Salt pools: what people get wrong
A salt pool is still a chlorine pool — the cell just makes the chlorine for you. Knowing that explains most of the problems salt pool owners run into.
The assumption we're testing
“Salt pools look after themselves”
Salt pools are chlorine pools
The chlorinator makes chlorine out of the salt in the water. That is the whole trick. You are not swimming in a chlorine-free pool — you are swimming in one that makes its own.
So everything that applies to a chlorine pool still applies. It still needs balancing, it still needs testing, and it still goes green if the chlorine stops.
Cells wear out, quietly
A salt cell has a working life of a few years, and it does not fail all at once. It gradually makes less chlorine while the control panel still says everything is fine.
Most people notice when the pool starts struggling in midsummer and assume it is the heat. Often the cell has been fading for months.
Running it longer is not the fix
Cranking the output up or running the pump longer masks a dying cell for a while, and costs you in power the whole time.
It is worth testing the cell rather than working around it. Replacing one is far cheaper than a green pool recovery plus a replacement anyway.
This is Pump, filter & chlorinator repairs territory.
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