A growing trend in the construction of pools is a salt or salt water pool. These pools are not treated with liquid or granular chlorine like a traditional pool. Instead, salt water pools are treated with common salt – which, through the process of electrolysis, is converted into chlorine. A common misconception about salt water pools is that the pool water will taste salty like the ocean. This is not the case. Ocean water has a salinity count of around 35,000 parts per million, and a salt water pool has about 3,000 parts per million. Humans have a salt taste threshold of approximately 3,500 part per million, which makes the salt in a salt water pool nearly undetectable to the human taste bud.
Salt water pools also reduce your maintenance, as the salt needs to be added far less frequently than traditional chlorine, and provides the convenience of not having to buy heavy and noxious chlorine. A salt water pool is gentler and kinder on the skin and eyes, will not discolor light hair, and does not leave the harsh smell of chlorine on your body. Other benefits of a salt treated pool is that you are swimming in a mild saline solution, as opposed to a harsher chemical environment. The saline pool is less drying to the body, and when you exit the pool your skin will feel softer and smoother and people generally feel more refreshed.