Are Salt Water Pools For You?

Salt water pools are an alternative to traditional chlorine pools. They run using a system that is different from normal pools.

While both systems use chlorine to keep the water clean, the way in which they use the chemical is dissimilar. A chlorine pool requires the owner to regularly add concentrated chlorine in the form of tablets, liquids or powders. A saltwater pool, on the other hand, only needs the owner to add salt to the water. The pool then uses a salt water chlorinator to convert the salt present in the water into chlorine.

Now that we have established what a saltwater pool is and how it differs from a chlorine pool, it is time to examine the question of which one is better. Both types of the pool have their own pluses and minuses. Whichever system you opt for will depend on your personal preferences and circumstances.

Costs

First, let’s address the issue of pricing. The cost of installing a salt water pool will almost always be more costly than a simple chlorine pool. This is because the system, which requires a salt water generator and an initial load of up to 450 kilograms of salt, is quite a lot more expensive. However, once installed, a salt water system will end up paying for itself over time. Apart from the occasional replacement of salt and the salt water chlorinator, which has a lifespan of around six years, the costs of running a salt water pool are virtually nil. The only outgoing will be for the electricity needed to operate the generator. The cost of the chlorine tablets, powder or liquid for a chlorine pool soon mount up and leave a pool owner with significant running expenses.

Maintenance

Due to the corrosive properties of salt, it is possible that a salt water pool may need a few more repairs than a chlorine pool. Metal pool equipment such as ladders and other fittings may begin to show the discolouring that is a typical symptom of exposure to sodium chloride. Owners should make sure to fit a salt water pool with equipment that is specially designed to resist salt exposure.

Another possible maintenance cost of salt water pool systems is that, because they are more complex, any malfunction in the salt water generator may require an owner to call out a specialist. Occasionally, repairs to salt water pool systems can be quite expensive.

Health Benefits

For those people who suffer from asthma or allergies, swimming in a chlorine pool may aggravate their conditions. Chlorine is a known irritant and can have adverse effects for people who have sensitive skin and eyes. The one great benefit of a salt water pool is that, although it still does contain chlorine, the levels of the chemical are much lower. This makes the feel of water on the skin feel much more pleasant, and swimmers are less likely to experience dry, flaky skin after spending time in the water. Those people who tend to suffer from a tight chest and breathing difficulties after swimming in a heavily chlorinated pool will also experience significant relief. All round, then, many people find the experience of swimming in a salt water pool to be much more pleasurable than swimming in a chlorine pool.

Salt water has proven benefits for people who suffer from arthritis and joint pain. Salt water contains bromide, a mineral that helps the body to deal with the aches and pains felt in muscles and joints. As well as offering relief to sufferers of chronic muscle and joint conditions, bromide can help with the recovery from injuries.

Safety

In theory, a salt water pool systems should be safer than a chlorine system. Since a chlorine pool system requires the owner to manually introduce chlorine into the water at set intervals throughout the year, levels of the chemical can fluctuate significantly over time. If the owner for some reason neglects to add chlorine, a window for the growth of harmful microbes in the water opens. Unclean pool water can harbour numerous nasty bacteria, such as cryptosporidium, giardia, E.coli, norovirus and Shigella, which can leave a person seriously ill.

The nature of the generator in a salt water pool means that levels of sanitising chlorine in the water will remain constant over time. This eliminates the risk of outbreaks of bacteria caused by rising and falling chlorine levels in the water of a traditional chlorine pool. As well as being softer to the touch, the water in a salt water pool is generally much cleaner. As a result, a salt water system will potentially leave pool owners with young children with greater peace of mind, safe in the knowledge that their kids will not contract any water-borne bugs.

If you are considering installing a pool at your residence in the near future, the incredible range of options available to you can be bewildering for a first-time pool buyer. The pool’s size, finish and filtering systems can take while to decide on, and it is a good idea to take your time to make sure the end product will be something that you are content with. If you like the idea of a pool that costs less, offers health benefits and provides a more pleasant general swimming experience, fitting a salt water pool instead of a traditional chlorinate one might be something that is worth investigating.