How Much Does Everything Cost to Convert your Pool to Saltwater?

[EDIT: These example price scenarios have been updated as of spring 2023, and may not reflect current pricing]

If you own a pool, there’s no doubt you’ve heard about how great a salt water pool can be. You may be wondering how much you'll invest. Luckily, it is a lot more budget friendly than you may think!

We’ve put together three common scenarios to help you get a good idea of what your initial investment might be: first, an low-cost scenario for an average pool size with light use; second, a mid-range cost scenario for a larger and more heavily used pool; third, a high-cost scenario with retail prices. Please keep in mind these are not the absolute cheapest or the most expensive possibilities, but are intended to reflect average circumstances and help educate how things might range.

We'll go over what is involved for the basic “salt pool conversion” process for almost any backyard pool out there:

1. the price of the saltwater chlorine generator (the equipment)

2. what you might spend on the actual salt to put in the water

3. what you might spend on installation if needed

If you're new to this, the most important thing to remember is that once you convert your pool, a salt system can save up to 40% or more over traditional pool chemical maintenance over its lifespan! A saltwater pool system eliminates the need to buy chlorine, shock, and algaecide, so it pays for itself pretty quickly and gives years and years of savings. Also remember, it's not necessary to drain your pool or replace your other pool equipment in normal circumstances, and the whole start-up process usually takes about an hour.

Keep in mind that every pool is unique, and that there are dozens of brands and models of salt systems, so these are simply average examples! We’re glad to work with you individually to help meet your needs - whether that’s finding the lowest price, finding the best long-term value, or finding how premium or commercial-grade models might be a good fit for your pool.

Scenario 1 - Low Cost - Average Pool Use, Temperate Climate, DIY Capable

Matthew is 30, married, no kids, and living in his first home in Parkville, MD. The house came with a 15,000 gallon pool, and after the initial excitement wore off, he and his wife will swim maybe on the weekends during the summer, with the occasional get-together at their pool with some of their friends.

1) Equipment Cost - Given the usage and environment of the pool, Matthew goes by the system sizing recommendations and chooses a system that is about 50% larger than his pool size. In this case, he chooses a 25k gallon pool system, which does make sense for his climate and pool usage. For example purposes, an average market price for this system could be in the ballpark of $950 (though you can certainly find one priced lower or higher).

2) Salt Cost - Based on Matthew's pool size of 15k gallons and the specs of the equipment, he needs about eleven forty pound bags of salt. At about $8.00 each, he's spending $88.00 on salt. However, that is still drastically cheaper than buying chlorine tablets, and unlike those tablets, the salt will only need to be replaced in smaller amounts over the years when there is a physical loss of water, Chances are, unless there becomes a need to drain the pool, that he won’t have to repurchase such a large amount of salt again.

3) Installation Costs - Matthew is decently handy. He already has a hacksaw lying around to cut the PVC pipes on his pool plumbing, but can't find any PVC glue or primer in his garage. At the hardware store, he buys a small combo package of PVC glue and primer cans for about $10, and decides to buy a little extra PVC pipe and PVC fittings just in case he measures wrong and needs to redo the pipe joint like he did when he fixed the lawn sprinkler head last month. Playing it safe, he's out the door for $20.

Matthew cuts and glues the pipe to plumb the salt system into his piping in about fourty-five minutes, and connects its power cord to his pool pump's timer in about five minutes. He dumps the salt into the pool in just about ten minutes. Matthew has converted his pool to a salt system in about an hour!

4) Total Cost - $1,058 - Total Estimated Cost. Looking back a year later, Matthew was shocked that he only spent about $40 dollars on his pool for the rest of that year for some muriatic acid to balance the pH.

So as you can see, a DIY installation is very simple to do and a pretty fast process! More importantly, it does save you money. But what if you don’t feel comfortable installing it yourself and rather leave that to the professionals? We’ll go over that now.

