Saltwater Is Better Than Chlorine Water
Chlorine might be harsh on some peoples skin, but it depends on personal preferences. A home survey revealed that their hair feels more manageable after swimming in saltwater pools with chlorine. Before deciding which pool you want to install in your backyard, check by swimming in a saltwater pool and a traditional pool to see which one is better for you.
Setting Up A Saltwater Pool
Setting up a saltwater pool or converting your pool to a salt system involves more than just pouring salt in the pool. If you add salt without using a chlorine generator, then all you’ll have is salty pool water.
But essentially, you just pour salt into the pool a lot of salt. How much salt to add to the pool? To reach the initial salt level recommended by the salt system manufacturer , you will need to add about 200 pounds of pure pool grade salt , per 10,000 gallons of water. This dosage will get you to approximately 2,400 ppm salinity.
To calculate exactly how many bags of salt you’ll need for your pool, use the following equation: 8.375 x Salinity Increase ÷ 100 = Pounds of salt per 10,000 gallons
Salt stays in the water, so you only need annual boosters to replace salt lost to backwashing or splash-out. You can use the equation above to figure out exactly how much salt to add to keep the pool salinity at an ideal level.
Installing a salt chlorine generator is also fairly straightforward. Most inground salt systems have a wall-mounted control box plugged into an electrical outlet, as well as an inline salt cell plumbed into the return line. The control panel allows you to dial in the desired amount of chlorine output, with indicators for water flow, temperature, and salt level. Salt chlorine generators for above ground pools often either hang on the pool wall or attach to the pool return for an even easier installation.
A Saltwater Pool Is A Chlorine Pool
In order to fully understand when, why, and how chlorine is added to a saltwater pool, it is important to understand what a saltwater pool is.
A saltwater pool is essentially a chlorine pool. Let me explain.
Chlorine is manually added to a traditional pool to kill germs and clear the water. Chlorine is added, usually by hand, in the form of liquid, powder, granules, or tablets.
The only difference between a saltwater pool and a chlorine pool is the delivery method of the chlorine. And the fact you add salt to the water. This is why it is called a saltwater pool.
A saltwater pool uses a salt-chlorine generator to convert the salt in the water into chlorine. So, in essence, instead of manually adding chlorine to the water, the salt chlorine generator creates it.
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Setting Appropriate Percentage To Run Swcg
Basically, all chlorine generators have a percentage setting that controls how much chlorine they produce and how much time the pump runs to produce enough chlorine.
In some cases, you will be forced to increase the pump run time to allow for the production of sufficient chlorine when free chlorine is too low.
However, since the setting is a percentage of the pump runtime, you will have to readjust the percentage every time you change the pump runtime to get free chlorine from a low level to recommended levels.
How Much Salt Does My Pool Need
The salt level should usually be 3,0004,000 ppm, but check your cells rating. Some salt chlorine generators have different ranges.
For a brand new pool, add 4050 lb. of salt for every 2,000 gallons of water. For a pool thats already done some duty with chemicals, test the water first.
You can use a calculator or chart like this one to figure out how much salt youll need to add to reach the ideal ppm.
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Mistake #7 Forgetting To Shock Your Pool Regularly
Shocking your pool is the process of adding an extra boost of chlorine to help raise your free chlorine levels. Regularly shocking your pool also helps destroy additional contaminants, algae, and bacteria.
If your salt water generator has a BOOST mode, it can disperse extra chlorine from your system.
You can also shock your pool by manually adding granular dichlor chlorine or liquid chlorine. Just be sure to check your CYA levels after using stabilized chlorine. And try to avoid cal-hypo shock that can cause calcium build-up in your salt cell. Heres how to add shock to your pool.
We recommend using the BOOST mode or shocking your pool once a week during peak pool season or after heavy rain or heavy use. Make sure to add this extra chlorine at night to let it dissipate and so the sun doesnt burn it away. Then retest your water the next day.
Lounge Chairs Sit Poolside On Pool Kings
Lounge chairs sit poolside near waterfall and Baja shelf, as seen on DIY Network’s Pool Kings.
Cons
Chlorine pools rely on chemicals to keep the water sanitized and some of these chemicals come with certain health risks. Chlorine is known to irritate your skin, eyes and throat, and it can dry out skin and bleach swimwear. Some people simply dislike the smell of chlorine.
While there are no major upfront costs to a chlorine system, chlorine pools require buying a steady supply of chlorine and other chemicals to balance your pool chemistry. This can add up over time, more so than the cost of salt for saltwater pools. You will also need to handle the chemicals when adding them to the pool, which may be unappealing to people who prefer avoiding exposure to harsh chemicals. Owners may also find maintaining a chlorine pool to be more cumbersome since you must perform weekly tasks such as checking the chemical balance, adding chlorine tablets and shocking the pool.
