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What's the
Deal With These New Saltwater Pools?

by Joshua
Baker

When
it comes to sanitizing your pool water home
owners now have a more convenient and regulated
method available to them. In the past the only
way to add chlorine to a pool was to either use
a tablet and let it dissolve though a feeder or
to manually pour liquid chlorine into the water.
These methods are still the most popular but
Salt Water Chlorinating systems continue to grow
in popularity. Yes saltwaer pools still use
chlorine. The difference is that they make the
chlorine themselves.

Without
getting to technical Salt Water Chlorinators
work by using electrolysis to release chlorine
gas from the salt in the water. Mill run salt is
added to the pool water to achieve a saturation
of approximately 3200 parts per million. This is
about the same amount of salt found in a human
tear. The salt water is then passed though a
chlorinator cell that is plumbed into the
equipment after the heater. The cell is
electronically charged and releases the chlorine
gas from the salt. The chlorine gas is mixed
with the water to create liquid chlorine and is
then delivered back to the pool.

A
common myth about pools sanitized with Salt
Water Chlorinators is that they are no longer
using chlorine. The reason for this myth is that
many of the issues related to conventional
chlorinating methods are no longer present. With
conventional chlorinating it is common for pools
to dry swimmers skin or have a strong chlorine
smell. Again without getting to technical these
issues are caused by Chlorimines. When chlorine
is added to the water it only has a set amount
of “killing power.” After chlorine kills
contaminates in the water more chlorine is need
to burn the “dead chlorine,” the chlorimines,
out of the water. When a pool stinks of chlorine
or leaves swimmers skin overly dry there is most
likely a large amount of chlorimines in the
water.

With
Salt Water Chlorinators chlorimines are less of
an issue. Since the systems are constantly
producing fresh chlorine, there is always enough
free chlorine to kill off the chlorimines. For
this reason swimming pools using these systems
will have little or no chlorine smell and leave
swimmers skin much smoother. When set properly
Salt Water Chlorinators as also easier on pool
equipment because chlorine levels are kept at a
more constant level and there are less spikes in
chlorine levels. Not having liquid or dry
chlorine around the house for the little ones to
get into is also a huge plus.

Salt
water Chlorinators are great but there are a few
things you will want to be aware of before you
buy one. Many pool stores and builders tend to
only bring up the pros of these units. Although
the pros out-way the cons ten-fold it is still
necessary for anyone considering one of these
systems to know common problems that can arise
and the reason for them so they can avoid
unnecessary disappointment with their new
investment.

This
list will help you recognize some of the most
common problems I have seen in my
experience  when it comes to
Salt Water Chlorinators

1.
The pool filter is not running long enough for
the unit to create the needed amount of choline.

2.
Conditioner (Cyanuric Acid) Levels are too low.
80ppm is ideal. If conditioner levels are too
low the choline produced will be burned off by
the sun. Conditioner acts as sunscreen for your
chlorine.

3.
Phosphates present in the water. Many of the
stain remover products on the market are loaded
with phosphates which act as food for algae.
Some will disagree and say they have no effect
but I have seen it in my own pool and if
phosphate levels are too high your Salt Water
Chlorinator will act as though it is not
creating chlorine. What happens is when the
chlorinator creates the chlorine it immediately
has to go fight off the algae that is growing,
even it not visible. When this happens your pool
can not catch up and build a reserve of chlorine
in the water. (1-3ppm)

4.
Salt level is too high. When cells start to fail
they often give faulty salt reading or say to
add salt. If this is done with out double
checking the true reading you can over salt the
water. Most systems will not work if the
salinity of the water is too high or too low.

5.
Heavy use. If all the neighborhood kids are
using the pool a few times a week and you are
only running your pool for 6 hours a day, you
are most likely not creating enough chlorine to
keep up with demand.

6.
PH is out of balance. When your PH and
Alkalinity get out of whack your chlorine is
less effective. pH should be 7.2-7.8.
Chlorinating with a Salt Water Chlorinator is
similar to chlorinating with liquid chlorine in
the fact that liquid chlorine has a high pH. One
common problem is that homeowners tend not to
test their pools pH and Alkalinity weekly. The
main reason for this is that too many builders
and retailers sell the systems as a “set it and
forget it” solution. Most people with salt
systems will run their pH from 7.8-8.0. This is
bad for two reasons. One the pool is in a
scaling mode and two the chlorine tends to be
less effective the higher the pH gets. It is
best to run between 7.4-7.6.

In conclusion, these units may
be relatively new to the U.S., but have been
very popular for years in Australia. Many hotels
and water-parks have already converted to
saltwater systems. Saltwater Chlorinators are
defiantly a step forward in the fight to create
an easy to maintain pool. When used properly and
monitored frequently there is currently no
better way on the market for a home owner to
care for their pool.

This article was
published on Sunday 27 August, 2006.

Current Reviews: 0

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