Can I Use Salt As Sanitizer Instead of Chlorine?

[PoolDoc]

I'm having a hard time finding information on using high saline as a permanent, maintenance-free solution.

Unfortunately, "permanent, maintenance-free solutions" to pool chemistry are right up their with perpetual motion machines, auto engines that get 200 MPG, 'green energy' solutions to US power needs that don't kill birds, don't consume real estate, don't cost much, and do run 24/7 even when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow.

Consequently, the only "information" you could possibly find would be what's generated by dishonest sales and marketing types looking for a 'mark' to sucker.

well, my point is it's pretty safe to swim in the ocean, no? High salinity kills almost all pathogens you have to worry about. There's red tide I guess, but I don't think that's very likely to show up in one's back yard (then again, maybe I'm wrong?) What harmful or unsightly organisms do you think I'd have to worry about with ocean level salinity?

You're not wrong about the red tide, but you're pretty much wrong about everything else.

There've been quite a few articles in the news lately about sewage contaminated beaches, and the fact that the EPA apparently considers a beach acceptably safe if only 1 in 20 swimmers gets sick! So if that's your standard of safety, well, everything is OK, right?

Wrong.

What most people don't get, is that the stuff in pools that makes swimmers sick almost always CAME FROM OTHER SWIMMERS. Snot, pee, sweat, poop -- about 1 gram or a pencil eraser's worth from EACH swimmer -- tears, toe jam, etc. are ALL just packed full of bacterial goodness, or sometimes, viral fun and games. NONE of these little beasties are killed by salt water, and people DO get sick every day because they are swimming in somebody else's poop. They don't BREED in salt water, but then they don't breed in fresh water, either: they breed in people!

Fish poop is not too likely to make you sick, but people poop will do it quite handlily, and dog and cat poop can give you fun that will last for weeks, months or even years.

You may be thinking, "But, it's only MY family's poop, and THEY are clean!" Maybe. People can be carriers of all sorts of things without having symptoms. But even apart from that, you don't want your trusted family member's poop in your eye . . . and if you swim in a pool without chlorine, that's just what you'll get.

Salt kills that critter and just about any other free roaming water critter that can harm you. You don't even have to limit yourself to ocean salinity... you could go all the way to dead sea salinity (~30% salt) if desired... which will kill all microscopic life, period.

No, you're on to something. It's not a solution for everyone, but I think this is EXACTLY what you should do: add 10,000 pounds of salt to a 10,000 gallon pool. (Just not in California, where you'll need a hazardous discharge permit, to drain your pool!)

Because the swcg can break and I'll probably be lazy about testing. Also, I believe salt is probably safer and healthier than chlorine of any form. The human body was designed to handle salt... aggressive oxidizers, not so much. I plan on spending a lot of time in my pool and I have some respiratory issues, so I'm just hedging my bets.

+ has respiratory issues
+ is careless about testing
+ makes pool treatment decisions based on some severely sketchy research . . .

Hm-mh. My older son had severe chronic asthma, and my mom died of IPF, so I've some knowledge of 'respiratory health issues'. I think I'll say, "Good bye", while I still can.

I don't think we can really help you with your pool, so the best I can do for you is offer you my best wishes for your good luck!