While many new pool owners choose to build it with a salt water chlorinator, other existing pool owners decide to convert their pool to salt later on. The actual conversion process isn’t necessarily difficult – it can be expensive however – but it can offer pool owners many benefits over regularly chlorinated pools.
But salt is a corrosive substance and salt water can damage metal and concrete among other substances typically found around pools. The question then is does adding a salt water chlorinator to your swimming pool void a warranty that you might have?
While salt water pool chlorinators are particularly well-suited for inground fiberglass and vinyl pools, if you add a salt chlorination system to many above ground pool brands and models, it can void the warranty.
There are actually a few things to consider when building a salt water pool, each of which can impact whether or not a salt water pool is even a good idea to begin with. That in turn can help to determine whether or not a pool warranty will remain in place.
Let’s look over each of those options below.
Will a salt water chlorinator void my pool’s warranty?
Which pool style are you planning on building? It has an impact on whether or not a warranty will be left intact when a salt water chlorinator system is added.
Inground salt water pool
Inground pools are ideal for salt water chlorination systems but as we’ll elaborate on below, that doesn’t mean that all inground pools are.
If you build an inground pool, you will undoubtedly be dealing directly with a pool company to build it and thus will be working with them regarding repairs and warranty-related claims.
Building an inground pool involves a number of steps including digging the hole in your backyard, installing the walls, pouring the concrete, reinforcing the structure, adding the liner, doing the plumbing and electrical work and all other tasks required for your specific build.
In that regard, if you build a new pool and they agree to install a salt water pool chlorination system, you should be covered by a warranty for all aspects of the work in case anything goes wrong.
Why would a pool company agree to install a salt water chlorination system and not offer a warranty? That makes no sense and a customer should not agree to such an agreement.
Above ground salt water pool
Above ground pools are a different story. You can find above ground pools that are fully salt water compatible or salt water approved but most above ground pools don’t carry this designation. As a result, many above ground pool manufacturers won’t uphold a warranty on their pool if you install a salt water chlorinator system.
Building an above ground pool is very different from an inground one. There is no hole to dig and the pool is built on the ground rather than in it, which results in a very different design. An above ground pool kit includes many parts made from steel including walls, uprights, supports, tracks and other components.
Steel – being a metal – does not necessarily react well to corrosive salt water especially when it is in constant contact with it, or close enough that it could be in regular contact from splashing.
Thus, many people knowledgeable in pool building will tell you not to add a salt water chlorination system to an above ground pool.
If you find an above ground pool that is salt water pool compliant, check with the manufacturer to see exactly what this means and if you’re required to use a specific salt water chlorination system or model.
Salt water chlorination system diagram
Will a salt water chlorinator void my pool’s warranty depending on the type of pool I install?
The main types of pool installations you can choose are fiberglass, vinyl liner and concrete pools. Not each design is well-suited to a salt water chlorination system as we’ll see below:
Fiberglass pool
Fiberglass pools are ideal for salt water pool installations and should not void a pool warranty. Fiberglass has been used for decades to built boats so you know in general terms, it’s a strong and durable material that can deal with water and salt water more specifically.
Fiberglass pools are also built to be very strong, durable and thus less susceptible to damage. There are no open metal parts unless you have a metal ladder installed. And since there is no liner, nothing can get ripped.
In that regard, fiberglass pools work very well with salt water chlorination systems.
Vinyl liner pool
Vinyl liner pools are commonly built with salt chlorination systems and thus should not void a warranty but there are some considerations to think about.
Vinyl liners can pull away from the sides of the pool which on its own is a pain. But it means that water can then flow down behind the liner and onto the concrete base. Like metal concrete doesn’t do well with salt water.
Having said that, the salt in the pool is relatively low and the harshness of the chlorine produced is less than chemical chlorine and people have been using that in vinyl lined pools for decades.
The real concern with salt water pools is if the supports and walls of your pool are made from steel. In that case, you should avoid a salt water chlorination system.
Be careful too if you have a metal ladder in the pool since the steel will be partially submerged in the water for months during the swimming season. Having said that, from personal experience owning a salt water pool with a metal ladder, we haven’t seen any noticeable damage even though the ladder is many years old.
Concrete pool
Concrete pools don’t work well with salt water chlorination systems in general terms and often pool builders will refuse to install the two together. In this regard, if you were to find a pool contractor willing to build one with a salt system, they may decline to offer any warranty given the problems you might experience down the line.
You may also hear it referred to as gunite pools since gunite (or shotcrete) is a liquid concrete sprayed with a hose, something that is often done during concrete pool building given the convenience and enhanced speed it offers.
Concrete can be damaged by salt water so a concrete pool may require more frequent resurfacing than it might otherwise need if it was a regularly chlorinated pool.
Resurfacing is a necessary but time-consuming and expensive requirement that involves emptying the pool entirely, refinishing the floor and walls in a series of steps, and then refilling the pool with fresh water.
This of course then means adding chemicals and rebalancing the pool water from scratch. Again, time-consuming and expensive. Plus you obviously can’t use the pool during this time.
It has been widely stated that salt water is up to 5X as abrasive on plaster as regular chemical chlorine. Something to think about if you’re considering concrete along with a salt water chlorination system.
Summary
Fiberglass pools are ideal when built in conjunction with a salt water chlorination system due to the durability of fiberglass and salt water’s lack of negative impact on the material.
Vinyl liner pools also tend to be a solid choice if you’d like to install a salt water system unless you have significant steel as part of the pool design, potentially in the supports and walls.
Concrete pools tend to be a poor choice for a salt water chlorination system given the corrosiveness of salt water and damaging affects it can have on concrete and gunite.
Looking for more information on pool design? Check out my article called What Is The Cheapest Inground Pool Shape? Your choice of pool shape can have a significant impact on price!