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On 2/25/2014 1:34 AM, wrote:

On Mon, 24 Feb 2014 21:19:11 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/24/2014 8:31 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 24 Feb 2014 18:32:00 -0500, F*O*A*D wrote:

Never liked the chlorine in pools. Are you saying it isn't used anymore?
That's a step in the right direction!

A salt water pool still uses chlorine, it just stays "mostly" in the
generator vessel.

I am amused when people complain about the chlorine tho,
A properly balanced pool tests exactly the same as WSSC tap water.

I have my routine down to the point that I spend about 10 minutes a
week on the pool in the summer. Basically get the pH right, then I
drop 2.5 tabs in the pool floater, the other half in the spa floater,
shock the pool with a gallon and a half of liquid chlorine.

In the winter you can cut that all by half or more.

I used to run the cleaner 6 hours every day but now I just run it
about once or twice a week.

I don't understand your comment, "A salt water pool still uses chlorine,
it just stays "mostly" in the generator vessel".
The chlorine generated by the cell resides in the pool water, not in the
cell or "generator vessel" (whatever that is).

We had a pitch at an inspector seminar from one of the engineers who
designed one of the first listed salt to chlorine generators. The
reaction of NaCl to free chlorine is very short lived and most of the
chlorine is recombined very quickly after it leaves the actual
generator element so very little circulates in the pool..
That is not really important since it has done the germ killing by
then at a very high concentration of Cl.

It's not a "salt water pool". The salt concentration is very low
compared to that of sea water. You don't sense or taste "salt". The
normal concentration of about 3,000 parts per million is well below the
ability of the human taste or smell senses to detect.

5 PPT is plenty detectible. It is contact lens solution. That is what
they recommend for a salt water pool here. Put 5 grams of salt in a
liter of water and try it. (about a teaspoon) That is as much salt as
you put in a gallon of water to cook pasta.

Ocean water contains about 35,000 ppm of salt by comparison.

The Gulf cruises around 38 PPT according to our monitors

Also, a pool with salt system typically operates at a lower chlorine
level overall than a conventional tablet or liquid chlorine system.

See above. I doubt the water in the pool would even register on a
chemical chlorine test.

The routine that you do is eliminated. No more tablets or liquid shock
that cause oscillations in the pool chemistry. The salt system is more
like a closed loop proportional controller that keeps everything at a
stable level, adjusting as required automatically (if you have the
automated system) for heat, sunshine, use, evaporation, rain, etc.

You are shocking the water every time it goes through the generator.

I have a couple of neighbors with salt systems. About half are happy,
one has tossed it and gone back because they could not keep the water
clear without shocking the pool once a week. All of them still shock
it now and then.
I think a lot has to do with how hot the water is running. The one
with the real problems cruises at 90 or more all year because she
wants it hot. They have 10 solar collectors for a 10,000 gallon pool
and she keeps if covered most of the year.

I don't know where you got all your information but it's nonsense.
I'd say bull****, but you're a nice guy. :-)

The generated chlorine is in the pool water and registers in the pool
sample tests indicated by free chlorine and total chlorine. I can
"shock" the pool if necessary by enabling a timer setting on the
controller to run the cell continuously for a pre-programed period of
time (like 24 hours). If you do that after the pool has stabilized you
can smell the chlorine by just walking by the pool. The chlorine smell
isn't coming from the generator cell. :-)

You like parts per trillion. The pool industry uses parts per million
to express salt content. The salt content in the water in a salt system
is maintained between 2,800 and about 3,600 parts per million (max). A
human cannot detect or sense the presence of salt in the water below
about 5,000 parts per million (your contact lens solution example).
I have never tried cooking pasta in the pool. -)

An automatic controller (like the one we have) will shut down the cell
to prevent damage to it if the salt concentration is too high. Mine
will shut off and display a "High Salt Level" error if the salt
concentration gets above 3,800 parts per million. Check any of the
pool companies that offer salt systems. *None* say that salt levels of
5,000 parts per million or above is needed. Excessive salt doesn't
produce more chlorine, however there are different size cells that are
recommended based on pool size and location.

Our pool is heated and my wife likes the water warm. During the summer
the pool temperature is often 86 degrees. The system automatically
adjusts the amount of time the cell runs to maintain the proper chlorine
level and will never require more than 2,800 to 3,400 parts per million
of salt to operate. In fact, as I stated, if the salt concentration
goes too high, it shuts the cell off. A high salt concentration causes
too much current to flow through the cell and can damage it or the
controller's power supply that runs it.

If you know people who were dissatisfied because the pool water wasn't
as clear with a salt system, that would be the first time I've ever
heard that complaint. A salt system's water is typically clearer than a
conventional tablet or liquid chlorine system. The generated chlorine
is purer than any tablet or liquid and it's concentration is lower.
Maybe the person or persons that reported that to you had other filter
problems.

My son had a pool installed by the same company at the same time we had
our pool installed. At the time he lived one town away from me so
climate conditions were the same. He went with a conventional tablet
dispenser system. We went with the salt system, having had previous
experience with conventional systems.

Once both pools were up and running he was kicking himself for not going
with the salt system. Our pool water was crystal clear compared to his
that looked slightly cloudy by comparison. Usage wasn't the difference
because all the grandkids used our pool more than his.

He's the son that moved to SC a year and a half ago. He installed a
pool at his new house and went with the salt system. Salt systems have
a higher initial cost but long term are cheaper to operate. Pool
companies make lots of money selling pool chemicals and chlorine. Salt
is cheap.

Here's a picture of what our pool water looks like during the day and at
night with the lights on:

Day:

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/pool1.jpg

Night:

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/Poolinsummer.jpg