SWG Operation - Lessons Learned

[Katy-Texas]

Just to add my 2 cents.

Have a 26000 gal in-ground plaster & gunite salt water pool for just over a year here in west side of Houston. Chemicals added are:

1) 1 gallon of acid every ~10 days to keep pH down in summer, about 1/2 that in winter.

2) Some cheapo Algaecide when I had some algae in skimmer entrances last summer. Then I read this forum and realized I was too cheap on power and upped my pump time to raise my Cl level to 2 since which I've had no more algae problem.

3) Added 3 x 4.5 lb jugs of stabilizer this spring when 1 year old as almost all disappeared over winter.

4) Couple bags of salt every 3 months, mostly as big rain dump overflows pool via overfill line to street thereby diluting the salt.

Teenage daughters want shower 1/2 time after pool, I never do, feels great.

I do still have quite a bit of spalling of flagstone (sandstone) coping, friend said he heard it was because I had salt pool? Whatever the reason I would not do flagstone again.

Lastly, all my friends with conventional Cl pools still have upsets once-twice a summer/year and get sold tonnes of chemicals from local stores.

Question 1, my pool builder said better to run salt generator at 50% for longer than 100% for shorter (and thereby save power) as hard on salt generator, unknown why?

Question 2, from reading this thread, sounds like vinyl salt water pool owners add way less acid than plaster owners, so something is going on with plaster. My plaster seems to be etching, ie becoming more porous, over time. Is that a negative side effect of salt plaster pools?

Thanks to pat for kicking off great thread, toodles.