Salt Water Chlorine Generators
How does a salt water chlorinator work?
Salt is added to the pool water to obtain the proper salt content recommended by the salt chlorinator manufacturer. The Hayward Aqua Rite salt water chlorinators operate in a range of 2700 To 3400 PPM (parts per million) with 3200 being ideal
The salt water chlorine generator has two parts: a cell that contains an anode and a cathode and a power pack that delivers electricity to the cell. As water is moved through the cell by the swimming pool pump the salt molecules are divided into sodium and chlorine atoms. At the same time water molecules are being separated to produce oxygen and hydrogen atoms. As a result of the splitting of these molecules, sodium hypochlorite is produced. Sodium hypochlorite is the same chemical in chlorine that is purchased at the pool store, but now you are producing it on site with the salt chlorinator. Other chemicals are added to the store bought chlorine to keep it stabilized. These other chemicals that are present in store bought chlorine tend to drive the pool Ph up which means more chemicals are needed to keep the Ph balanced in your pool.
I’m often asked “How salty is the water in a salt water pool?”
I usually just answer not very , but to put it into some sort of perspective for you, sea water is approximately 35000 PPM, the human body is roughly 9000 PPM, a salt water pool , depending on which manufacturers equipment you are using will be between 2500 and 6000 PPM. So again, Not very salty.
Why use a salt water chlorine generator if it is just producing chlorine?
- No more storing chlorine
- No more handling corrosive and toxic chemicals
- Less expense after initial investment, the salt is transformed into chlorine over and over, you only have to add salt because of loss such as backwashing the filter, splashing water out of the pool and water removed by people exiting the pool. Salt is not lost from evaporation.
- Ph is easier to maintain, no chemicals are added to the pool in the chlorine.
- Chlorine level is maintained by running the equipment , meaning you don’t have to manually add or monitor chlorine levels on a daily basis.
Why are salt water pools easier on the skin and eyes than a regular pool?
Through a process called osmosis, the solution in our bodies is trying to balance with the solution we are bathing in. Since a regular pool contains very little salt our bodies are absorbing water from the pool in an attempt lower the salt content. The salt content of a salt water pool is closer to the salt content in the human body so there is very little fluid transfer from the pool to our bodies.
Salt also naturally softens the water.
