Switching To Bleach From Salt

[TomC]

Hi All,

I see a lot of folks chatting up bleach method of sanitizing. We have a salt water system and was wondering if there would be any advantage to just shutting down the salt generator and moving to the bleach method.

Since we don't have dichlor to worry about, our chemical costs are quite low. Do people shift to the bleach method primarily to save chemcial costs?

Thanks...Tom

[chem geek]

A saltwater chlorine generator (SWG) is going to be more convenient then using the Dichlor-then-bleach method. As noted in another post, it sounds like you've never added any CYA to the water so the 2 ppm FC is quite strong. You should probably have around 30 ppm CYA to help moderate chlorine's strength. You can add this either by turning off your SWG and using Dichlor for around a week -- enough to cumulatively add around 33 ppm FC of chlorine -- or you can add pure CYA directly, but that takes a while to dissolve.

[simonc]

Tom -

Why do you want to stop using your Salt Water system?

The reason I'm asking is that I'm interested in switching from bleach to Salt Water. The Diclor-then-bleach method suggested by Chem Geek and Nitro works great ... but ... a salt water system seems to be so much more convenient and reliable. It allows you to maintain a low level of Free Chlorine all the time ... even when you're on vacation for an extended period of time. For occasional heavy use or for shocking, you can add Chlorine (bleach or diclor) as necessary.

What I've found on this forum is that very few people seem to have salt water systems. They are available as simple aftermarket devices that you simply drop into your tub. Cost: approx $300. Maybe there are reasons other than cost that people (generally, on this forum) don't use them.

So ... why do you (or others on this forum) want to switch?

- Simon

Hi All,

We have a salt water system and was wondering if there would be any advantage to just shutting down the salt generator and moving to the bleach method.