Well by definition “soft” water has less calcium and/or magnesium than “hard” water, but what does that mean to you and me? These are terms I have heard being thrown around all the time but what does it truly mean? I wasn’t sure myself previously and even when I tried to google it, I would just get this very generic answer. So, when I see that one of the many perks of a saltwater pool vs traditional chlorine pool was that it has “softer” water I decided I needed to know for sure what this finally means.
For starters, it is indeed “softer”. What that means is that because there is less calcium and/or magnesium, there are less minerals in the water. You may say to yourself, “But I don’t see anything in the water, it looks perfectly clear”. Even in hard water these minerals are so small that you cannot see them with your own eyes so hard water vs soft water is all going to look the same. The difference lies in how they feel.
The two main ways that you are going to be able to feel the difference are by being submerged in the water for a length of time and your water pressure. When submerged in water for a length of time, such as swimming in it or taking a bath, hard water will strip away the nature oils in your skin. This can leave your skin feeling dry and tight after you dry off. Soft water doesn’t have enough of these minerals in the water to strip away these oils so when you dry off, your skin will still feel soft and smooth because those oils are still present. This isn’t to say you won’t be clean, just everyday dirt and grime accumulates on top of these oils. With water pressure, having hard water can make it feel like there are tiny little needles in your water when washing your hands or more prevalently when you shower. This is once again because of the high amounts of calcium and/or magnesium that are impacting you. Some homes that are located in areas known to have hard water will have a water softening system built into their plumbing and those residents will need to add water softener to their water. Turns out the main ingredient in water softener is typically, you guessed it, salt.
Another factor to take into consideration is that by having “softer” water, you will need to keep a close eye on your water chemistry. This really does need to be done to make sure you are keeping your family, guests, or anyone else who may be using your pool safe and healthy, but you also want to protect the pool itself. Something like calcium hypochlorite has added calcium included in their tablets, whereas in a salt system you will need to manually add it in. These two main concerns for human and pool health can be managed as long as you maintain proper water chemistry. If you are doing your due diligence, then your pool and your equipment should be in good hands.
So, what does this mean for your pool? Well, strictly speaking from this perspective of soft vs hard water, a saltwater pool is always going to win over a chlorine pool. The salt in the saltwater is going to lower the amount of additional minerals in the pool and the lower chlorine level in the water is also going to help with not drying out or tightening your skin, leading to a much more relaxing experience in the pool. However, you do need to maintain your water chemistry, in any system, to make sure that you are keeping a healthy pool. There are a number of different things to consider when choosing what type of pool you would like to have, I hope this helps to clarify one of those factors for you today.
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