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Looking for pool advice - salt vs chlorine
Samstag:
--- Quote from: cotmm68030 on January 31, 2011, 08:24:01 pm ---Don't salt pools still primarily work via chlorine anyway? Salt is sodium and chlorine, after all.
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The chlorine in salt is pretty much locked up in a tight chemical bond so it can't cause any problems. Straight chlorine is very chemically active and can do nasty stuff when it combines with other elements/compounds. It can combine with bodily fluids to make hydrochloric acid, though it isn't very dangerous in small concentrations. Just really unpleasant.
newmanfamilyvlogs:
--- Quote from: Samstag on February 01, 2011, 02:20:35 am ---
--- Quote from: cotmm68030 on January 31, 2011, 08:24:01 pm ---Don't salt pools still primarily work via chlorine anyway? Salt is sodium and chlorine, after all.
--- End quote ---
The chlorine in salt is pretty much locked up in a tight chemical bond so it can't cause any problems. Straight chlorine is very chemically active and can do nasty stuff when it combines with other elements/compounds. It can combine with bodily fluids to make hydrochloric acid, though it isn't very dangerous in small concentrations. Just really unpleasant.
--- End quote ---
I was talking referring to this:
http://www.poolcenter.com/chlorine_generator.htm
--- Quote ---Chlorine Generators
One of the first alternative sanitizers introduced to the pool and spa industry was the chlorine generator. Chlorine generators are attractive to pool owners simply because they eliminate the need to store, buy, transport and handle chlorine. They are not an alternative to chlorine, but actually make their own chlorine from regular table salt. The pool water passes through a generator cell that creates the chlorine within the pool water.
How Does It Work?
As pool water passes through the chlorine generator cell, pumped through by your filter pump, the salt in the water is turned into Hypochlorous acid. Hypochlorous acid is the exact same component that is produced when any chlorine is added to pool water, whether you use sticks, tablets, granular or liquid. As the water returns to the pool, it will introduce the newly produced chlorine, preventing algae, bacteria and killing micro-organisms, creating a safe and sanitary swimming environment.
OK? How does it really work?
This mild, pleasant saline water is sanitized through the process of electrolysis, as mentioned above. The electrolytic cell, through the use of a small electric current, breaks down the water into its basic elements, Hydrogen and Oxygen. By adding small quantities of granulated salt (much like household table salt - NaCI), Hypochlorous Acid (common chlorine) is produced. During the process, the Hypochlorous Acid (Chlorine) is ultimately converted back to salt. Thus, the salt does not get "used up". Salt only needs to be "topped off" once or twice a year and only to replace salt lost due to water splash-out, bather drag off or filter backwashing.
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Samstag:
--- Quote from: cotmm68030 on February 01, 2011, 05:39:47 am ---I was talking referring to this:
http://www.poolcenter.com/chlorine_generator.htm
--- Quote ---Chlorine Generators
--- End quote ---
--- End quote ---
My bad. I had the completely wrong idea about what a "salt pool" really was. I thought home salt systems were the same thing as you'd get on a cruise ship, which is sanitized sea water. I don't know how they keep those clean exactly but there's zero cholrine smell.
It looks like the home salt systems aren't going to be any different from chlorine tablets in the actual quality of the water. It's all about the maintenance time and costs.
Edit: fixed the quotes
Gray_Area:
I don't think bacteria or viruses can live in alkaline water.
Samstag:
--- Quote from: Gray_Area on February 05, 2011, 02:21:03 am ---I don't think bacteria or viruses can live in alkaline water.
--- End quote ---
Some do better at very high ph levels than at neutral.
http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/extreme/alkaline/
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