The purpose of the chlorinator is to sanitise the water, killing bacteria in less than a minute. It is possible to circumvent the need for this type of equipment by adding Chlorine manually. However unless you have a small inflatable pool, it would be best to invest in this piece of equipment to save you time, effort and potentially even money.
There are three types of sanitisers you can purchase: Chlorine Dosers, Salt/Mineral Chlorinators and Ionisers. Your choice in which will depend on a variety of factors, such as cost and automation.
Chlorine Dosers
Chlorine Dosers act as a tiny pump which draws liquid chlorine from a 60L holding drum and slowly feeds it into the pool over the course of 1-2 months, depending on the time of year and size of pool. They are the cheapest to purchase and simplest to operate. The tubing needs to be replaced every 2-3 years. There is typically a dial of which can be used to adjust the chlorine output (requires change during summer/winter).
With more expensive systems, you can get probes attached which will determine the ORP (oxidation reduction potential) and pH and dose accordingly to keep the pool perfectly balanced at all times. Oxidisation reduction potential is just a measure of the chlorine's ability to oxidise/reduce another substance in the pool (bacteria).
Saltwater Chlorinators
Saltwater Chlorinators come as a two part machine, there is the power pack and the cell. The power pack is responsible for giving directions to the cell and most brands come with a variety of other features such as: a plug to run your filter pump at the same time, output settings, timer settings, low salt detection and more.
The cell on the other hand does all the heavy lifting. Water will travel into the cell and through an electrode. This electrode (7-year lifespan) converts salt water into chlorine gas, given there is enough salt in the water per the manufacturers recommendation. This chlorine gas is then used to sanitise the pool. The reason people add this additional layer of complication is because using salt over chlorine is nearly a third of the cost.
The same probe system can be added to these Chlorinators as well, providing a further degree of automation at the expense of a higher initial cost for the unit and probe replacements ($900/four years).
Saltwater Chlorinators (Adding Minerals)
Minerals can be used instead of salt on any chlorinator. There is no such thing as a mineral or salt only chlorinator, they are interchangeable and you can use both minerals and salt together. The reason people pay 4-5x more in minerals is because it does indeed make the water feel better. This is especially beneficial to people with skin conditions. However, if you have a "Mineral System", you are in no way obligated to add minerals only. A bag of minerals typically consists of:
Astral's Acquatherepé
- Salt (25%)
- Magnesium (40%)
- Potassium (30%)
- Boron (5%)
Maytronic's Dead Sea
- Salt (8%)
- Magnesium (53%)
- Potassium (37%)
- Other (2%)
Zodiac's Element
- Salt (75%)
- Magnesium (25%)
Minerals such as Magnesium, Potassium, and Boron can be added to the pool water. These elements make the water feel smooth, silky, and less irritating to people with skin conditions. Just like salt, they can be converted into chlorine gas through a cell.
Magnesium gives the water a silky feel and helps in attacking algae cells (requiring 40-80% less Chlorine), Potassium is a natural moisturiser, and Boron softens the water hardness to balance the other two out. All brands are significantly different and will vary from bag to bag.
Copper Ionisers
Ionisers are the only sanitisers on the market that have no involvement with Chlorine. Instead they use another element known as Copper. Just like Chlorine, Copper will eliminate bacteria and destroy harmful pathogens.
Copper will last drastically longer in your pool compared with Chlorine. However, these Copper based Ionisers (90% Copper, 10% Silver) are very slow and inefficient at recovering an already green pool and take much longer to actual kill these harmful pathogens.
Ionisers require very little salt, no chlorine, no stabiliser and much less acid. They are only suggested for people who know what they're getting themselves into as they can:
- Increase the copper levels too high, causing stains on the surface/clothing,
- Fail to handle excess bacteria (turning the pool green), this would typically be present during summer where the pool is surrounded by vegetation,
- Require a replacement electrode every 1-2 years and frequent water testing to ensure no problems arise.
For those reasons, they are much less common. Compare all three types below:
