Table Salt Sanitizer?

[spazman]

Had a customer come in my showroom the other day crowing about the new sanitizing system that came with his dandy 3600$ internet spa. He claimed that all he had to do was add table salt to the water. No dichlor, no bromine and no shock. This sounds suspicious at best. I thought the salt systems on the market required a special salt that contained components that would produce bromine or chlorine when they passed through the reaction chamber. Anybody out there have any reliable information about this system?

[Steve]

Had a customer come in my showroom the other day crowing about the new sanitizing system that came with his dandy 3600$ internet spa. He claimed that all he had to do was add table salt to the water. No dichlor, no bromine and no shock. This sounds suspicious at best. I thought the salt systems on the market required a special salt that contained components that would produce bromine or chlorine when they passed through the reaction chamber. Anybody out there have any reliable information about this system?

I have reliable info on table salt as a sanitizer for a pool or spa...

It doesn't work!

[tinybubbles]

While it's true that there is nothing special in the salt, most people buy bags of salt pellets that are used in water softener systems.  You can find it labeled "pool salt" but that's all it is, a different label.  I can just see someone filling up 4 grocery carts with little containers of morton table salt to dump in their pool.  Of course, spas are much smaller.  You can use ordinary food salt, solar salt and like I mentioned water softening salt pellets.  If you are using a salt system in a pool, nothing else needs to be added except stabilizer and you must still balance your water of course.  In a spa, the systems require that you add MPS both before and after soaks.  My company intalls a couple hundred salt systems a year in pools, so hopefully this can be considered reliable information.

[Water Boy]

While it's true that there is nothing special in the salt, most people buy bags of salt pellets that are used in water softener systems.  You can find it labeled "pool salt" but that's all it is, a different label.  I can just see someone filling up 4 grocery carts with little containers of morton table salt to dump in their pool.  Of course, spas are much smaller.  You can use ordinary food salt, solar salt and like I mentioned water softening salt pellets.  If you are using a salt system in a pool, nothing else needs to be added except stabilizer and you must still balance your water of course.  In a spa, the systems require that you add MPS both before and after soaks.  My company intalls a couple hundred salt systems a year in pools, so hopefully this can be considered reliable information.

Tinybubbles, how have the salt systems been working out for you?? I read an article in pool magazine sometime last year were several builders were complaining about how the salt has started to tear up the concrete or the kool decking around the pools. They were complaining that the salt was eating away at the concrete, similar to when they salt the icy roads, and tearing up the roads. Some of those builders said they quit installing them. I also remember in the same article though that there were builders that said that they haven’t had any problems with them. Just curious as to what your experience has been with them. I assume good if you install 200 of them a year.

[Micah]

I have reliable info on table salt as a sanitizer for a pool or spa...

It doesn't work!

NACL or the more common name, SALT is made of two elements, sodium and cloride.  If you break the two elements apart you create the same active ingredient as clorine.  There are two ways (that I have tried) to split the elements.  one is to create a chemical reaction (M.P.S.) The other is to split the elements with a small electrical pulse (Chlorine Generator)

I would not recomend using NACL (Table salt) as it just creates clorine in your water.  However using NABR (sodium bromide) works much better and is 100% chlorine free.

For the record...IT WORKS!!!

[Vanguard]

One of the main issues I've heard with salt in spas is the water becomes effervescent - kind of like an Alka Seltzer.  When the bubbles come to the surface, the salt gets in the air and causes throat irritation, much like Baqua Spa can do when used indoors.

In swimming pools, you do see lots of problems with natural surfaces, stainless steel ladders/handrails, etc.  From what I've been able to see, when issues arise it is typically because the homeowner added too much salt.  The ol' mindset of "If a little is good, a lot is better."  That does not hold true for fertilizer or salt in pools.  If you get a lot of splash out, the salt water sits on the deck, coping, rail, etc.  The sun evaporates the water and leaves the corrosive salt behind, thus causing the issues.

Some have tried salt in spas, but there still hasn't been much success out there.

[windsurfdog]

Interesting what some people buy into when dichlor and bromine are so easy and have stood the test of time so well...

[Micah]

Interesting what some people buy into when dichlor and bromine are so easy and have stood the test of time so well...

Yeah! You idiots and your so-called progress.  Lets think of the stupid snake oil ideas you dumba$$ people buy into.

1. Solar panels-
2. Smaller cars 20-40 mpg
3. Hybrid cars 40-50 mpg
4. Cell Phones
5. Computers
6. Fax machines

I think we should all avoid those scams as we know that in another 10 years we will all still have to pay the electric company, we will all still drive those 10 mpg cars, and talk on phones that have a cord attached to the wall. And when we need to type a note to someone we will go to out typewriter and then send the letter with the post office.  5 days later your letter is there.  Talk about "standing the test of time".  

Do any of you people believe that we will still be using chlorine and bromine in a spa in 30 years?  If so, fine.  If not, then quit putting down those that try new things.

