By Steve Panetta
Director of Wellness Activities
This week, the indoor saltwater pool at the Wellness Center was converted to a chlorine pool.
The conversion is relatively easy, but I thought you might have some questions about the process and what it means to you.
Q: Why did we convert the indoor pool from saline to chlorine?
A: The saltwater pool indoors can prove corrosive in an enclosed environment, as opposed to an outdoor saltwater pool. The only way of eliminating corrosive side effects caused by the saltwater filtration system was to get rid of the salt in favor of chlorine. The new system will have a chlorine stick feeder built into the plumbing. Chlorine is added through the filtration system.
Q: Isn’t a chlorinated pool harder on the body than a saline pool?
A: It’s true that salt water is softer but salt that is put directly into the water of a saline pool is converted to chlorine. A saltwater pool is cleaned using a filtering system called a salt chlorine generator, which uses electricity to turn salt into chlorine. The water in the indoor pool is still tested for chlorine, which is kept between the standard 2 ppm (parts per million) to 5 ppm. That’s the same level of chlorine found in a saline pool.
Q: Will the outdoor pools be converted to chlorine too?
A: No. Because the outdoor pools are not enclosed, they do not have the same corrosive effect on their surroundings as the indoor pool.
Q: Will the whirlpool be converted to chlorine?
A: Not at this time. However, we will monitor the whirlpool and possibly convert it as well.