Chlorine ensures that your pool’s water stays safe for you and your family. Chlorinating your pool keeps it free of any contamination.
Using a salt-water chlorine generator can make it easy to maintain your swimming pool. But is it worth it?
Understanding its advantages and disadvantages will help you decide if it’s a worthwhile investment for your home’s swimming pool.
What is a Salt-Water Chlorine Generator?
Salt-water chlorine generators work by using the process of electrolysis to remove the sodium component of salt (sodium chloride). As the salt water passes through the pool’s filters, the end result will be chloride, which is a more natural form of chlorine.
One of the benefits of using this system is the elimination of many of the common byproducts that are resulted from conventional chlorine use. This includes the smell generally associated with chlorine pools and physical symptoms such as eye redness or irritation. These will be minimized when using a salt-water chlorine generator.
This chlorine generator provides more efficiency. The salt is reused to produce additional chlorine over time.
The chlorinator cell is installed as part of the circulatory system of the pool, and processes the salt-water using an electrical charge. This separates the two components of sodium chloride to produce a pure chlorine gas that’s then added to the water for instant sanitation.
Why Use a Salt-Water Chlorine Generator?
One of the major benefits of using this system is that it reduces the amount of maintenance needed for your pool, and lowers the amount of time required to check your chlorine levels.
Shocking your pool’s water isn’t necessary due to the consistency with which the chlorine is produced with the generator system.
This also results in less algae formation, which further enhances the quality of your pool’s water. You’ll have a lower amount of the additional chemicals that come with traditional chlorine that can irritate you when using your pool.
Drawbacks of Salt-Water Chlorine Generators
The initial setup cost for the chlorine generator can be high. Costs can be as high as $2,000, making it a costly investment.
The generator is also be limited in use. Its chlorine can be far more damaging to concrete than conventional chlorine. This can lead pool owners to have to plaster their pools repeatedly, increasing swimming pool service and repair time and cost. Pools made of fiberglass are better suited for salt-water chlorine.
Salt-water chlorine generators can also make it difficult to gauge your pool’s chlorine level. This can result in high levels of chlorine that can negatively impact equipment and automatic pool covers. All metal components can suffer corrosion if chlorine levels reach excessive levels.
Salt-water chlorine generators can make pool maintenance easy and provide a natural form of chlorine. As more pool owners use them to maintain the quality of their pool’s water, many are also discovering some of their drawbacks.
By understanding how salt-water chlorine generators work, and the ideal environments for their use, you’ll know if it’s the right investment for you.
Author Bio:
Anne Fleming loves interior designing and is always in pursuit of the latest changes and trends in home improvement. Her other interests lies in cooking, painting and blogging. She is an enthusiast homemaker who lives in Toronto with her husband and two kids.