[East_TX_Spa]

Instead of table salt, try Pitre's Bayou Cajun Seasoning.  It damn damn good!

Terminator

[Spatech_tuo]

Interesting what some people buy into when dichlor and bromine are so easy and have stood the test of time so well...

I think these salt systems are like most anything else where the early versions may be so-so at best but eventually the technology gets fine tuned and becomes the way to go. We can look back and laugh at early versions of VCRs, cell phones, computers, etc. but progress takes over and in time they become embraced as they get better. I'm still a dichlor person but I'm not going to laugh at the salt water systems, I'm just going to patiently wait for them to become the better alternative and hop on board the bandwagon at that time.

[wmccall]

I have reliable info on table salt as a sanitizer for a pool or spa...

It doesn't work!

You have to combine the salt with chicken stock. I'm suprised you didn't know that.

[Steve]

You have to combine the salt with chicken stock. I'm suprised you didn't know that.

LMAO!   I knew there was another ingredient but I just couldn't think of it! I was thinking tomato sandwich but that didn't sound right... :-/

[Steve]

Yeah! You idiots and your so-called progress.  Lets think of the stupid snake oil ideas you dumba$$ people buy into.

1. Solar panels-
2. Smaller cars 20-40 mpg
3. Hybrid cars 40-50 mpg
4. Cell Phones
5. Computers
6. Fax machines

I think we should all avoid those scams as we know that in another 10 years we will all still have to pay the electric company, we will all still drive those 10 mpg cars, and talk on phones that have a cord attached to the wall. And when we need to type a note to someone we will go to out typewriter and then send the letter with the post office.  5 days later your letter is there.  Talk about "standing the test of time".  

Do any of you people believe that we will still be using chlorine and bromine in a spa in 30 years?  If so, fine.  If not, then quit putting down those that try new things.

Give your head a shake and lose the attitude. I strongly suggest you use table salt as a perfectly fine sanitizer for your spa.

Your anologies have much to be desired...  

[Vinny]

Yeah! You idiots and your so-called progress.  Lets think of the stupid snake oil ideas you dumba$$ people buy into.

1. Solar panels-
2. Smaller cars 20-40 mpg
3. Hybrid cars 40-50 mpg
4. Cell Phones
5. Computers
6. Fax machines

I think we should all avoid those scams as we know that in another 10 years we will all still have to pay the electric company, we will all still drive those 10 mpg cars, and talk on phones that have a cord attached to the wall. And when we need to type a note to someone we will go to out typewriter and then send the letter with the post office.  5 days later your letter is there.  Talk about "standing the test of time".  

Do any of you people believe that we will still be using chlorine and bromine in a spa in 30 years?  If so, fine.  If not, then quit putting down those that try new things.

First of all everything new did start somewhere but all those technologies started out as garbage. Some of the "technologies" are snake oil and they'll remain just that. The problem is people market everything before it becomes somewhat perfected. Not all technology is a great idea.

Hybrid cars are a joke IMO - having a hybrid that gets 40 MPG vs a gas car that gets 35 MPG is good for what. I believe you pay more for the same version hybrid vehicle. When they get 100 to 150 MPG then I'll think they're not a joke. Go green - yeah when all those batteries come up to be replaced and it causes problems in recycling or they find their way to landfills how green will that be.

What's so good about cel phones? You're in constant communication with the rest of the world ... hmm we are all so self important that we really need to talk on a cell phone while taking a dump - I don't think so! I for one don't need an umbilical cord around 25/7/365... maybe if I were truely important but that would come with the territory.

Computers are great but do you really need to update your computer every 1 1/2 years as people are doing? New and improved doesn't mean that we need it. Heck for typing on the internet we can still use an old 386 with Windows 3.1

Do you really think a $3600 spa has a sophisticated salt generating system on it? I don't think so but eventually salt or whatever else (better ozone maybe) will come around but buying one in its infancy is not a good idea.

[Spatech_tuo]

Hybrid cars are a joke IMO - having a hybrid that gets 40 MPG vs a gas car that gets 35 MPG is good for what. I believe you pay more for the same version hybrid vehicle. When they get 100 to 150 MPG then I'll think they're not a joke. Go green - yeah when all those batteries come up to be replaced and it causes problems in recycling or they find their way to landfills how green will that be.

Now this is a subject I often discuss/argue about. Hybrids IN THEIR CURRENT STATE are not the great green machines people blindly think they are. They due not have the green footprint from a manufacturing standpoint (due to making and later disposing of batteries) BUT I truly believe they are the precursor to get us where we want to be just as the old bi-planes were the precursors to the modern jets (with a few variations in between). So I'm all for hybrids as a stepping stone to a better auto.

For this reason I don't think we should throw away salt systems or think of them as snake oil science. I just wouldn't buy one myself today but I'm all for others buying them and helping those manufactures perfect them so that 7 years from now they will be added onto every spa as a standard feature.