SALT WATER POOL FAQS
THE MYTH OF SALT WATER
Someone told you should get a salt water pool. What's the deal?
When most people think of salt water they think of the ocean. The ocean is about 34,000 ppm "salts". A "salt water pool" is only about 3,200, 1/10th the amount.
The ocean also contains multiple types of salts, calcium carbonate, gypsum, potassium and magnesium salts.
If you only put table salt in water and only 1/10th the amount, clearly it's not ocean water.
So why do some people run around saying they have a salt water pool?
Because it's sexy to say "I have a salt water pool".
It's a lot less so to say "I have a bleach factory in my back yard".
When the device you buy to make your "salt water pool" operate says chlorine generator on the box, you start to realize things may not be quite as advertised.
WHAT'S THIS ABOUT A BLEACH FACTORY?
If you're honest, it's tough to call it anything else.
The box says "chlorine generator" right on it.
If you are manufacturing chlorine (generating if you like), you are in the Clorox business.
The device (chlorine generator) takes the sodium chloride (salt) in the water and turns it into "sodium hypochlorite" and that in turn into hypochlorous acid which is the active part of chlorine bleach.
Bleach by the way (sodium hypochlorite) is between 88% & 94% salt water and when you pour it in the pool it turns into... Hypochlorous acid, same thing.
All forms of chlorine whether liquid, powder or tablet turn into hypochlorous acid in the pool water.
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I WAS TOLD THAT SALT WATER POOLS ARE MAINTENANCE FREE.
This is probably the biggest misconception we run into.
Whether you manufacture your own chlorine or go out and buy it, it's still a chlorine pool.
How you maintain a chlorine pool is the same regardless of how the chlorine gets into the water.
So if all you are doing is swapping one brand of bleach (Clorox) for another (the stuff you made in the back yard), how does that translate into a Clorox pool is the devil and my bleach factory pool is a dream? We cant answer that either.
Water balance (pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness, cyanuric acid, phosphates) need to be maintained in any pool.
Testing the water, the need for a preventative algaecide, clarifier and all the other things on the pool chemical shelf do not get magically done for you because you made your own bleach.
DOES IT WORK?
Absolutely! It manufactures chlorine as advertised.
But that's all that it does. As long as you keep in mind what it actually is and don't over promise things it cant possibly deliver like create a maintenance free pool, it will work.
WHAT'S ALL THIS ABOUT CORROSION?
Well if chlorine alone wasn't quite harsh enough on your equipment, bathing suits and skin, lets add hefty dose of salt and electricity into the mix and see what happens.
What happens is what any boat owner on the coast will tell you. Anything metal is going to have a problem.
Countries around the world have spent billions of dollars on research and development to protect their naval equipment from being destroyed by salt water.
The pool industry has come up with two solutions for this issue.
Create a salt friendly version of metal components. This includes pool walls, hand rails, slides and diving boards, etc.
Put a "sacrificial" piece of metal in the water to be destroyed before something more important is.
"Salt friendly" means a company that makes something metal has taken it and coated it with a protective layer, like car paint.
"But you thought Stainless Steel was rust proof" right?
As it turns out, stainless steel is only resistant to rust. In the presence of an electrical charge, it corrodes quite nicely.
Simply visit the website of any manufacturer of pool stainless steel rails or games and see the "salt friendly" tab for a description.
The other part of the protection equation is to attach "sacrificial anodes" (aka galvanic anode) to the metal components. The term sacrificial obviously means that it is destroyed before something more important breaks.
Inexpensive zinc is connected to the electrical loop around the pool and the stray electric current eats away at it, rather than your beautiful stainless steel.
This is the thing all coastal boats have on them for protection.
IS THERE A "NON CHLORINE" SALT SYSTEM
Short answer, no.
Long answer...
There is a salt/mineral system that does not generate chlorine but uses sodium tetraborate, sodium chloride and sodium-dichlor as active ingredients.
The system manufactures minerals not chlorine. The minerals produced kill the algae and bacteria that would normally be the job of chlorine.
Because the combination of minerals and borates in the system do the bulk of the job, the chlorine needed is less than one half that of a traditional "salt water pool".
You still need to add some chlorine to the pool but the amount is minimal.
BOTTOM LINE
SALT CHLORINE POOL?
SALT MINERAL POOL?
As stated above, a salt chlorine pool is just a fancy way of saying "I make my own bleach". If you don't want a chlorine pool or even a low chlorine pool, this isn't it.
We have it, but it's not this.
A salt/mineral pool is a low chlorine system and closer to what most people "imagine" the maintenance should be.
Because you don't need to add 500+ pounds of salt to the water for a mineral system to work, the corrosion factor is nearly non-existent.
Yes there is a device same as salt/chlorine but no chlorine is made.
Yes there is sodium in the water but its a combination of different kinds of salts, not just table salt and no where near as much.
No you don't need sacrificial anodes because the part that creates the minerals is destroyed in the process acting in the same way as the anode.
Yes that means you replace the mineral part more often than the chlorine version. But it also means you never have to replace your pump and metal components because they were destroyed by salt.
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Ok, so you dont want to destroy the pool and metal components by installing a "salt system" but you want something easy to use.
We have a primmer on it right here.