When you learn to swim, the disadvantages of chlorine become as obvious as the benefits of chemically treated clean pool water: it irritates your eyes, leaves your skin dry and chalky, and—oh, yeah—it stinks. (Even if it might be beneficial to your gut.) Back-stroking through a brilliant blue pool in the middle of a summer heat wave, on the other hand, sounds nothing short of exquisite.
Enter salt water pools, a healthy alternative for cooling yourself on a hot summer day.
Here’s all you need to know about the advantages of soaking in a salt water pool this summer.
What is a saltwater pool?
To begin, what exactly is a saltwater pool? You’re not alone if the name conjures up images of a pool filled with seawater.
A saltwater inground pool, on the other hand, is not the same as swimming in the ocean on the Isle of Palms; the name refers to the apparatus used to keep the water clean and sterilised. You can maintain your pool chlorinated without adding chlorine by simply throwing normal table salt into it, stirring it up a little, and the salt chlorine generator converts it to chlorine.
Don’t worry if the taste of salty ocean water or pictures of Daniel Island’s beaches are still lingering in your memory. The concentration of salt in saltwater pools is substantially lower than in ocean water. The salt will be faint, almost saline-like, if you can taste it at all. Saltwater pools typically have 3,000-4,000 parts per million of salt, whereas the ocean has over 35,000 parts per million.
First and foremost: The main distinction between a saltwater and a chlorinated pool is the presence of salt
The fundamental distinction between a saltwater and a chlorinated pool is the way the structure is constructed and maintained. While chlorine pools are treated with the chemical in the form of sticks or pills on a regular basis, salt water pools create chlorine at a slower rate, according to Fixr.
Salt water pools, unsurprisingly, are treated on a regular basis with, well, salt, which sanitises the pool through an electrolysis process.However, because the ordinary salt water pool has only about a tenth of the salinity found in ocean water, you won’t get the same skin-smoothing advantages as you would if you went surfing (but hey, a small fraction of sodium beats none at all).
Swimming in saltwater is good for your skin
Some people believe that the ocean is a cure-all. (In high school, I even tried and succeeded at curing my acne by going to the beach on a regular basis.) The H2O legend, however, isn’t entirely folklore. “Salt is a catalyst; it detoxifies, calms, and even helps the skin barrier function,” the author explains.Swimming in seawater, in fact, can both sterilise your skin and reduce inflammation mediators.
However, if your fingertips start to feel pruney, you’ve probably overstayed your welcome and dried out your skin. Just make sure you use a hydrating cleanser and face lotion after you get out of the water to restore your skin’s hydration.
Swimming in saltwater is good for your skin
Swimming in seawater, in fact, can both sterilise your skin and reduce inflammation mediators.
However, if your fingertips start to feel pruney, you’ve probably overstayed your welcome and dried out your skin. Just make sure you use a hydrating cleanser and face lotion after you get out of the water to restore your skin’s hydration.
The immune and nervous systems are soothed in saltwater pools
The immunological, neurological, and lymphatic systems can benefit from the relaxing and cleansing properties of salt water pools, and salt is considered to be grounded. While further research on the effects of salt on human subjects is needed, a 2014 study published in the journal Appetite found that women who ate sodium-rich diets were less depressed than other women. As a result, dog-paddling in the muck may provide similar benefits.
Furthermore, because salt is antibacterial, it may prevent any unwelcome microorganisms from ruining your summer fun (bye, summer cold). According to Science Focus, this is due to a chemical mechanism called osmosis, which allows liquids to leave your cells, including bacterial ones.
After all, there’s a reason people travel halfway across the world to dip in the Dead Sea.
Make sure your swimwear *actually* fits before heading to the pool, and don’t forget your eye-protecting sunglasses.
Hygiene & safety
You may be asking how salt can be used to replace chlorine, although salt water pools do not have any chlorine.. A saltwater generator converts soluble salt, or sodium chloride, into chlorine via an electrolysis process. This creates chlorine in the form of sodium hypochlorite and hypochlorous acid, which are just as powerful as chlorine additions for neutralising bacteria and algae.
As a result, your water will be as clean and sanitary as that of a chlorinated pool. Simultaneously, you benefit from lower levels of chloramines, which are known to cause skin and eye irritation as well as that awful “chlorine” odour.
Gentle on your eyes
After swimming for a long time in a chlorinated pool, swimmers’ eyes commonly itch and turn red. You might wonder how a salt water pool could be any softer, but remember that the salt content of a salt water pool (about 3,500 parts per million) is significantly lower than that of seawater (around 35,000 parts per million). Salt water pools have a salt concentration that is quite similar to that found in human tears, making them less prone to hurt your eyes than chlorinated pools.
Traditional pools may cause red, burning eyes or itchy hives, which is all the more reason to move to saltwater. Rather than exposing your body to the chemicals found in traditional chlorinated pools, salt produces chlorine on a regular basis, which acts as a natural disinfectant and is less harsh on your eyes and skin.
