Salt Chlorine Generator Vs Conventional Chlorine

[iwallace]

Hey, I just came across this salt chlorine generator device and read the little description in the brochure....it sounds pretty natural (I mean the ocean is salt water), but does that necessarily make it better for my pool than conventioanl chlorine? I read that it makes the water silky and smooth (and thats just plain sexy), but I want to know what are the draw backs if any. Any feedback?

[Gavin]

Hey, I just came across this salt chlorine generator device and read the little description in the brochure....it sounds pretty natural (I mean the ocean is salt water), but does that necessarily make it better for my pool than conventioanl chlorine? I read that it makes the water silky and smooth (and thats just plain sexy), but I want to know what are the draw backs if any. Any feedback?

pro..generates natural pure chlorine while the pump runs. able to keep FC lower than in traditional pools. able to save money by not purchasing chlorine. you got water softener salt in the pool so water feels better and is healthier for your skin, eyes and hair.

cons..not many. pH seems to rise higher than traditional pools but this can be fixed by keeping TA low and or adding borates. I heard some people complain of erosion of pool side rocks and stones. maybe they added too much salt...3,200 seems to be a good amount to keep in the pool.

can't see many cons. SWG are awesome and I highly recommend them.

[waterbear]

Salt Water chlorine generators work by generating chlorine from salt by electrolysis. You have a chlorine pool when you use one. It's just how the chlorine is introduced that is different. Personally, I think they are wonderful. Have one on my own pool and it's made it as close to maintenance free as a pool can be, IMHO! (REMEMBER THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A MAINTENANCE FREE POOL!!!!) There are many manufacturers of these units. I would recommend looking at the ones from Autopilot (Pool Pilot), Goldline (Hayward), Resilience, and WaterMaid. Personally, I would stay away from Zodiac, Jandy, and Polaris. All three companies are part of the Zodiac Group and since Zodiac acquired Jandy and Polaris their quality has dropped, IMHO.

[Thunderkyss]

pro..generates natural pure chlorine while the pump runs. able to keep FC lower than in traditional pools. able to save money by not purchasing chlorine. you got water softener salt in the pool so water feels better and is healthier for your skin, eyes and hair.

cons..not many. pH seems to rise higher than traditional pools but this can be fixed by keeping TA low and or adding borates. I heard some people complain of erosion of pool side rocks and stones. maybe they added too much salt...3,200 seems to be a good amount to keep in the pool.

can't see many cons. SWG are awesome and I highly recommend them.

Why do Saltwater pools allow you to keep FreeChlorine lower than in a traditional pool?

[chem geek]

Why do Saltwater pools allow you to keep FreeChlorine lower than in a traditional pool?

I'm assuming that your question relates to the recommendations at Trouble Free Pool (TFP) and described here and not to what is on product labels and manufacturer recommendations.

They mostly don't. If you have an automatic dosing system such as The Liquidator or a peristaltic pump, you can have your chlorine be closer to the same level as a saltwater chlorine generator, though possibly not quite exactly the same. The SWG cell does superchlorinate a portion of the water through the cell (at low pH as well, unlike manual dosing with hypochlorite) so that might help. Roughly speaking, the minimum FC with an SWG is around 5% of the CYA level while for manual dosing it's around 7.5% of the CYA level so they aren't that different and there's some extra safety margin in the manual dosing recommendation.