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Saltwater Rules | Handle less chlorine and keep a sparkle in your pool

By Ann Evankovich

The thought of swimming in a saltwater pool conjures up notions of a backyard reservoir with murky depths your friends don’t dare dive into. Or, you may wonder, does swimming in saltwater mean you have to share your space with microscopic, seafaring creatures, even those you would rather not meet? Finally, if saltwater pools are so great, why does it seem that people who eat veggie wraps and tofu hotdogs have them and not everyone else?

To set the record straight, saltwater pools are chlorinated, and their water can, indeed, sparkle brilliantly. Many people like saltwater pools because you do not have to handle chlorine directly. Chlorine is hazardous before it is diluted in your pool. What’s more, its long-term effects on the body are not yet known. Saltwater pools are not complicated to operate: instead of adding chlorine to your pool, you add salt. A saline generator uses electricity to convert the salt into chlorine. Remember your high school chemistry class? When you zap salt (NaCl) with electricity, chlorine molecules break off. Once set free, they behave exactly like manufactured chlorine. Another immediate (and less complicated) advantage to saltwater pools is that you’ll float better in them than in freshwater ones. Though the water in a saltwater pool is one tenth as salty as the ocean, it is still more dense than fresh water. And users report that, though the water may have a slightly salty taste, it has a silky texture.

Often saltwater pools are advertised as “maintenance free,” but you must care for them with the same diligence as you would any other pool. And you must analyze your pool water just as frequently to ensure it is safe to swim in. If you don’t want to build a new pool, you can add a saline generator to the pool you already have, though this will involve making a mid-sized investment. This, report users, is well worth doing. You will have the satisfaction of producing your own chlorine, minimizing exposure, and swimming in water that feels natural. The system will produce chlorine constantly and keep your pool clean (and sparkling) so long as the generator itself is running.

You must care for your saltwater pool as diligently as you would any other kind of pool, this includes monitoring chlorine and acid levels.

Supplementary Technology

There are very few cost-effective, stand-alone applications currently on the market that allow you to say goodbye to chlorine forever. However, you can use less chlorine if you treat your pool water with supplemental applications. These include injecting ozone gas into your pool water. This kind of ozone, though, has nothing to do with poisonous “ozone” levels in the atmosphere. Like saltwater generators, ozone generators rely on electricity. In this case, electricity collides with oxygen in the air, which is O2, and converts it to ozone, which is O3. Ozone applications are being used successfully by the Navy and, in public pools, by counties throughout the country. Professionals in the area report that they are not yet cost-effective for private pools. “Ozone is most effective at killing bacteria, but does nothing for the algae,” notes an expert. He warns that ozone systems are one of the most expensive applications to install because they must be able to produce as well as circulate ozone. At the moment, they are most economical when installed in large, commercial public pools. Also, ozone’s power is short-lived because the molecule stays in the water and is effective for only about seven seconds. So, unless you have an industrial ozone-producing system, you still need something, such as chlorine, to boost it. Ozone systems, though, are ideal for small, well-circulated areas, such as spas.

Ultraviolet (UV) technology is another way to help your pool water stay clean. Like ozone gas injection, it is not a stand-alone application. UV light disrupts the genetic material within a contaminant and renders it inactive. A UV system is convenient in that it will not affect the pH balance of the pool. However, if you use it algae may become a problem, so frequent algacide treatments will be necessary. There are units available for pools with chlorine and saline generators.

Another supplementary technology is mineral applications—many are applied through cartridges. These kill bacteria by delivering trace amounts of copper and silver into your pool water. In general, mineral systems attack algae but do not destroy organic wastes, so the pool must still be disinfected regularly. And mineral cartridges must be replaced seasonally, although they are not terribly expensive.

Saltwater pools are chlorinated. You fill your pool with salt that a saline generator converts into chlorine.

If you want to say goodbye to chlorine forever and you have an indoor pool, you can try bromine, which is less irritating to eyes and skin than chlorine is. You need less bromine than you do chlorine to sanitize your pool, so if you choose bromine, your exposure to chemicals, overall, will drop. However, bromine is in the same chemical family as chlorine. So if you are allergic to chlorine, chances are that you will have trouble with bromine, too. Bromine is not recommended for outdoor pools in this area. It loses its effectiveness in sunshine and is difficult to stabilize. Like chlorine, bromine combines with bacteria in pool water to kill them. However, unlike chlorine, after bromine has attacked bacteria, much of it still remains “active.” The disadvantage is that bromine costs much more per pound than chlorine.

No matter what, nothing replaces a good relationship with your pool company. The company can help sort out details, analyze your water, and recommend the appropriate technology or combination of technologies, in an ever-changing field, to suit your needs. As you investigate your options, make sure the ones you select have been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. Some applications, such as those that use copper, are controversial because copper in small amounts has been found to harm humans. And the next time you are invited to a saltwater pool, don’t hesitate to accept the invitation.

Home Editor Kymberly Taylor contributed to the research and writing of this article and has learned to appreciate saltwater pools. Anne Evankovich is a freelance writer and pool owner living in the Annapolis area.

Tags: Pool Technology Saltwater pools

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