olaf wrote:
"GoHabsGo" wrote in message
. 244.170...
"Charles Spitzer" wrote in
how does the salt leave when the water evaporates?

hint: it doesn't.

Good point. However, that is a moot point since it is all electronically
controlled and will tell you when and how much salt to add. You can also
set the controller to shock the pool.

Shock it... with chlorine, right? I thought those systems separate the
sodium ions from the chlorine ions and use the chlorine to chlorinate the
pool. Aren't you still chlorinating with this setup?

Maybe we're getting off the subject but it's a direction in which I
have some interest. I stated renting a house 10 months ago that has
one of these salt water pool setups. Yes, the water is chlorinated but
I don't think it's nearly as much as a normal pool. I don't know why
one wouldn't need as much chlorine in the water. (Maybe the chlorine
and salt have a combined effect?) This is the first time I've even had
a pool so I can't compare it to what one would normally have in their
home setup but I can say the level of chlorination isn't nearly what it
is in my father's spa. We do have to resupply salt from time to time
(about 600kg per year). True, salt doesn't evaporate with the water,
but there must be enough loss when backwashing the filters to merit the
additional salt. Sounds like a lot of salt loss - doesn't it? Maybe
the pool guy is backwashing too much? :-0 Also, some salt has to leave
as it is converted to chlorine and sodium. I can't even begin to
speculate how much salt that eats up.
By the way, the salt level is somewhat lower than sea water too.