By now we all know that a salt pool has many advantages…well most of us, if we are honest with ourselves, do. It is now the most popular residential pool product in U.S. History, with around 80 – 86% of new pools opting to have one installed, so if you disagree with my position you would have to ask yourself what is motivating you?
There are also a couple of “hidden” advantages, that I put under the category of “detective”, that come with the addition of one of these systems.
- Pool leak detection
- Stray DC current detection
Salt, as you probably know is not consumed in process of making chlorine, and very little is lost in most bodies of water from splash out. The main salt loss is a result of back washing (with sand filters), and this salt loss can be quantified by understanding the flow rate and duration of the backwash cycle. If salt has to be added constantly, then, my friend you have a leak in your pool or plumbing. Period!
“Salt causes corrosion”…boy have I heard that one too many times! Now we know that high salt content pools – TDS – (either from liquid chlorine or from a chlorine generator) can show corrosion is from improper bonding. Let’s turn that around and look at it from a different perspective….if you had an improper bond and stray DC current was getting into the pool water, wouldn’t you want to know about it? If it is new construction it is best to have that information before your warranties expire and the electricians have pulled up stakes and moved on. If it is an existing pool the sooner I have this information the better, so there is less damage to repair.
Just shows there is always more than one to look at situations we perceive to be problems.