Staff Answer
Jul 31, 2026 - 08:20 AM
When you have a salt water pool and use a salt chlorine generator as your source of chlorination, your pool remains compatible with conventional forms of chlorination such as chlorine tablets, liquid chlorine, granular chlorine, etc...
In terms of recommendations however, using chlorine tablets (whether in a saltwater pool or a traditional chlorine pool) isn't ideal over the long term as it can lead to increased cyanuric acid levels over time which makes your chlorine unable to do its job, and can eventually require the pool to be partially drained.
If additional chlorination is needed, it's best to start with raising the chlorine output on your salt chlorine generator or using the system's "boost mode" if you are compensating for a temporary situation like after heavy pool use. You can also increase the run time of your salt chlorine generator to increase chlorination. If additional sanitation is needed, liquid chlorine is a fast-acting approach that doesn't have the downside of chlorine tablets.
If your salt chlorine generator is properly-sized and has been sufficient in the past, and you now find that even with 100% output and continuous run time that additional chlorination is still needed, this is a red flag that something is causing excessive chlorine demand in the water, and low chlorine troubleshooting needs to be done. Many salt chlorine generator models will have low chlorine troubleshooting guide which will help you confirm your system's chlorination, and check for many common factors that can cause excessive chlorine demand, some of which many pool stores don't necessarily help with. Let us know what brand and model system you have and we can help connect you with the most relevant troubleshooting.
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