I have a 15' above ground pool that I use in the summer months. For simplicity's sake (too far away from electric source) I don't use a pump and filter.. In the past I have kept it reasonably clean and clear with chlorine tablets and the occasional syphoning out of the dirt at the bottom of the pool and the use of a hand-held screen for leaves, etc.

This year I am wondering about using salt instead of chlorine to keep the water clean.. When I first heard about it I had assumed that it is the salt concentration that limits algae growth.. (Is that incorrect?) The reason that I wonder is because I recently read that somehow the salt system uses a "chlorine generator" to make its own chlorine using the salt in the water. In other words,.. Would I need a chlorine generator and a pump (and an electric source to power them) to make this salt system work..? If that is the case then it is a whole lot less appealing...

I guess that my idea of just dumping the right amount of salt into the water won't work.