run into a variety of other deterioration issues.
So maybe you shouldn’t make the switch from chlorine to salt water?
That’s up to you.
In a perfect world, a salt water pools work best is when the pool was built specifically as a salt pool, because as mentioned, a reputable pool company will put different materials into them to withstand the salt better. Having said that, your chlorine pool can be switched over successfully, but again it needs to be done thoroughly by people who will change over all the various pool components as required.
So, yes there are definite benefits to a saltwater pool, but before you make the change, ensure you not only understand the pros and cons of making the change but that the pool company is doing more than just dropping a salt water system in and calling it a day.
