If you have a saltwater pool, this is an important question that will be on your lips. This article will answer this question and many more that you might have with regards to operating a saltwater pool.
Yes is the answer to this question.
The salt cell is the part of the system that generates chlorine, so it’s important to avoid introducing too much chlorine into the system through the pool shock.
Due to the saltwater chlorine generator’s (SWG) interference, shocking the pool is often advised to be done at a low setting or turned off entirely. Without proper care, the salt cell could be harmed. The result may be insufficient chlorine production after the shocking procedure is complete. or a costly maintenance issue that requires a major fix.
Why use salt chlorination over traditional chlorine?
Chlorination with salt provides the three Cs (comfort, Convenience, and good Cost ).
Comfort. Chloramines are produced when traditional chlorine combines with human feces and waterborne microbes. The chlorine smell, green hair, bleached bathing suits, and eye and skin discomfort are all the result of chloramines, also known as combined chlorines. In order to produce “Free Chlorine,” salt chlorinators are designed to continually oxidize, or get rid of, chloramines. In contrast to typical chlorine, salt chlorination does not cause any of the unpleasant side effects, so you can enjoy soft, clean water whenever you choose.
Convenience. Automatic salt chlorinators treat pool water without your intervention 24 hours a day. Because you won’t need to buy or store chlorine, you’ll save money and avoid coming into touch with a potentially dangerous chemical.
Cost. Costs for chlorine can be reduced by as much as half when using salt instead. As it can be made from salt after being used, chlorine is reusable. Salt doesn’t rust, rot, or dry out. You’ll never run out of fresh, pure chlorine for your pool because there’s always salt available to make it.
How long does chlorine last in a pool?
Most pools retain chlorine for about 4.5 days. However, a number of factors, such as exposure to ultraviolet light, the length of usage, and the presence of other contaminants, can affect the chlorine’s longevity.
How long should I run my chlorinator?
Because salt chlorinators can only function when there is a steady flow of water, their run times are very variable and are directly proportional to the amount of time the pump is in operation. Pumps for swimming pools typically operate for 8 hours per day, though this can be increased in the warmer months (or with low-speed variable-speed pumps) or decreased in the colder months (when bather loads are light). Most of the time, you can change how much chlorine your salt chlorinator puts into the water to match how long your filtration pump runs. If your pool is larger, the water temperature is higher, there is more sunlight, and there are more people using the pool, then your salt chlorinator will need to be on for longer.
What breaks down pool chlorine?
Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation
It’s possible that chlorine levels in indoor pools will remain stable for longer than those in outdoor pools. for the simple reason that exposure to sunlight can hasten the chemical’s decomposition.
If you live in a sunny area during the height of summer, the sun’s powerful UV rays can break down chlorine and release it as a gas into the air in less than two hours.
How Often Pool Goers Visit
The temperature of the pool has an impact on the rate at which chlorine degrades in addition to usage frequency. When a pool is used frequently, especially by many people at once, contaminants from the outside world are introduced to the water and react with the chlorine.
Existence of Pollutants and Contaminants
Because chlorine reacts with everything from lotion and hair products to sunscreen and oils, pools that attract a lot of swimmers might soon run out of the disinfectant. Red eyes in swimmers are caused by chloramines, which are produced when chlorine reacts with certain substances.
The chlorine in a pool can be depleted if the water is contaminated with debris like dead leaves, bugs, and grime, so keeping the water clean is essential.
Does chlorinator go before or after filter?
Chlorinators that add chlorine to water should be put in the line after the filter and the heater. If you own a heater, you should install a one-way valve between the feeder and the heater to keep the corrosive chlorine gas from getting into the feeder and causing damage.
If the pump needs to be turned off, open the air bleeder so the drain pipes can be emptied.
Find the required length of pipe, measure it twice, and then cut it in half.
Use Teflon tape to secure the chlorinator to the feeder thread.
Adapters and pipes can be joined using PVC primer and glue.
What percentage should my chlorinator be set to?
Like every pool-related question, this one is open to interpretation. For the first several days of operation, we recommend setting your salt water generator to 50% output and monitoring the chlorine concentration. A chlorine concentration of 1-3 ppm is ideal for maintaining water balance in a swimming pool. The percentage of chlorine in the water can be increased if it is too low or decreased if it is too high. You can restrict the amount of time your cell is active during a pump’s run cycle by setting the output percentage. For example, if your pump is set to run for 8 hours and your pool chlorinator is set to make chlorine at a concentration of 50%, then your salt cell will only make chlorine for a total of 4 of those 8 hours.
Don’t hesitate to activate the “super chlorinate” setting on your chlorine generator’s control panel if you find yourself in a pinch for chlorine. At first, Super Chlorinate increases chlorine production to its maximum level and keeps it there for about 24 hours before bringing it back down to its normal level.
What steps should one take when adding salt to a saltwater pool?
Choosing the Appropriate Chlorinator
The capacity of your pool should not be an issue for the chlorinator you choose. To be cautious, go with a chlorinator that can treat water at 1.5 times the rate your pool requires. For a pool of 40,000 liters, for instance, a chlorinator with a capacity of between 60,000 and 80,000 liters would be appropriate.
Get the Proper Kind of Pool Salt
Salt chlorinators need a very specialized type of salt, and regular table salt isn’t a good choice. While table salt is often fortified with iodine as well as other compounds, the purity of the salt used in swimming pools must be at least 99%. It’s important to read labels when shopping for salt, so make sure you get salt that can be used in salt chlorinators.
Find out How to Check the Salt Content of Your Pool
A saltwater test strip is the simplest but perhaps least reliable approach to determining the salt concentration in the pool’s water. Your pool expert will do an electronic salt test, which is more accurate than traditional methods and makes it less likely that you will overdose or underdose. Sampling should be done in the pool’s quietest location, 50 centimeters below the surface, and far from any pool returns or skimmers. An inverted container can be pushed to the desired depth, and the sample can be scooped out from there. If you want to ensure your pool is at the ideal salt level, remember that precision is of the utmost importance.
Work out the amount of salt to put in your pool.
At this phase, a calculator could be useful, as the salt requirement is proportional to the pool’s volume. If you want to add salt to your water, the general rule of thumb is 8 lbs per 250 gallons. It takes 320 lbs. of salt to maintain a pool of 10,000 gallons.
You may not need to buy as much salt if there is already some in your pool, so be sure to check the levels before shopping.
The salt chlorinator must be turned off.
Before you start adding salt to the pool water, you’ll need to switch off the pool chlorinator. It’s important to wait until the salt has dissolved before turning on the salt chlorinator again; otherwise, the pool will have an improperly distributed salt concentration. The chlorinator can’t do its work if there isn’t enough salt in the water, and if there’s too much salt in the water, the salt cell might shut down to prevent damage.
You should probably salt the pool.
When adding salt to a pool, it’s best to start at the shallow end and work your way up. In order to dissolve completely, you should leave the pump running for around twenty-four hours. Do periodic tests until the salt level in the water reaches 3500 ppm or the limit set by your manufacturer.
Start the salt chlorinator machine!
Salt chlorinators use electrolysis to turn salt into chlorine, which is then slowly released into the pool to kill bacteria and stop algae from growing. Sometimes, sensors for measuring salt and chlorine concentrations are included in chlorinators. If not, use test strips or a kit to determine the concentration. In the event of a defective cell or chlorinator, you should never rely solely on the chlorinator to maintain the proper salt level in the pool.
