page_title: Salt water chlorination
section_title: Distinction from traditional pool chlorination
hierarchical_section_title: Salt water chlorination / Distinction from traditional pool chlorination
caption_attribution_description: English: A salt water chlorinated pool at The Villages, Florida.
context_page_description: Salt water chlorination is a process that uses dissolved salt as a store for the chlorination system primarily for swimming pools and hot tubs. The chlorine generator uses electrolysis in the presence of dissolved salt to produce chlorine gas or its dissolved forms - hypochlorous acid /sodium hypochlorite - which is the sanitizing agent already commonly used in pools. Hydrogen is produced as byproduct too. As such, a saltwater pool or hot tub or spa tub is not actually chlorine-free; it simply utilizes added salt and a chlorine generator instead of direct addition of chlorine.
context_section_description: The presence of chlorine in traditional swimming pools can be described as a combination of free available chlorine (FAC) and combined available chlorine (CAC). While FAC is composed of the free chlorine that is available for sanitizing the water, the CAC includes chloramines, which are formed by the reaction of FAC with amines (introduced into the pool by human perspiration, saliva, mucus, urine, and other biologics, and by insects and other pests).  Chloramines are responsible for the "chlorine smell" of pools, as well as skin and eye irritation. These problems are the result of insufficient levels of free available chlorine, and indicate a pool that must be "shocked" by the addition of 5-10 times the normal amount of chlorine.  In saltwater pools,  the generator uses electrolysis to continuously produce free chlorine. It also burns off chloramines in the same manner as traditional shock (oxidizer). As with traditionally chlorinated pools, saltwater pools must be monitored in order to maintain proper water chemistry. Low chlorine levels can be caused by insufficient salt, incorrect (low) chlorine-generation setting on the SWG unit, higher-than-normal chlorine demand, low stabilizer, sun exposure, insufficient pump speed, or mechanical issues with the chlorine generator. Salt count can be lowered due to splash-out, backwashing, and dilution via rainwater.
caption: A salt water chlorinated pool at The Villages, Florida.
exif: {"Image Make": "Motorola", "Image Model": "Moto G (4)", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "athene_amz-user 7.0 NPJS25.93-14.7-8 6 release-keys", "Image DateTime": "2018:12:31 14:45:07", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "254", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSMapDatum": "WGS-84", "Image GPSInfo": "778", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "952", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6295", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1547", "EXIF FNumber": "2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2018:12:31 14:45:07", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2018:12:31 14:45:07", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1059/100", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "-1", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "2", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Average", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "91/25", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4130", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2683", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "828", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Bracket", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Soft", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "04233feba5313a7b0000000000000000"}