Our Pools are Salt-Water Pools!
So, why is a salt pool better? Gentler on skin and eyes, and having a lower chemical load, salt-water is lovely to swim in. See the diagram below for what process the water goes through in our pool.
Swimming in a salt pool feels nicer.
Swimming in a mild saline solution is much like taking a shower in soft water. The water feels smooth, your skin feels smooth and many people feel more refreshed.
Ocean water has a salt content of around 35,000 parts per million (“ppm”), and humans have a salt taste threshold of around 3,500 ppm.
We’ve opted for the top-of-the-range system for our pool, which can work off a salt content of just 2,500 ppm. So, you won’t be able to even taste the salt, and the salt content is so low that you could even use the pool water to water plants.
There are less extra chemical additives in salt pools.
Without getting too complicated, here’s a quick chemistry lesson…
When any type of chlorine (eg. liquid or gas) is added to water it makes Hypochlorous acid. Hypochlorous acid is the active sanitiser that keeps water clean. It is the same active sanitiser that cleans Australia’s drinking water.
In a fresh water pool (ie. not salt water) to make Hypochlorous acid, liquid chlorine is added, which has the chemical name Sodium Hypochlorite. As the chemical name suggests, to keep the chlorine in liquid form there are other chemicals that are also in ‘liquid chlorine’.
On the other hand… In a salt pool, through the process of electrolysis, water passing over a salt cell produces pure chlorine gas that is instantaneously transformed into Hypochlorous acid. So, in a salt pool, there are no other chemicals that need to be put in the water to assist sanitisation.
When people say they are sensitive to chlorine, in almost all cases it is actually the other additives in ‘liquid chlorine’ or Chloramines that they are actually sensitive to. Salt pools handle the issue of Chloramines too. See the next section.
There are significantly less Chloramines in salt pools.
As Hypochlorous acid is used up it leaves behind Chloramines. Chloramines are the by-product of chlorine oxidation, and it is actually Chloramines that can hurt bather’s eyes, smell bad, and feel harsh on the skin.
Chloramines are removed from pool water by ‘super-chlorination’ which is very tricky in fresh water pools, but extremely efficient in a salt water system.
When the water passes through the filter and then through the salt cell, the salt cell creates a concentrated amount of chlorine. This amount of chlorine in the plumbing immediately after the salt cell actually achieves super-chlorination and immediately oxidizes the Chloramines as the chlorine turns into Hypochlorous acid.
Thus, Chloramines are eliminated consistently through out the day without ever changing the amount of chlorine that is in the water at any given time.
Come and see for yourself!
For your chance to feel the difference swimming in a salt pool, come on down!
The pool availability timetable is available by CLICKING HERE.
Once you’ve swum in salt water, you won’t want to go back!