Hotscot

I'm currently rebuilding a 20 year old mower...
I spent ages trying to fire up the engine

Only to learn that it won't fire up without the blade attached.
Momentum and all that...

Pulaski

You can destroy the motor of a mower if you try to start it without the blade attached as mower engines are designed without a flywheel - the blade acts as the flywheel. The result of trying to start a mower engine without the blade can be that, if the timing is off, the ignition of the fuel in the cylinder can cause the piston to turn the crank the wrong way. I hear the results can be catastrophic.

Hotscot

Right.

tom169

The time has come. I've decided to go salt water for the pool. My next DIY project as soon as it arrives.

chawkins99

You won't regret it. I switched to salt water right after I moved in to this house. Have never had any problems with the water.

Steerpike

Ew yuk ... what's the big advantage? I hate swimming in the sea, always getting mouthfuls of saltwater!

tom169

From my research the benefits are more in not having to faff around with liquid chlorine (aka pouring bleach into the pool multiple times a week).

Note that pool salt water is a tenth of the salinity in the ocean. I don't think you can taste it.

chawkins99

As Tom says, the salt is barely noticeable. The system uses electrolysis to convert the salt into chlorine alleviating the need to manually add liquid chlorine or use chlorine tablets which cause their own problems.

The result is crystal clear water with very little maintenance. The salt also improves the feel of the water. Salt is used in household water softeners.

Oh. And none of the seaweed, or other contamination caused by all of the 'wildlife' relieving themselves in it.

steveq

As the great WC Fields said, when asked why he preferred whisky to water, "Fish piss in it"

Steerpike

Thanks! Good to know. So is it even slightly noticeable? I realize one doesn't go around intentionally gulping down pool water at the best of times, so it's just the water you get on your lips, etc as you swim around.

I guess it's not an issue for me now as I just bought a new place in AZ and it doesn't have it's own private pool (has a communal one).

Hotscot

Yes but I don't think it's added to the water. it's used to extract the contaminants.

Steerpike

Well, the water passes through it and I have heard that it does make the water slightly salty. The new place I bought has some fancy water softener, so I guess I'll find out soon enough (take possession at the end of the month).

chawkins99

It is at a level where some people notice, some don't. It's certainly not unpleasant. It's less salty than your own tears, which raises another point: It's much more comfortable to open your eyes in a salt water pool than a regular one.

BTW: If you can smell chlorine in a pool, that is bad. You should not be able to detect the chlorine.

Anian

You only smell chlorine in a pool when it is chewing through something bad in the water. A private pool doesn't have to worry about the great unwashed peeing constantly.

Sheepdip

We use chlorine tabs in an inline doser in our pool and there's no smell or irritant as far as we've noticed. Very simple to use too. Getting to that time when it will soon be warm enough to get back in