Chlorine To Saltwater Conversion - What To Know?

[SnapBoogey]

Hi there, this is my first post on the poolspaforum... hoping I can get guidance and education here.

I have recently bought a house with an older chlorine pool (in ground, 20X40, 35,000 gallons). The home I currently live in has a salt water pool and I know that I don't want to go back to the 'old' ways! What do I nee to know and do in order to convert this new pool to a salt water system? What would the costs be (ballpark)? What are the dangers/pitfalls and things precautions that I need to take? I seem to see Hayward as the primary retailer of saltwater converters - is this the best? Are there others I should consider?

While my husband is a capable and handy guy, if this is more than just a simple installation process (ie, there is high potential for costly or dangerous mistakes or it is just a lot of technical work), should I get getting a pool company or a pool electrician to install it?

Thanks for the input!!

[chem geek]

To convert to using a saltwater chlorine generator, it's basically just adding a lot of salt to the water to get to around 3000 ppm (if that's what your SWCG system wants) and to install the SWCG itself into the plumbing. There's both PVC plumbing work and some electrical work since the SWCG must be shut off when the pump is off. Others will have to tell you if this is a DIY job. Most people have a professional install them.

Once it's in, then if this is an outdoor pool exposed to a lot of sunlight, you'll raise your Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level to 80 ppm and target a minimum Free Chlorine (FC) level of 4 ppm. You'll also keep your Total Alkalinity (TA) lower at around 70 ppm. You might need to raise your Calcium Hardness (CH) to around 400 ppm if this is a plaster pool (if vinyl, then don't worry about the CH level).

[waterbear]

Depending on the age of the pool and related equipment you might not want to convert. If you have a heater you have to make sure it is suitable for a salt pool, Ditto for your flter if it is a metal shell filter. If your plumbing for the pool uses metal pipes you might not want to go salt either. Newer equipment is not a problem but some of the older installations might need a major overhaul first to make them suitable for salt. How old is this pool? If you can't go salt there are other alternatives to automated dosing that will not overstabilize your pool such as using liquid chlorine with automated peristaltic dosing pumps.

[LegsOnEarth]

If you can afford to, you should always have a professional do the work, if only so that your warranty will be honored. That being said, salt cells can range from very simple to very complicated.

The basics of installing an SWG are simple so long as your control system is basic (mechanical). If your pool controller is not going to be linking up to eh salt generator, then you're basically just plumbing in the cell and hooking it up to a power center. Minimal programing. There is eletrical work involved however, so I would still recomend that you have it installed by some one you can trust. If you do go maverick on it, be sure to read the entire manual. Hell, even if you don't do it yourself you should read it!

As for not going back to the 'old' ways, well, the chlorine generated by the cell is that same molecule that comes in a jug or a bag. You just save yourself the trouble of handling it.