Another factor to keep in mind is that chlorine must be stored in a safe location, which may be especially tricky for people with young children or limited space.
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Inspect Regularly For Scale
One of the biggest problems with salt chlorine generators is that they tend to produce a lot of scaling . To keep this at a manageable level, check your generator every 2-3 months.
You will occasionally find scaling on the salt cell, but more commonly it forms on the metal plates and goes largely undetected until theres a problem.
When you see it, remove as much as you can with your hand or a gentle brush. if its too hard to remove, you might have to make a muriatic acid solution to clean it with.
To do that, mix about five parts water to one part muriatic acid and pour it directly into the salt cell. Let it foam for 10 minutes or so and then pour the solution into the bucket.
Finally, you can wash out the inside of the cell with a hose and put the cap back on.
Remember that when you handle muriatic acid, you should use extreme caution and wear gloves and goggles. Also, protect your skin from coming in contact with it at all.
Also keep in mind that you should only clean your generator when it needs it, especially when youre having to use an acid wash. This is hard on those parts and can decrease the life of the unit if done too often.
Releasing Chlorine From Salt
The salt-chlorination process starts by adding several hundred pounds of salt into the pool. Once in the water, the salt dissolves and releases ions of sodium chloride.
This pool water flows into the pool equipment where the salt chlorine generator operates.
Inside the generators chamber are several electrically charged titanium plates. These plates comprise whats called the salt cell.
The electrical charges from the salt cell interact with the sodium chloride ions and separate the chlorine from them.
Now, they have transformed into the active, pure form of chlorine gas and the byproduct, sodium hydroxide.
This free available chlorine in the water performs sanitizing duties just like its tablet, powder, or liquid cousins. The chemical combines with organic contaminants in the pool water and efficiently destroys them.
After the chlorine does its work, the process repeats. It will do so as long as the generator and the pool pump are is turned on and as long as enough salt remains in the pool.
The goal for a salt pool is 2700 to 3400 parts per million of salt. 3200 ppm is ideal. This amounts to roughly one-tenth the average salinity of the ocean.
Most backyard pools range in size from 10,000 to 20,000 gallons. So, you can also picture the salt level by imagining about 200 pounds per 10,000 gallons of water.
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What Is Salt Chlorine Generator
A salt chlorine generator uses the salt added to generate the chlorine needed by your pool. The machine consists of two major parts cell and a control board. When pool water passes through the cell, a series of metallic girds react with salt molecules in water, and pure chlorine is generated. Only 99 % of pure pool salt is used for chlorine generators, and the typical generator cost could be around $2500 with easy maintenance.
Which Salt Is Best For Salt Water Pools
As the saltwater pools are becoming famous daily, people are now showing interest in converting their existing pools to saltwater. Saltwater pools use chlorine generators to produce the required chlorine for the pool, and for this, you need to use proper pool salt. Canada Salt Group Ltd supplies pure pool salt all over North America. If you are a homeowner looking for pool salt, talk to our professionals for advice. Contact us for more information.
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What Is A Saltwater Pool
Popularized in the United States during the 1980s, saltwater pools have continued to surge in popularity, with millions of salt pool systems now in operation.
Contrary to popular belief, a saltwater pool is not a chlorine-free pool. Pool salt water systems create their own chlorine by passing slightly salty water through two electrically charged metal plates inside of what’s called the salt cell.
Through the process of electrolysis, salt and water , are converted into chlorine , hydrogen , and sodium hydroxide , as the water passes through the energized salt cell.
When the chlorine molecule is used up, it gets converted back to salt , and the process can start again.
A saltwater pool is not necessarily better than a chlorine pool because it is a chlorine pool. Salt pool systems create chlorine to kill bacteria, germs, and algae, and it’s the same chemical produced by tablets, liquid, or granular chlorine.
Mistake #9 Forgetting To Inspect Your Salt Cell
Things like calcium can build up over time on a salt cell. Therefore, youll want to inspect and clean your salt cell every 3 months and at the beginning and end of the pool season.
Open and inspect your salt water cell to check for scale build-up and deposits. If there are deposits, use a high-pressure hose to flush them off.
You can also use a diluted solution of muriatic acid to get rid of more challenging deposits. Be sure to follow any cleaning directions that came with your salt water generator.
Now, if you want more help taking care of your salt water system throughout the season, grab our FREE Pool Care Cheat Sheet. Also here are some more common mistakes that pool owners make in case youre interested in learning more.
Happy swimming!
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Test And Adjust Salt Concentration
First things first: test the salt concentration and adjust as needed. You should know that:
- Saltwater pool systems operate efficiently only when salt is in the right concentration.
- Different chlorine generators require different salinity levels. This is the first thing you need to take into consideration before adding or reducing salt in your pool.