Chemically safer than chlorine
You don’t have to store chlorine in solid or powdered form on your property because you can sterilise your backyard pool with salt through electrolysis. Chlorine can be toxic, caustic, and a fire danger if kept incorrectly or utilised inappropriately. You won’t have to worry about these problems if you have a saltwater generator in your pool.
Non-irritating to the lungs
Following a swim in a chlorinated pool, some people feel lung inflammation. This substance can exacerbate asthma and allergy symptoms, as well as create other breathing issues. Salt water is a wonderful alternative if you or someone in your household is sensitive to chlorine. Many of the concerns linked with respiratory ailments are alleviated by the soft, moderate water.
Relaxing
Swimming in saltwater is known to stimulate the body’s natural relaxing process even more effectively than swimming in freshwater. Salt water can also help to calm tight muscles and reduce arthritic pain and stiffness.
You don’t need to keep chlorine on hand
There will be no more stockpiling of chlorine. It’s no secret that storing and managing chemicals is a nuisance. Keeping chlorine in the house might be dangerous, particularly if you have young children or pets. Salt water pools, in general, do not need chlorine in its man-made form because the generator converts salt to chlorine. The only exception is if your pool’s equilibrium becomes significantly out of whack. Most of the time, however, you won’t have to bother about storing or handling chlorine.
Owners of salt water pools do not need to have harmful chlorine on hand at home.
Keeping concentrated forms of dangerous chemicals in the house, shed, storage shed, workstation, or even a small pool box can be harmful to humans, animals, and plants in the nearby, but it’s essential to have these chemicals on hand in order to maintain the chemical balance of the pool water in a chlorine pool.
Users never have to worry about storing bottles or buckets of dangerous chemicals like chlorine, bromine, stabiliser, clarifier, algaecide, and more because salt water pools use electrolysis to divide salt and create the needed quantity of chlorine using the electrolytic chlorine generator.
There is no overpowering chlorine odour
There will be no chlorine odour. You won’t get the same unpleasant chlorine smell because the chlorine in salt water pools is formed naturally rather than artificially.
It aids in the promotion of healthy breathing and the reduction of allergy symptoms
Inhaling fine salt particles is actually very advantageous for ensuring healthy breathing and lowering allergies, according to the American Lung Association. All of those fine salt particles, it turns out, attract water into our lungs’ airways, thinning any mucus that may be present. Fun fact: Halotherapy is a therapeutic treatment that focuses primarily on inhaling salt particles via means such as halogenerators and soaking in salt water.
It has the capacity to help the body detox
People with sensitive skin know how difficult it is to locate exfoliants that aren’t irritating.Salt water can assist a range of skin types and disorders, including scaling psoriatic skin, eczema, and acne, thanks to its gentle yet effective exfoliating properties. Impurities and poisons are naturally drawn out by salt water. The sulphur in salt water has a keratolytic action, which means it softens and aids in the removal of dead skin cells, as well as the prevention of clogged pores.
It has the ability to alleviate stress and anxiety
Salt water therapy is extremely popular for a reason. Salt water isn’t just good for your body; it’s also good for your mind, as it helps to relieve stress and anxiety. Its calming and cleaning properties have been shown in tests to promote feelings of well-being and relaxation.
It can aid in the relief of aching muscles and joints
You’ve certainly heard of Epsom salt baths or bath bombs, and you’ve probably heard of salt water’s muscle-relaxing effects. Bromine, which can help patients suffering from arthritis or accidents by treating muscular and joint aches, pains, and soreness, is responsible for salt’s pain-relieving properties.
It is more environmentally friendly
A salt water pool isn’t just good for your health; it’s also good for the environment. The strong chlorine odour that ordinary pools release is caused by chloramines. They bond to dirt and sweat to keep the pool clean, but they also emit gas into the air. Although salt water pools include a little amount of chlorine, the water evaporates quickly and isn’t nearly as harmful to the environment as chlorinated water.
Salt water pools are the perfect compromise between swimming in the ocean and taking a home salt bath. Salt water pools are not only easy to maintain, but they also provide numerous health and cosmetic benefits. You’ll get all the exercise you need from swimming, but without the sharks, fish, or other sea creatures, and you’ll still get the physical and mental benefits of saltwater. You’ll also save money by not having to pay for the added costs of having a chlorinated pool. Consider the following reasons for switching if you’re still not convinced.
They normally don’t require as much upkeep as chlorine pools
Testing the chemical balance of the water, adding store-bought chlorine, shocking the pool when required, and adding additional chemicals to help balance the pH, calcium toughness, total alkalinity, free chlorine, free bromine, and lowering any heavy metals present in the water are all routine chemical maintenance tasks associated with owning and operating a non-salt water pool.
The electrolytic chlorine generator in a salt water pool simply supplies chlorine as needed, so users don’t have to worry about adding chlorine or having to use several chemicals to keep the pool water composition balanced. Simply add salt at the start of the swimming season and evaluate the levels every two weeks. To keep the pool’s chlorine levels stable, add more salt as needed.
