Salt Water Chlorinator

Pool chlorination up for debate

After a dip in a pool, just about the only thing worse then shriveled up prune hands is the burning sting of too much chlorine.

For some islanders the chemical burn of the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District’s Aquatic Center is just too much, and has become a deterrent to using the public waters on Madison Avenue.

“I would go to the pool and I noticed it would take a couple days to wash the chlorine out of my skin,” said islander Larry Koss. “There was a time when I wasn’t even swimming, but just standing in the facility and my eyes burned for two days after. Something tells me that is not too healthy.”

Koss is working on a grass-roots movement to urge the parks district to transition from a chlorine-delivery system to a salt-water system. Koss started a petition that now has nearly 100 signatures, but it’s unclear how much the park district can do with a limited budget and more pressing pool emergencies, including a failed boiler at the Nakata pool.

Both saltwater and chlorine systems clean and sanitize with chlorine through different approaches. A chlorine pool directly adds chemicals to the water through a system of filters to circulate and clean. A saltwater pool uses an electrolysis device to create its own chlorine from salt, and sends a constant stream of the chemical into the pool.

Saltwater systems are widely touted by swimmers for a subdued chlorine smell, “softer” water, buoyancy and gentler touch on skin and swimsuits. But the salt system is a bigger initial investment, and some say the corrosive nature of the salt leads to additional costs in care and maintenance.

P.J. Mallon, the aquatics manager at the Naval Station Everett, said that more than 40 years of experience in every kind of pool and  said he would never go back to chlorine.

“For someone who maintains the pool there is no comparison with handling salt or directly handling a harsh, intense chemical like chlorine,” said Mallon. “I have been here for seven years and I have people who always comment that our pool does not smell like a pool.”

Mallon manages an eight-lane, 24-yard pool, and says there is no sanitation difference between salt and chlorine. The primary differences, he said, are maintenance and swimmer experience. Mallon buys 250 pounds of salt for under $500 to run the sanitation system for three or four months, with an annual cost around $2,000. But the initial expense for the salt systems can be a limitation, he said.

Watermiad salt water chlorinator - Swimming Pool Help

I have been using a salt water chlorinator (specifically Watermaid) for the last 16 years. During that time, I have had three different pools and converted each to salt water chlorination. The low level of salt in the pool actually acts as a buffer to reduce pH swings, and it allows your children and yourself to swim with your eyes open in the pool, without suffering. Yes, you can add salt to your pool to get the saltwater feel -- for that purpose, people usually raise the salt level to around 1500 ppm rather than the 3000 ppm in saltwater chlorine generator pools. The saltwater chlorine generator is for convenience since it creates chlorine automatically from the salt in the pool so you don't have to buy chlorine elsewhere and add it to the pool manually (or refill containers for automatic dosing systems like The Liquidator or a peristaltic pump).

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Pools and Spas, Planning-Designing-Maintaining-Landscaping

Water chlorination/chloramination practices and principles

Design analysis of stand-alone photovoltaic system to provide a sufficient electric power to salt water chlorinator cell

Water chlorination, Volume 6. Chemistry, environmental impact and health effects : proceedings of the Sixth Conference on Water Chlorination: Environmental Impact and Health Effects, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, May 3-8, 1987