How a Salt Water Chlorine Generator Works
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Use of Chlorine
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Most traditional pools and spas use chlorine to stay clean. This chemical combines with particles in the water, including bacteria, and destroys them. It also raises the acidity of the water and can irritate the skin and eyes of swimmers, but for cost, it is the most dependable system in existence. Salt chlorine generators take this concept and carry it one step further with new technology that manufactures chlorine for the pool's use. Instead of having to add chlorine to the water and constantly measure its levels, or buying a chlorine injection system that needs to be replenished over time, users of salt chlorine generators need only to add a certain amount of salt to the water.
Salt Chlorine Generator Process
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Although some users might balk at adding salt to their pools, the amount needed is small, much less than the saltiness of the sea, for example, and the effects last much longer than adding chlorine. In such a generator, the salty water is circulated through a compartment where an electrode interacts with the salt. Since salt is a compound made of bonded sodium and chlorine, under electrolysis it splits apart again. The chlorine flows through the water, interacting with and killing any contaminants before dissipating or rejoining the sodium to form salt once again. This process is ongoing and can use either the salt in the water or salt held in a storage container near the system.
Whichever way the salt chlorine generator works, the result is water still purified by chlorine, but without the irritating affects of constant chlorine saturations. Chloramines, the particles made when chlorine kills contaminants, are kept at a minimum. Since chloramines are responsible for most of the unpleasant chlorine effects, including the smell, and require extra chlorine to then get rid of them, salt water generators keep water in a clean and soft state, with only a mild saltiness. The generators are prized for their healthiness and the smooth quality of their water, which is useful for people whose skin is irritated by common chlorine pools.
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Considerations
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Salt water chlorine generation is a relatively new technology, and there are still notable problems with it. First, injecting chlorine into the water is still the most efficient and thorough way of killing all pathogens and rendering the water safe to bathe in, and salt chlorine generators cannot quite reach the same level of efficiency. Second, the salt makes the water corrosive to the generator itself, the pipes it travels in and the jets that spray it, in addition to pool or spa coatings themselves. Salt chlorine generators and all the parts exposed to the salt water need to be replaced more often than traditional generators.
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