How do you maintain a salt pool? We'll go over the basics, but what does it boil down to? Adding a salt system to your pool makes things easier.
If you're new to the idea of a saltwater pool, the most important thing to know from the start is that salt systems have become the standard in pool care. A saltwater pool is just a regular pool with a "salt chlorinator" installed on it; a salt system eliminates the need to buy and add chlorine to the pool (saves a lot of money), makes it so you don't have to micromanage your pool chemistry (saves a lot of maintenance), and eliminates the "chlorine smell" and other unhealthy qualities of traditional pools (makes the water a lot nicer).
The big difference
The main cause of pool maintenance woes is managing the pool's sanitation - in other words, the chlorine level in the water. That's exactly what a salt system is for; you no longer have to constantly add chlorine, shock, or algaecide! You'll quickly see how thing go from a near-daily struggle to just having to double-check your water chemistry and nodding in satisfaction.
Basic maintenance
In general, saltwater pool maintenance looks like this:
- You'll quickly become confident that your chlorine level is staying in range and the pool is consistently staying blue and clear. After big changes in weather, you may need to raise or lower the system's sanitation power level to compensate.
- Because of how predictable things get, you'll likely be able to reduce your testing to a few times a month, or often less. Water chemistry testing is always important to confirm your pool's balance, especially for the supplementary levels that aren't directly affected by your salt system.
- Your salt system doesn't change the maintenance required by other pieces equipment, like your filter for example.
Going deeper
For more details about saltwater pool chemistry, click on the link below. Remember that nothing changes with the basic requirements of the pool, so there isn't "special chemistry" just for saltwater pools. You're just adding a device that's meant to handle the biggest downside of traditional pool chemical maintenance - managing your chlorine
Saltwater Pool Chemistry