Salt water vs chlorine pools in Florida

Neither is better across the board. A salt system makes chlorine steadily all day, which suits a Florida summer when the sun burns chlorine off fast. A traditional chlorine pool costs less to set up and has no salt cell to look after.

What matters more than which system you have is whether the chlorine, pH and stabilizer are kept where they belong. Both types go green just as fast when they are not.

Yes. The salt cell uses electricity to turn dissolved salt into chlorine, and that chlorine is what keeps the water clean. The same targets apply as in any pool: the CDC puts the minimum at 1 ppm free chlorine, or 2 ppm with stabilizer, with pH between 7.0 and 7.8.

More than the brochure suggests:

• Salt level. Keep it in the range your cell's manual gives. It drops with rain and splash out, and the cell stops making chlorine properly when it is low.
• Cleaning the cell. Calcium scale builds up on the plates, faster in hot water, and a scaled cell makes less chlorine.
• pH. Salt systems push pH up, so most salt pools need acid added regularly.
• Stabilizer. An outdoor salt pool still needs it, or the sun takes the chlorine as fast as the cell makes it.
• The cell itself. It wears out and gets replaced every few years.

It can be, over time. Salt water splashed onto natural stone, some pavers and coping can wear the surface as it dries and crystallizes. Rinsing the deck now and then and keeping it sealed helps.

If you are deciding on salt and have natural stone around the pool, factor that in. Keeping a deck clean is part of pressure cleaning, but prevention is cheaper.

Many people find them softer. The salt level is far below the ocean's, and the steady chlorine production avoids the big swings that come with manual dosing. A well balanced chlorine pool can feel just as comfortable, though, and most red eyes come from pH being off rather than from the type of pool.

Yes. A salt system is added to the existing equipment and the pool is brought up to the right salt level. Have the equipment and surroundings looked at first: some heaters, older metal fittings and natural stone do not get along well with salt.