Generate Your Own Chlorine Safely

On-site chlorine generation has long been recognized as a lower-cost way to maintain water sanitization in commercial swimming pools and water-based recreational facilities while producing a pH-neutral chlorine. The cost advantages are getting a boost from a number of safety factors.

Q: How much can I save with on-site chlorine generation?

A: With the most advanced technology, you can drop the cost for bleach production to $0.43 per gallon. That is less than a third of the cost of using chlorine in dry or liquid form to sanitize pools and other water-based facilities. With salt as the only raw material you need for sanitization, you can expect to avoid the price increases associated with chlorine. Depending on the size of the facility, you can look at a payback on your investment in two to five years. If you can project a service life of 10 years for your on-site chlorine-generation system, then you can cut production costs by more than 67 percent over a five- to eight-year cycle.

Q: What are the safety benefits?

A: By eliminating the need to store and handle chlorine, you eliminate the possibility of mishandling this toxic chemical, which is a common problem when you assign people without special training or an understanding of chlorine to fill the feeders. Mixing muriatic acid and chlorine can create gas or a fire, which could force an evacuation of a pool facility. Safety concerns are behind some new local government mandates, which require separate storage facilities or reinforced storage areas. Some local governments are even restricting when trucks can deliver liquid chlorine to off-business hours in order to avoid safety problems. As a result, pool owners and operators can face increased costs to handle and store chlorine, and they risk the financial consequences of an event causing evacuations from pools and surrounding facilities and the cost of repairing any damage caused by an event. In all likelihood, having a safer on-site chlorine generation system that uses salt can lower risk exposure and other associated liability costs.