How Salt Chlorinators Work
Salt chlorinators also known as salt chlorine generators and electronic chlorinators are delighting pool owners all over the world with over 1.8 million salt pools in the U.S. alone.
About the 3C’s
Salt chlorination delivers the 3C’s of pool and spa sanitization. The Comfort of silky-soft water that doesn’t turn eyes red or dry skin and hair, the Convenience of automated chlorination that relieves you of having to handle harsh chemical chlorine, and the Cost savings of 50% or more on chlorine costs over factory-produced chlorine.
It’s not magic, it’s science!
We’ve heard many people say – it’s like magic – automatically turning salt into chlorine. It’s not magic or pixie dust, it’s truly science.
The science behind salt chlorination
There are two components to a salt chlorinator: the control box and its salt cell. The control box in the simplest terms, tells the salt cell when to produce chlorine. It’s the salt cell that actually makes chlorine from ordinary salt.
Salt cells are also known as electrolytic converters. They are installed on your pool’s plumbing system’s return line, behind the pump, filter and heater. As pool water passes through the salt cell, an extremely safe electrical charge, generated by the control box, automatically converts the dissolved salt into fresh, natural chlorine. The newly chlorinated water is then dispersed evenly throughout the pool by the return jets where it prevents algae from growing and kills pesky bacteria. After the chlorine has done its work keeping your pool sanitized, it is then transformed back into salt, and the process happens all over again. Day in, day out, automatically.
About the salt in your pool
The salt you add to your pool’s water is never consumed, and it doesn’t evaporate. It simply cycles between salt and chlorine forever. The only time you would have to replenish salt is due to splash out, if your pool overflows in a rainstorm or when you backwash your filter.
Salt chlorinators require a low concentration of salt (sodium chloride) – approximately a teaspoon of salt per gallon of pool water. The correct salt level* is comparable to a human tear, and as such, imparts no or little taste. The actual amount of chlorination required to properly sanitize a pool varies due to the pool size, bather load, rainfall, temperature and the pool’s cleanliness. * Proper salt range is 2,700 to 3,400 PPM (parts per million).
More on salt chlorination.
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