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The comparison · South Africa
Mineral pool or salt pool?
Both make their own chlorine from what is dissolved in the water. Both run the same cell. What differs is the bag you buy, what the water feels like, and what it costs you a season. Here is the honest version, including where salt wins.
Samecell, on a Maytronics unit — either consumable
3 500to 6 500 ppm TDS, both of them
Saltis the cheaper consumable, by a clear margin
Neitheris a chlorine-free pool
Start here
Most of it is the same
Comparison pages usually open by telling you the two things are worlds apart. They are not, and pretending otherwise makes the real difference harder to see. If you have not met a mineral pool before, read what one is first.
Same machine
A Maytronics EcoSwim or Mineral Swim cell runs on either. The unit on the wall does not know or care which bag you bought.
Same chemistry job
Electrolysis converts dissolved chloride into sanitiser as water passes through the cell. Both are chlorine pools. Neither is chlorine-free.
Same weekly habits
Test, balance pH and alkalinity, brush, backwash. Neither system removes the need to look after the water.
Side by side
Where they actually differ
| Salt pool | Mineral pool | |
|---|---|---|
| What goes in the water | Sodium chloride — ordinary pool salt | Magnesium-rich Dead Sea minerals |
| How the water feels | Clean, slightly slippery, familiar | Noticeably softer — the reason most people convert |
| Consumable cost | Low. Pool salt is a commodity | Higher. Imported minerals, R769,99 for 10 kg |
| Chlorine level held | Conventional, around 2,0–3,0 ppm | Lower — Maytronics put a Mineral Swim pool at 0,5–1,0 ppm with ozone running |
| Operating TDS | 3 500–6 500 ppm | 3 500–6 500 ppm |
| Taste | Faintly salty | Slightly bitter — that is the magnesium |
| Ozone option | Same upgrade path on a Maytronics unit | Same upgrade path — Mineral Swim V2 Purifier into the spare slot |
| Can you change later | Yes — dose minerals on top, no draining | Yes — either direction |
| Best argument for it | Cheapest way to stop hand-dosing chlorine | The water quality, and a lower chlorine level to swim in |
Read that cost row again. Salt wins it, clearly. If a page tells you minerals save you money, check what they are comparing against — usually hand-dosed chlorine, not salt.
Running cost
The bag is the whole difference
Salt pool
Ordinary pool salt, bought locally in 25 kg bags. You top up after backwashing and heavy rain, not on a schedule.
The hardware is identical, so the up-front number is identical. The gap is entirely in what you buy to keep it running.
Mineral pool
Mineral Swim Dead Sea Minerals 10 kg at R769,99. Maytronics put normal consumption at four to five bags a year on a typical domestic pool, topped up the same way after backwash and rain.
Whether that is worth it is a question about how much you care how the water feels. It is not a saving, and we are not going to dress it up as one.
The two bags, priced
Our own shelf prices, so you can do the sum yourself rather than take our word for it.
Dead Sea mineralsOut of stock
Mineral Swim Dead Sea Minerals 10 kg
- SKU
- 10-200-1001
R769,99was R775,99
View it 
ChlorinatorIn stock
EcoSwim ES20
- Pools up to
- 60 000 L
- Chlorine output
- 20 g/h
- SKU
- 10-110-0302
R16 499,99was R17 599,99
Buy now That is R8,00 a kilogram against R77,00 a kilogram — roughly 10×. It is the clearest number on this page and it argues against the more expensive product, which is why it is here. Pool salt is Gauteng collection only; ask us for delivered pricing elsewhere.
Which to pick
The short version
Choose salt if…
Running cost is the deciding factor, you are happy with how your water feels, or you are converting off hand-dosed chlorine and want the cheapest route to a cell that does the job for you.
Choose minerals if…
The feel of the water is what you are buying, you want the chlorine level held lower, and the difference in the bag price is not what the decision turns on.
Either way…
Buy the Maytronics unit that runs on both. Then the decision is a bag, not a machine, and you can change your mind in two years without replacing anything.
Straight answers
Mineral or salt, asked properly
Is a mineral pool just a salt pool with different salt?
That is closer to the truth than most marketing will admit, and it is the right place to start. Both use an electrolytic cell to make chlorine from dissolved solids in the water. The difference is what is dissolved: sodium chloride in a salt pool, magnesium-rich Dead Sea minerals in a mineral pool. Same job, different consumable, different feel.
Which one is cheaper to run?
Salt, and it is not close on the consumable. Pool salt is a commodity; Dead Sea minerals are imported and cost more per bag. What a mineral pool buys you is the water quality and the lower chlorine level, not a saving.
Do I need a different chlorinator for each?
Not with a Maytronics unit. An EcoSwim or a Mineral Swim cell runs on ordinary pool salt or on minerals, and you can change your mind later. Older sodium-only chlorinators are not all rated for minerals — and they will not take the Mineral Swim V2 Purifier either, because it plugs into a Maytronics control unit. Check before you dose.
Does a mineral pool still use chlorine?
Yes. So does a salt pool. Neither is a chlorine-free pool, and any page telling you otherwise is wrong. The cell makes chlorine from what is in the water — the difference is the level it is held at.
Which is gentler on the pool and the equipment?
Both run at a fraction of seawater salinity, 3 500–6 500 ppm TDS. Sensible practice is the same for either: rinse coping and ladders, keep pH in range, and do not let splash-out dry on natural stone.
Can I switch from salt to minerals without draining?
Yes, and most people do. The salt already in the water stays; you dose minerals on top and the balance shifts over time as you backwash and top up.
What about the taste and the smell?
A salt pool tastes faintly of salt. A mineral pool tastes slightly bitter, which is the magnesium. The heavy pool smell people associate with chlorine is chloramine, and both systems produce less of it than hand-dosing does — a mineral pool with ozone produces least.
Which should I choose?
Salt if the running cost is the deciding factor and you are happy with how the water feels today. Minerals if the feel of the water is what you are buying, and you are prepared to pay more per bag for it. Both are a long way better than dosing a drum by hand.
Still not sure? Tell us about the pool.
Send the volume and what is sanitising your pool now. We will tell you which one we would put in, and why.