Today’s myth is something you’d hear from a well-meaning friend or an upselling salesman, and it is:
“Did you know, Saltwater pools are chlorine-free?”
Now, most who’ve maintained or swam in a saltwater pool know they’re amazing…
Salt systems make your pool water:
- Gentler on the swimmer’s skin and hair
- Lowers overall maintenance and testing requirements
- Less likely to deal with that icky chlorine smell–Sidenote, if you want to know what actually causes that smell, check out our other debunked video.
But the truth is, salt systems work because they produce a Pure Form of Chlorine…
Salt—aka sodium chloride—is made of one sodium atom and one chlorine atom. But, you’re probably asking, how do we crack open that salt molecule to get at that juicy chlorine goodness.
That’s where the molecule nutcracker called Electrolysis comes to play, by way of the salt chlorine generator’s cell.
The cell contains an array of titanium plates that have a spall electrical charge applied to them. As your salt water flows through the plates, salt will strike these charge plates, causing the covalent bond to break, which releases the chlorine to go supersaiyan on bacteria and algae.
After doing its job, the chlorine recombines with sodium, letting the cycle repeat again and again.
And if there’s anything to take from that reunion, If sodium can get back together with chlorine, there’s still hope for Hall & Oates.
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