Keeping It Clean With Less Chlorine

Keep your water clean with less chlorine

It is hard for some people to admit but chlorine is the only fully approved method of keeping a pool safe and clean. According to the Superior Health Council of Belgium ‘there is no evidence that alternatives to chlorine will provide an appropriate solution for the disinfection of swimming pools’ (1). In addition to sanitization, chlorine is also an oxidizer. Which means it kills bacteria and other contaminants while also releasing them from the pool water by turning them into gasses and airing them off the pool surface. Some chemicals will do the ‘killing’ and others will do the ‘oxidizing’, chlorine is one of the only truly stable chemicals that will do both. This basically means we cannot fully get away from the use of at least some chlorine in your pool. Its just gotta be there. 

Although, most of us do not mind the presence of the right amount of chlorine, in fact we all prefer it whether or not we know it. What we do not like is the high spikes or the low dips in chlorine levels. Measured in Parts Per Million or PPM, these conditions are what produce the offensive odors and unsafe water conditions. The real problem is having too much or having too little, which can even irritate the skin.

However, we can greatly reduce the amount we need to maintain a safe place for our families to swim. There are two systems on the market today that can help sanitize the water in your pool and reduce the chlorine demand. Saying systems almost does not do it justice, they are more like two totally different approaches to sanitization. While they are both small electronic devices installed on the return side of the pool plumbing, UV and Salt Systems present two completely different ways of neutralizing bacteria and contaminates in pool water. There will be another blog on UV systems so stay tuned for that, but we are dealing with salt systems in this blog. 

Salt systems take the old school approach and apply newer school technology. Salt pools are chlorine pools by definition. Really they are chlorine factories. They rely fully on chlorine to sanitize the water in the same way that pool guys do. But with one key difference, consistency. Salt pools convert their salt (NaCl) to chlorine (Cl) at a slow and steady pace every time the pool is running. Instead of peaks and valleys, the result is a constant chlorine reading (hopefully 2-3ppm) daily. The pool guy does not usually have to test the water, find the chlorine at 0 PPM and then run it up to 8 PPM in order to maintain 1-2 PPM for when he returns next week. Depending on the conditions, chlorine levels can drop 50-75% in just 24 hours. Pool guys do an amazing job of calculating exactly what each pool requires to maintain that residual chlorine, but there is no replacement for steady chlorine generation throughout the week by a salt cell. 

A welcome by-product is that salt water can also be good for your skin! Now some people claim that it is good for serious skin conditions, and we will not claim that it is a medicine. But we can claim that it is an exfoliant! The salt content needed in a pool is much lower than the ocean, meaning it is even softer on your skin. 

Last summer the world dealt with an actual chlorine shortage. Production plants for certain chemicals shut down as a result of COVID as well as other non-related issues. Leaving many pool owners and maintainers with no options. While availability has improved, the price of chlorine looks a lot like gas right now, with no relief in sight. Costs are up over 50% in certain parts of the country. Unfortunately this means our best option is to create our own chlorine. Now salt cells only operate when the pool is on, so it is necessary to run the pump daily to maintain a good measurement. Safely producing your own chlorine saves money and time, no more chlorine trips and lugging cases around. Go Salt! 

(1) https://www.chemicalsafetyfacts.org/chlorine-keeps-pools-safe-summertime-fun/