Your questions about salt water swimming pools

Wize Guy answers:

Salt water won’t damage your hair as much but believe it or not you’ll see an increase in dandruff if you don’t wear a cap in a salt water pool. The thing is the amount of salt and water in the pool leans more towards the salt side compared to that same ratio in your scalp cells and the water will flow out of those cells and they’ll die. Chlorine of course might miscolor hair if you don’t wear a cap but it won’t give you dandruff.

Wize Guy answers:

well you must check the PH and conditioner levels and also the chlorine level just like in a normal pool…and you must occasionally check the salt level and the chlorine cell should be cleaned with an acid solution every 3 months or so more info here: http://www.swimming-pool-information.com/pool-chlorine-generators.html

Wize Guy answers:

You must live south of the equator if it is summertime. Unless you really need to get rid of the stains now, I suggest that you wait for the rainy season when the rains will dissolve the salt. If you can’t wait, try using a pressure washer. This is what I have in mind:

http://www.karcherresidential.com/en/24up_pool.php

http://www.karcherresidential.com/en/showproducts.php?op=view_prod&param1=248&param2=&param3=

However, since I don’t know your country, start here and navigate through to find what is available where you live:
http://www.karcher.com/start/choose_your_language.htm

Wize Guy answers:

Hair will become lighter if you spend time out in the sun regardless of the chemicals in the pool water.

Wize Guy answers:

I have to put my two cents in, because I hate people who get misinformed about salt systems. With a salt system it is going to feel a lot gentler on your skin when you swim. However, you need to be aware that you DO have to balance your water chemestry, even more so than with a chlorine pool. Many sales people try to say that this isn’t necessary, but it is extremely important. With a salt cell, the water runs over the cell and turns into a form of chlorine. Because the water touches the cell, unbalanced water will strain and corrode the cell, causing it to have a shortened life span.

The average salt cell lasts about 4-7 years, with 7 being pretty darn good! With unbalanced water, it is often much less than this. The average salt cell costs around $500-700, so you want to make sure that it is not a yearly issue to replace the cell.

As well, if you get a cell with a digital display to tell you how much salt is in the pool, know that this is often innacurate. The machine is never calibrated, so the salt levels are often off. If you end up trusting the display you may end up running your pool with too much or too little salt, which can also cause your cell to burn out.

To be perfectly honest, everyone who has ever had a salt system loves it. The only complaint I have ever recieved is that the cell burns out eventually, and some people do not like coming in every few weeks to get their salt levels tested (although there are take home strips which are fairly accurate).