What’s The Cost Of Salt Water Pool Maintenance?

It’s generally accepted that salt water pools offer advantages over chlorine pools albeit with a higher up front cost. In general, chemical costs tend to be lower for salt water pools since they largely run on water softener salt whereas chlorine pools require large chlorine usage each season.

What’s the cost of salt water pool maintenance and is it worth the extra up front cost over a chlorine pool?

It’s first important thing to note is that salt water pools do require some chlorine to open the pool in the spring to get the chlorine level in the water up quickly similar to how you might use kindling to start a fire or lighter fluid to quickly start a barbeque. You may also need some chlorine during the season during very hot periods of sun or heavy pool usage. And of course you need the same chemicals that a chlorine pool uses to kill algae, lower and raise pH as required, etc.

Cost Of Salt Water Pool Maintenance

While each pool type generally has some costs that are the same, there are other costs that are only borne by each option. So since both salt water and chlorine pools have a pump run on electricity, we’ll exclude those costs since they cost the same for each type of pool.

And generally, most chemicals will – give or take – be the same for each pool (algaecide for example) so we’ll exclude them.

Here are the main differences that are specific to each pool.

So the costs for each option are different and you can see that there is a much bigger up front cost for a salt water pool. The flip side is that chemical pools tend to require more work in terms of keeping water chemistry straight so your chlorine costs might be higher as might other chemical costs when water chemistry gets out of whack.

Other Considerations

System automation

Modern chlorinator systems have timers which enable you to turn the pump on and off as required rather than chlorine systems which may just have a simple on off switch which may lead to higher electricity costs and more frequent pump replacement over time if you run the pump more frequently. They also automate other aspects of your pool if desired like water features, lights and gas heater. They also provide real time reading on salt levels, cell voltage & amperage, water temperature and more.

Mobile phone enabled

Many high end chlorinator systems are now mobile phone enabled with an app and also offer real time automatic water chemistry automation among other high end features.

So if you’re the type of person that likes technology and wants to monitor your pool and set it remotely while away from home, you can do so with some higher end chlorinator systems. It’s also a consideration if you travel during the pool season and can leave your home for days or longer and know confidently that the pool system is still running well.

Other benefits

With a salt water pool you are paying more up front and also for replacement parts but you are also getting:

• More convenience
• Less maintenance and work to monitor chemical levels
• Softer water on the skin and eyes
• Lower overall chemical costs in all likelihood since water chemistry tends to be automated and easier to keep in line.

It’s really up to you to figure out if the extra cost is worth the convenience.

Want to learn more? Check out my post on Salt Water Pool System vs Chlorine vs Bromine to compare the three main pool type options in greater detail.