Salt and Chlorine Pools: Which is Best?

For those of us who don抰 enjoy swimming in chlorinated water, it抯 good to know that there抯 an alternative available. Salt water swimming pools are increasingly popular, but how safe are they? Salt or chlorine梬hich does a better job at keeping your pool clean?

Chlorination has been the traditional method of pool sanitation for decades梐lmost by default, since there were no alternatives for this crucial aspect of owning a swimming pool. However, for many pool owners, chlorination is an old and outdated pool sanitation method they抳e discarded in favor of maintaining a salt water pool.

Chlorine

So what抯 the problem with chlorine, anyway? It does exactly what it needs to梜ills algae and bacteria, keeping the pool attractive and more importantly, a safe and sanitary place to swim. A pool that doesn抰 get regular chlorine treatments will quickly become clogged with thick green algae. Depending on where you live, and especially in a warm climate like Florida, an untreated pool can become a green, sludgy nightmare inside of a week梩he chlorine is definitely important.

If you maintain a chlorinated pool, however, it抯 not enough to dump chlorine in periodically and let the pool fend for itself. There are other chemicals to add too, as well as regular testing to keep an eye on water quality. For example, you must make sure there is enough free available chlorine (meaning chlorine that is active) in the water to keep up with sanitizing the water. This is usually done with the use of weekly chlorine tablets.

Another important aspect of this maintenance is PH levels梩he acidity or alkalinity of the water. If the PH gets too high, the chlorine in the pool isn抰 able to work as efficiently. However, if the PH drops too low, the water quickly becomes too acidic to swim in comfortably. Keeping the PH at the right level is somewhat difficult, because the range at which it抯 慾ust right?is very narrow and many factors, including rain, affect this.

Chlorine is important for sanitation, but for many people it抯 also a source of irritation. The harsh chemicals that are added to pre-packaged pool chlorine irritate the skin and eyes, making swimming a highly unpleasant experience. It is important to note that it抯 not the chlorine that抯 the problem梚n most cases it抯 the chemicals which are added to the pre-packaged mix.

Salt Water

The main advantage of a salt water pool isn抰 that it doesn抰 use chlorine. In fact, a salt water pool does use chlorine to keep the water clean. The advantage is that the pool owner doesn抰 add chlorine to the pool梩hat means no pre-packaged chlorine, and less irritation for people who are sensitive to the added chemicals. Salt water tends to be much softer than chlorinated water, so it抯 much more pleasurable to swim in, and is much less harsh on your skin. In addition, a salt water pool usually has a much lower concentration of chlorine than a chlorinated pool.

Another important benefit is more of a long-term one. In the short term, converting from chlorine to a salt water pool will involve some cash outlay, since there are a few system components you抣l need to by. It抣l run approximately $1000-$1500 to convert a traditional chlorine system to a salt water system. Over two or three years, however, the money you spend is recouped due to not having to buy extra chlorine for the pool. Just a bag of salt which is much less expensive.

Just to be clear though, salt water pools do in fact use chlorine to sanitize and the water. So if you are not adding chlorine tablets or shock, how does that work?

It works because of the chemical composition of salt, which is made up of chlorine and sodium. Within the salt water system is a unit called a salt-chlorine generator, which uses electrolysis to generate chlorine by separating the sodium and chlorine molecules in the salt you add to the pool. As the generator unit separates out the chlorine, it抯 returned to the pool, where it keeps the water clean and sanitary.

A well-maintained salt pool is an absolute delight to swim in, with softer, more comfortable water that doesn抰 irritate. It doesn抰 taste salty, either, as you might think, because it has such a low concentration of salt that it抯 officially considered to be fresh water! In the ocean, the salt concentration is between 20,000 to 35,000 parts per million, whereas in a salt water pool, it抯 just 3,000 to 6,000.

Finally, don抰 be fooled into thinking that a salt water pool maintains itself. It doesn抰. You still need to check PH levels and carry out other maintenance tasks. However,you抣l benefit from lower maintenance costs and a more enjoyable swimming experience, which definitely makes it worthwhile.