The LARGE pool is totally enclosed in six foot stone walls and bug-cage. Can harmful gases accumulate from salt to chlorine conversion and can harmful gases linger in an enclosed area?
Salt to chlorine conversion for pool
pool
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From my personal and professional experience with Saltwater Pools with "Salt Chlorine Generators" on them has always been positive. I will bullet point some information to help you ensure it's a positive experience:
Correct Installation: The Salt Chlorinator Systems have 2 main parts.
- A "Salt Chlorine Generator Cell" that is spliced into the return side of the PVC usually directly after your filter or heater. (Important Note: Ensure that the salt cell is installed as the last place in the PVC that returns to the pool. If you install it say before a heater or before the filter, then when the salt cell converts the salt to chlorine, you will have a high concentration of fresh chlorine (which is very corrosive). Chlorine is basically double the strength of Bleach and is used in your pool to sanitize and eat up/destroy organic matter in your pool. Remember, that single cell has to create enough chlorine to sanitize and be useful in a, say, average pool of 15,000 gallons. So the chlorine level directly after the cell is well over a "readable" level (20PPM+) but once it gets to your pool, it instantly dilutes to a more preferred level of 3 PPM - 5 PPM.
- A "Salt Generator Control Box" is usually installed by your pool equipment on the wall and is connected to your pool's power source (so that it only runs when your pool is running and circulating water) and it also connects to your "Salt Chlorine Generator Cell" (which is what provides the electrical power to turn the salt into chlorine. There is also usually a built-in flow meter to ensure that there is water flowing at a minimum rate to protect the system).
- EXPERT TIP - A final part of the installation is not included with your purchase of a Salt Chlorine Generator system for your pool, but I recommend it for ALL pools that have some type of automatic chlorinator on them. That part is a Standard PVC Check Valve, which you have installed Just Before the Salt Cell. A Check Valve is a simple PVC adapter you can get at any local hardware/plumbing store (Home Depot/Lowes) for $1 and what it does is allows water to only flow ONE WAY through the valve; if water tries to flow the wrong way the check valve stops the water. This is important for many reasons but, on this topic, this will ensure that when your pool equipment turns off each day, the Very Concentrated Chlorine water made by the Salt Cell does not "drain back into your pool heater, filter, pump, etc. and basically sit there and corrode your o-rings, gaskets, etc.... I've seen the damage countless times from this. You can Google "PVC Check Valve" to understand it more if you want, but it's a very simple part to be installed during installation of the salt chlorine cell and should only be at most $10 extra for installation & the check valve. If you're doing a personal install, pool equipment uses 1.5" or 2" PVC pipe; ensure you know which you have to get a check valve that fits.
Salt Chlorine Generator Facts: These simple facts that compare the amount of salt your pool will require for a salt chlorine generator vs a tear from a human eye vs Ocean Salt Water.
The average Salt Chlorine Generator requires 3,000 PPM of salt in your pool to operate correctly (Check instructions for exact amount of the system you buy).
Everyone has probably cried enough before to get a tear on your lips or in your mouth. A human tear normally has 9,000 PPM of salt
The Salt Water from the Ocean such as the Gulf of Mexico has 20,000 PPM of salt
We sell Thousands of Salt Chlorine Generators A Year All Over The World. To this day, I'm not aware of ONE single customer who was unhappy and wanted a refund after they installed it. In my last house, I had a pool built and I used a salt chlorine generator from day one. I can say that the 3,000 PPM of Salt Required in the pool makes the pool water feel "soft" on your skin vs the normal "dry" feeling from a liquid/powder chlorine pool. I also only had to clean the cell 2 times in the 8 years I lived there and it ran every day without any other issues.
Common Issues:
- Ensure You Clean Your Filter Often - There will be times that you may see that your salt chlorine generator isn't on due to "flow" (some systems will just turn off). Always check and clean your filter as a dirty/old filter will slow down the water flow enough to make your salt system not work. Do this before dishing out $300+ for a new "Salt Cell".
- Clean Your Cell* - Basically every pool requires calcium for proper water balance. This calcium with time will start to collect on the salt cell. When you remove the salt cell (which should be installed on **Union PVC Connectors so you can easily unscrew the salt cell for cleaning vs having to have a pool repair tech out to cut into your PVC again) use the manufacturer's directions on cleaning your cell. To clean the salt cell on my pool required a mixture of about 70% water and 30% Muriatic Acid in a bucket in which you place your cell and you will start to see it bubble and foam, which is the acid eating the calcium deposits off the metal blades of the cell. EXPERT WARNING - Muriatic Acid is VERY dangerous and if poured onto concrete or your body it will eat a hole right through it, so be very careful when handling Muriatic Acid. EXPERT WARNING - Muriatic Acid if mixed with Chlorine creates "Mustard Gas" and is deadly if breathed in. So don't think of adding chlorine to the cleaning bucket like I've heard of people recommending before.
Well that's my 2 cents and facts I know from selling tens of thousands of salt chlorine generators over the past 10 years online and it's still one of our top selling product lines.
Happy Swimming!
Green is most likely algae, but it could be metals. You have to get your water tested for metals and phosphates (most pool stores will do this for free if you bring in a water sample), and then get rid of any measurable amounts using products designed for the purpose.
Cloudiness is also consistent with both of those problems, but could be independent: If after you resolve any algae and/or metal problem it's still cloudy then add a clarifier. If that doesn't solve cloudiness then you would most likely have a filter problem – e.g., tear or leak in the filter.
Best Answer
A salt water chlorinator does not produce chlorine gas (it uses the salt in the water to produce hypochlorous acid and sodium hypochlorite: source). Moreover, the process takes place under water in an enclosed container. You therefore shouldn't have any fear of harmful gases from that process.
Furthermore, the smell that poolgoers usually associate with "chlorine" isn't actually due to chlorine but to chloramines (byproducts of chlorine sanitising organics in the pool) which indicates a lack of free chlorine in the water. Because salt water chlorinators can produce free chlorine continually, you don't usually get the "chlorine" smell with salt water pools.