How to Clean Salt Water Swimming Pools

Home and community swimming pools represent excellent sources of recreation for individuals and families, as well as places where Americans can get much-needed exercise. They do, however, require special care and have significant maintenance requirements. Salt water swimming pools are an excellent alternative to traditional pools because salt acts as a cleaning agent and is far less harsh than chemicals normally found in backyard pools.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Self-cleaning chlorine generator
• Salt
• PVC pipe
• Saline test strips

Self-Clean Your Salt Water Pool

1. Visit your local swimming pool supply store or online vendor to purchase a chlorine generator. As pool owners know, chlorine is required to keep pools free from bacteria, algae and other health hazards. The salt in a salt water pool works with the chlorine generator to generate chlorine to keep your pool clean. This means that the days of measuring your chlorine levels and constantly adding chemicals are over.

2. Install a chlorine generating system that is self cleaning. Self-cleaning systems take almost all the work out of keeping your swimming pool clean and safe. All you have to do is periodically check the salt content of your pool water.

3. Check the salt content of your pool water by referring to the display panel located on the chlorine generator. The product's manual will instruct you how to read the display lights. You may also test salt content by using saline test strips available at most pool supply stores.

4. Consult your swimming pool supplier before you add salt for precise directions, but a standard formula is to add about 50 pounds of salt per 1,250 gallons of water.

5. Drain your swimming pool completely once each year, scrub the inside surfaces and change the filters. In conjunction with the chlorine generator, this is all the cleaning and maintenance that you should have to perform.

Install a Self-Cleaning Salt Water Pool Chlorine Generator

6. Find the return lines for your swimming pool water. Follow the manufacturer's instructions and connect a length of pipe to the generator that will direct water to flow back into the return line after it passes through the chlorine generator.

7. Find your pool pump. Connect the chlorine generator to the pump's circuit. Then, connect the chlorine generator to the power source. Now, when your pool pump activates or deactivates, the chlorine generator will turn on and off accordingly.

Tips & Warnings

• Installing a self-cleaning chlorine generator can be a fun project for an experienced do-it-yourself home renovator, but it is does require some knowledge of wiring, circuitry and plumbing. It's not a bad idea to let the pros handle this.