Scenario 2 - Mid-range Cost - Heavy Pool Use, Tropical Climate, Local Installer

Kim is 52, and lives in Gulfport, MS. Her young grandkids are constantly swimming in her 15,000 gallon pool, and she has done a lot of research and knows for sure that a saltwater pool is the best way to go. She has even picked out the exact system that she needs. However, she doesn't want to bother with installing any equipment on her pool.

1) Equipment Cost - Given the usage and environment of the pool, Kim wants to make sure her pool stays clean even during those hot summer months when there might be a bunch of kids swimming in it, all the time. Since she knows the benefits of choosing an over-sized system, she doesn't think twice and chooses a larger 40k gallon pool system. Generally, an average price for this system could be in the ballpark of $1,250 (though you can certainly find one priced lower or higher).

2) Salt Cost - Based on Kim's pool size of 15k gallons and the equipment's salinity requirement, she needs about eleven forty pound bags of salt. At about $8.00 each, she's spending $88.00 on salt.

3) Installation Costs - Kim finds a local handyman online with good reviews. He's installed other saltwater systems, and he says "besides, even if I had never done this before, it's just cutting and gluing PVC pipe and connecting a set of wires. It will take me less than an hour, but my minimum rate is $200."

Kim's handyman cuts and glues the pipe to plumb the salt system into the piping, and connects its power cord to the pool pump's timer. He dumps the salt into the pool. Kim's pool has been converted to a salt system in well under an hour.

4) Total Cost - $1,538.00 - Total Estimated Cost. Looking back a year later, Kim was delighted that she only had to spend $40 on her pool for the rest of the year for some muriatic acid to balance the pH and some clarifier to help the filter remove all the sand and dirt the kids tracked into the pool.

If you have a pool, you may already have a company that you pay for chlorine and service- so you may wonder "how much it would cost if I ask them to do it?” Many local pool stores and pool services provide are great companies that are wonderful to work with and have great prices. Unfortunately there are some companies that want to want to bill for as much chlorine and service as possible; if that's the case, this is the scenario to avoid.

Scenario 3 - High Cost (what to avoid )

David is 44, living in Huntington Beach, CA, and always uses the pool with his kids at least a couple times every week. He hears friends and neighbors talking about their saltwater pools. He's been happy with his pool service, so he asks them what they think about it. The pool company tells him that they've "been in the pool business for a long time and they don't prefer saltwater pools, but a lot of people want it and they can certainly convert his pool for him", and since he uses their pool service they tell him installation will be free.

1) Equipment Cost - This pool service company prefers traditional chlorine maintenance, so it only uses one system for every saltwater pool they do, and it might not be sized exactly right in order to generate all of the chlorine needed for David's pool. The quote for it is about $2,250, which means David is paying a lot more than retail.

2) Salt Cost - Based on David's pool size of 15k gallons and the system's salinity requirement, he needs about eleven forty pound bags of salt. Billed at the premium price of about $18.75 each, he's spending $206.25 on salt, which is almost double what the others paid in other scenarios.

3) Installation Costs - David's pool company is giving free installation.

David's pool company cuts and glues the pipe to plumb the salt system into the piping, and connects its power cord to the pool pump's. They dump the salt into the pool. David's pool has been converted to a salt system in well under an hour.

4) Total Cost - $2,456.25 - Total Estimated Cost (unfortunately). Ouch! That is over double what he could have paid. Looking back a year later, David wasn't very happy to realize that the pool company was still charging him $100 every month for chemicals on service visits, because he thought that he didn't need all that chlorine they were still putting in. What were they still charging him for...?

Even if you don't convert your pool to saltwater yourself, you can get one installed for usually half as much as might hear from a company that doesn’t like how salt systems take away chemical sales & service. But if you have some basic DIY skills or a handy friend, many people can convert their pool to a saltwater system and save big. Discount Salt Pool also offers unlimited customer support to try and make things as easy as possible for you! If you’re ready, come check out our wide selection and we’ll be happy to help you along the way with whatever you may need!