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There are some disadvantages to a salt water pool. Besides costing slightly more than chlorine pools, salt water pools require a lot of salt. It's also harder to find a professional with salt water pool experience to do minor maintenance and repairs. Salt water can also damage some materials, so you’ll need to use specific heating, fixtures, lighting, liners, and masonry when building a salt water pool.

Yes, you will need building permits for an inground pool, and your pool installation company should pull them for you. The permit filing fee will usually sit between $400 and $1,800, and it should appear on your contract or invoice. You may want to confirm with your contractor that they will pull all necessary permits. You might also need a permit for a new fence, as many municipalities have special fencing requirements for properties with pools. A fence permit costs between $50 and $500. This expense may not be included in your pool installation estimate.

Yes, pool pumps use a significant amount of electricity, making them one of the biggest energy consumers in a home. A pool pump can use up to three times as much electricity as a refrigerator. Typically, a residential pool pump consumes about 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) for every hour it runs. Because pumps often need to run for about eight hours a day to properly filter the water, this can add up to an annual consumption of 3,000 to 5,000 kWh, which can cost between $480 and $800 per year based on average electricity rates.

The amount of electricity your pump uses depends on its size, energy efficiency, and daily run time. To lower your energy consumption, you can choose an energy-efficient or variable-speed pump, ensure it is correctly sized for your pool, and run it only for the minimum time required to keep the water clean.

If a pool turns green after adding salt, there’s a good chance the salt is the problem. Certain brands of salt have high levels of iron that cause pool water to take on a green hue. Test your pool water to determine if this is the issue. The green color will usually filter out. Brush the sides of the pool to knock the iron off.

This is just one reason a pool can turn green that is specific to adding salt. Many other reasons a pool can turn green include algae growth, low chlorine levels, a faulty filter, etc.