- Chlorine generators operate well with salinity levels between 2500 and 3500 ppm. You must either test the salinity level before adjusting it or use a chlorine generator that monitors and displays the salinity reading.
- Cooler geographic regions will experience reduced water conductivity, and if you are taking the reading of salinity from the generator, you may get a much lower and inaccurate reading, so you need to be extra careful not to add too much salt.
- Make sure that you dont add too much salt into the pool. The only way to reduce salinity is by draining the water and refilling with fresh water.
- Test for salinity every week. Keep in mind that salt levels will be recycled during the process of chlorine production, and you may not need to add more unless the level falls way below the recommended range.
Salt Water Chlorinators Vs Chlorine Pools Explained
Is there really a big difference in saltwater pools and chlorinated pools? Well, the answers might surprise you. In a nutshell, satwater pools are easily the best investment you can make for your home pool. A saltwater pool isn’t just dumping sacks of salt into your pool, it’s much more than that. We’ll go over the advantages of saltwater pools from traditional chlorinated pools, and why you should really consider converting your pool to one.
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Increase The Time The Saltwater Generator Runs For
For a slight increase in the chlorine level of your salt pool, increase the time the saltwater generator runs.
For most pool owners, youll need to adjust the pool pump timer and also the saltwater generator control panel. The pool pump needs to be ON for the saltwater generator to run.
On average, your saltwater generator should be running 8-12 hours per day. Its counter-productive to run the SWG over 14-16 hours per day as it will increase the wear on the salt cell.
Saltwater Pool Vs Chlorinated Pool
A saltwater pool gets cleaned using a filtering system called a salt chlorine generator. The system uses electricity to turn salt into chlorine, which cleans the pool.
In a chlorinated pool, chlorine tablets or granules are physically added on a regular basis for the same purpose.
In both pool types, its important to still check the pH levels and alkalinity of the pool so it stays sanitized and the chemicals stay balanced.
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Is A Saltwater Pool Less Expensive To Maintain
Absolutely! The primary reason for this is that salt is far cheaper than traditional chlorine, and the chlorinator will do the heavy lifting for you, automatically! So you don’t need to buy chlorine. You don’t even need to have chlorine and other chemicals “just in case” someone forgot to dose the pool and has caused the pool to turn green.
What Chlorine Does For Your Pool
To better understand what a pool is like with low or no chlorine in it, you need to first understand what chlorine does, and why it has become the ubiquitous sanitizing chemical in all pools.
Chlorine does four things really well:
- It disinfects the pool by killing bacteria.
- It oxidizes which improves water clarity and quality.
- It kills algae and keeps it from growing and blooming in the pool.
- It stabilizes the pool water and keeps it at a consistent quality.
Another benefit of chlorine is that, because it can do all of the things mentioned above in one chemical, you are actually reducing the overall chemicals added to your pool.
If you try to have a chlorine-free pool, you will need multiple chemicals to do the same thing that chlorine does, and oftentimes with less effectiveness and similar side effects. Therefore, you are not really solving any of the issues that chlorine has.
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Final Verdict: Its A Draw
Despite the individual benefits of chlorine vs saltwater pools, in the end, neither comes out as a clear winner for the best pool sanitation system.
Of course, our comparison assumes equal importance on each of the above points, which doesnt translate well into the real world. Not everyone values low cost to the same degree as convenience, for example.
Ultimately, you need to weigh up the benefits of each system and decide what matters most to you, and what youre prepared to compromise on.
Saltwater Pools Are Salty
People might be hesitant to swim in salt water pools because there is a myth that water in a pool might be too salty. However, the fact is that saltwater pools have 2500 ppm of salt, while for ocean water, it is about 35000 ppm. If you are swimming in the ocean, the high concentration of salt will draw all your bodys moisture, but in the case of saltwater pools, it does not happen as the concentration of salt is very low.
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Salt Water Pool Maintenance Checklist
We’ve put together a salt water pool maintenance checklist specifically for salt water pool owners. As you continue reading keep in mind that not all pools, generators and water quality are the same which will present unique maintenance challenges. We’ve also put together a detailed hot tub maintenance checklist with helpful tips and advice specifically for salt water hot tubs.
Daily
Test And Adjust Ph Levels
An ideal pH level is necessary to enable chlorine to function effectively and kill harmful bacteria. High pH levels in a saltwater pool lead to the formation of calcium buildups, and you need to measure your pH regularly to avoid white flakes or calcium scaling.
- To reduce pH levels: Use muriatic acid or a dry acid such as sodium bisulphate.
- To increase pH: Use alkali such as soda ash. Ensure that you add these substances slowly in increments and allow the water to circulate for 4-6 hours before swimming.
Note
Ideally, the recommended levels for pH should be between 7.2 and 7.6, with the most ideal or optimal level of 7.4.
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