quote:

Originally posted by 06wrb:
Is there enough salt in the system that it would effect the concrete patio around a pool like road salt would a driveway or sidewalk?

No, you should keep the salt level between 2800 and 3500 ppm. The ocean, by comparision is about 35,000 ppm or 10 times the level of a pool.

The difference in the feel of the water is due to the salt and not the chlorine generator. I added salt to my other pool to bring it up to 3,000 ppm and the water feels the same between both pools.

I mentioned it in passing, but didn't really point it out: when the chlorine generator is running it is shocking or super chlorinating the water so you rarely have to shock the pool. When chlorine disinfects, it creates chloramines, aka combined chlorine, which when they reach a certain level is what actually irritates the eyes and creates the smell. You shock, super chlorinated, the water to break down the chloramines. How often you need to shock the pool depends on how often you use it and how many people are using it. Determining the free chlorine, combined chlorine, and total chlorine is a part of testing the water and will tell you when you need to shock the pool.

You still need stabilizer with a chlorine generator. Stabilizer prevents the sun from breaking down chlorine. Without stabilizer, your chlorine generator will have to work much harder to keep chlorine levels where they need to be and may not be able to keep up. Mine won't in the summer.

My experience is based on year round care of two screen enclosed pools in Florida. One for the last 18 years and the other for the last 8. The newer one has the chlorine generator.

I just changed my above ground pool over to a saltwater system this season and I love it so far. A lot less maintenance and no chemical smells after I get out. I wish I had just bought the saltwater system when I first bought the pool.

quote:

Originally posted by 06wrb:
Is there enough salt in the system that it would effect the concrete patio around a pool like road salt would a driveway or sidewalk?

Funny you ask, and all I have is anecdotal input. A friend had a grill rust super fast next to a salt pool after he installed it. They denied the warranty claim under the premise that the pool was responsible. I'd never heard that, and figured it was BS or he just never bothered to close/cover/clean it while it sat out in TX weather.

But who knows?

quote:

Originally posted by Powers77:
When I was looking at it I was told that your source water should be a consideration. Here in Vegas our water has tons of minerals and that supposedly doesn't play well with the salt water systems.

That's interesting to hear. I completely agree the water here in Vegas is terrible (hard) but we installed our saltwater pool in Vegas in 2006, and it has been zero trouble. In fact I just replaced the original salt cell (chlorine generator) yesterday. It's probably a few years overdue, but we were not having any real issues with it.

quote:

Originally posted by Mutiny:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Powers77:
When I was looking at it I was told that your source water should be a consideration. Here in Vegas our water has tons of minerals and that supposedly doesn't play well with the salt water systems.

That's interesting to hear. I completely agree the water here in Vegas is terrible (hard) but we installed our saltwater pool in Vegas in 2006, and it has been zero trouble. In fact I just replaced the original salt cell (chlorine generator) yesterday. It's probably a few years overdue, but we were not having any real issues with it.[/QUOTE

Interesting to hear practical experience. When I was looking at it we were re-starting a pool that had been mothballed during a foreclosure. Couldn’t justify the expense for no real reason.
Glad to hear yours is working out well.