The most common source of chlorine is common salt or sodium chloride. When dissolved in water the sodium and chlorine ions separate to form free sodium and chlorine. If an electric charge is passed through the solution in a process called electrolysis chlorine gas forms at the anode and hydrogen gas at the cathode, free chlorine gas being recovered in the process. Salt water chlorination uses this simple process, the pool water being passed through an electrolysis cell where chlorine gas is produced. Due to the very low quantities it is totally safe and very effective as the gas being produced is of 100% concentration. The electrolysis process also has the benefit of producing small quantities of ozone as a by-product which improves the sanitizing effect. In order for the process to occur salt is dissolved in the pool and thereafter there is constant production of chlorine whenever the pool pump is working. It has numerous benefits main ones being; 1.Improved water quality-Due to the consistent chlorine dosage and lack of residue, water quality is much better than that achieved by using conventional dry chlorine compounds 2. Simple Operation-Once installed there is nothing to do – simply switch on and forget about pool chlorination 3.Free Chlorine-No more chlorine bills – the unit will pay for itself in about a year 3. Improved swimming-pleasure! Saltwater chlorinated water puts an end to sore, red eyes and smelly, itchy skin.
How it Operates
There are 2 main components in a chlorinator; the control unit and the electrolysis cell. The control unit is wall mounted close to the filter and provides DC power to the electrolysis cell. The pump is connected through the control unit so chlorine production only occurs when the pump is operating, the standard sizing basis being dosage levels of 1.5gms/m3 of pool volume every 24 hours. The electrolysis cell is mounted in-line with the pool circulation piping after the pool filter. It has no moving parts, but does scale up with use, the self-cleaning process removing this scale by reversing the electrical polarity. Periodically the cells should also be manually cleaned. Salt is added at the pool at a concentration of about 4,000ppm, a typical 100m pool requiring about 400kgs. After the initial dose concentration levels need to be periodically topped up, though top up levels are small, usually in amounts of 50kgs. When operating a Chlorinator it is very important that pH is regularly monitored and controlled and also if the water becomes exceptionally dirty additional manual chlorination may be necessary to temporarily boost chlorine levels. Please click here to read more about the chlorinators offered by Davis & Shirtliff