Its officially summer, which means that pools will be naturally heated to perfection all day and evening long. During a recent lazy Sunday, while taking a dip in the pool and having burnt my eyes with chlorine, I began to wonder about salt water swimming pools? Having heard that there where health benefits associated with salt-water pools, wanted to ask someone who knew a little about this topic and dig a little deeper.

Before taking the plunge, we decided to approach an expert in the field, Eng. Rafael Aybar President of Constructora Aybar (www.aybargroup.com), whom have been building quality homes, villas and in-ground swimming pools in Casa de Campo (since 1999) and, (since 2004) have also been working abundantly with salt water system (and chlorinated water systems), even natural pounds with fish

What is the main difference / benefits of salt water pools vs. chlorine pools?

Salt water is swimmer friendly, these is because of the low levels of chlorine in the pool needed to maintain the water. Which helps by not causing burning, itching, dry skin, or green hair. It also smells and tastes better.

What about the cost of salt water pools? Are they more expensive than regular pools?

Cost effective maintenance, over time salt water pools are cheaper because you do not have to add chlorine tablets to the water just add salt. While it is initially a larger expense, in only a few summers it will have paid for itself. With salt you would only need one third of the budget of chlorine tablets for the whole summer.

With the help of the control box, it becomes less time consuming to maintain you can even set a timer. Be advised you’ll still have some checking up to do for pH levels as well as calcium levels.

With all the talk about going green, is one option better than the other as regards the environment?

This is one subject that there both tied is that salt water and chlorinated water are unhealthy for the environment. But a salt pool option is safer for pets and for your family.

Let’s be practical for a moment, what about if you have an existing chlorinated water pool and are looking at switching to a saltwater pool? How long would the transition take? Would there be ample construction involved? And, of course, what would the costs be like?

To change your old chlorine system to a salt water system there is no large construction needed, the salt water system equipment easily fits in standard pool machine rooms. If you decide to make the change, [with]in 72 hours you could have a working pool system (depending the size of the pool). The price range really depend[s] of the amount of gallons of the pool it can range from US1,000 for a small pool up to $60,000 for a one million gallon pool.

What about permits? Are there any special permits needed in Casa de Campo to install a salt-water pool versus a chlorinated pool?

You don’t need any special permits to install a salt water system in Casa de campo.

Have you seen an increase in demand from homeowners for salt-water pools? Or has the interest remained the same over the years?

The interest in salt water system has been getting bigger in the last 5 years more people are changing to spend more quality time in there pool not worrying about itching eyes. The lower maintenance costs and potential health benefits have also been factors.

How do you advise your clients when asked about this topic?

As a builder of high end in-ground swimming pools, many customers ask me, how can they justify owning a salt water system for their pool? To help them, answer that question, I ask them, “What’s important to you?” Inevitably the answer is, “Everything is important.” We recommend salt-water system because of the multiple benefits such as cleaner and safer water for you and your love ones.

So there you have it. It seems that in addition to slowly becoming a fast adopted trend, the shift to salt-water pools also seems to have additional benefits that are being enjoyed by many more and more Casa de Campo villa owners and renters.

We would also like to thank our friends at Constructora Aybar for providing us with the information for this article and for making themselves available to answer any questions from our readers. Thus, anyone who has any questions is invited to post your questions here, or contact Constructora Aybar directly.

Ing. Jose D. Jourdain, Constructora Aybar
809-224-3833 or email: ambientecnia@yahoo.com

.

.

No related posts.