No, a saltwater system will never work without filtration. The saltwater system does not have its own pump to draw water from the pool. It is essential that the saltwater system is connected BEHIND (AFTER) the filter pump and that the filtration is on. If the saltwater system is turned on without filtration, the saltwater system will not turn on and most likely an error message 90 (insufficient water flow) will appear. At the same time, however, the saltwater system will not be damaged, it will just remain idle and not produce chlorine. If you have the filter pump with built-in saltwater system, the saltwater system will automatically switch on the filtration.