Hi,
I am still trying to decide on my brand new, yet to begun construction, gunite in ground pool on whether to go with salt or chorine for sanitizing. I was leaning towards salt, but maybe I am reading too much. I am hearing great things about maintenance, but I have read the following negatives:
1) It is more corrosive than chlorine and you have to make sure EVERYTHING is non-corrosive and salt "compatible".
2) For new gunite pools, salt will not allow the concrete to cure properly.
3) For waterfalls/decents, you have to make sure the salt won't damage them.
4) The salt gets in the "atmosphere" and corrodes everything.
5) If you don't use muriac acid to lower the PH, you increase the corrosive effects.
There are a few other things I read.
A piece of me says, go with chlorine as it is "tried and true". The other side of me says, salt is the way to go...and I have a friend who converted and is very happy. I just worry about corrosion of the plaster, stamped concrete deck, equipment and pipe joints.
If you have real life experience of over, say, 7 years with a salt system, I'd love to hear from you. If you are in the pool industry, I'd rather you keep your sales pitches and lying to yourself.....you are the folks who made my whole process of getting a new pool a confusing mess.
Thanks, Doug