Saltwater pools becoming new trend

Last Update: 7/08 5:55 pm

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WICHITA, Kansas – If you’ve ever been swimming in the ocean and taken a big gulp of sea water, it’s likely a taste you’ll never forget. Saltwater pools are a way you can have a little bit of the ocean right in your own backyard.

The smell of suntan oil and chlorine are two familiar scents of summer, but as the heat drives people poolside that unmistakable chorine odor is starting to fade, making way for one of the newest trends in swimming pools.

“A lot of people think it's going to taste like the ocean, but once they find out it doesn't taste offensive with all the added benefits, it's usually a no-brainer,” said Dave Martine with Big Wave Pools.

Martine has been installing saltwater pools for about three years now. The pools are filled with saltwater and nothing else.

“So you’re not adding those toxic chemicals -- no chlorine gas in your face, no once a week you’re doing that,” he said. “It automatically makes the right amount of chlorine to keep your pool clean. It almost eliminates you from making mistakes.”

Another advantage to the saltwater pools is they are easier to maintain than normal pools. There are no chemicals, you literally just add salt. A little device separates out the sodium from the chlorine, so the pool stays naturally clean. So what does it taste like? Well, it's not like swimming in the ocean; it's more like the saline solution used for contact lenses.

“Imagine being in 20,000 gallons of a water softener, it's like a giant water softener, so when you get out your skin is soft you don't smell like that dirty chlorine pool,” Martine said. “It's just right. It feels good.”

And there are a few other perks to not swimming in chlorine.

“There is no green hair, it keeps the platinum color if that is what you die it too,” said Marine.

In just a few hours any pool can be converted to saltwater.

“Typically most of the conversions may run between the $2,200 to $2,600 range, depending on the application,” he said.

Then you just add salt. The average saltwater pool uses about 20 to 50 pounds of salt per year and in landlocked Kansas, it’s about as close as you’re going to get to a saltwater swim.

Manufacturers say the saltwater pools are easier on the environment as well because there is no need for harsh chemicals. For more information on saltwater pools click on Weblinks.

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