Saltwater swimming pools are the latest trend in the world of swimming pools. Rather than using good old fresh water, saltwater is added to make it feel like ocean water. It’s not the highly concentrated saltwater you find in the actual oceans. It’s about a tenth of the strength.
Advocates of saltwater swimming pools actively promote them for their health benefits and their ability to make people relax and de-stress themselves.
What’s the Issue?
Promoters of green issues criticize chlorine for its effects on the body. The effects of regular exposure to chlorine have been well-documented by science. This is something which we can’t really dispute, although occasional immersion in chlorine won’t cause any serious damage.
People want to try to eliminate the need for adding chlorine to the water. We’ve seen everything from UV filters to simply not using chlorine.
Saltwater pools are the latest in a long line of alternatives to large amounts of chlorine.
Does Saltwater Eliminate the Need for Chlorine?
It does eliminate the need for chlorine. The salt will help to kill off the bacteria. It’s why the sea isn’t dangerous for us to swim in. If the ocean has no need for chlorine, surely the salt in our pools would solve the problem?
It doesn’t. According to Tracey DeCarlo, who works for a green design agency, the saltwater in the pool is automatically converted to chlorine. The issue in this particular article seems to be the difference between artificially added chlorine and naturally added chlorine.
This seemingly debunks the idea we should be using saltwater pools if our only objective is to reduce the amount of chlorine we’re exposed to.
The EcoSmarte Alternative
One alternative to saltwater pools and chlorine appears to be the EcoSmarte swimming pool. The company says they never use chlorine in their pools because of their special system. This system creates liquid oxygen and copper ionization to get rid of bacteria.
To sweeten the deal, they even donate 5% of all their profits to green charities, which is always an added bonus.
We shouldn’t get too carried away about this, though. There have been no large scale studies on whether these two agents actually work better than chlorine. They might mean more maintenance and pools with shorter lifespans.
Natural Swimming Pools
Finally, in Europe a relatively small trend of swimming ponds is starting to catch on. In short, this is having a pool in your yard which doesn’t have any chemicals in it. It means lots of maintenance, but you’ll be able to bathe in completely natural waters.
This is an idea which has yet to catch on in the US. It’s not really worth considering unless you intend on spending a lot more time working on keeping your pool clean.
The Fate of Saltwater Swimming Pools
Saltwater swimming pools are just a change in the water. The structure of the pool is still exactly the same. The benefits of these pools aren’t worth the disadvantages. It’s much easier to stick to the tried and tested chlorine methods the majority of people use.
Charlie Wayne, the author, is a seasoned writer and a popular home improvement blogger. He shares his passion for interiors and landscaping through his articles. He says that poolcenter.com is a good source of information on swimming pool related information.