The key to a crystal clear and healthy swimming pool is proper sanitation.

The first thing we need to know is the different kinds of sanitizers you can use in your swimming pool. The most common is of course chlorine. People give this a bad rap but the truth is that it’s the most effective means of sanitation in a swimming pool. And it’s also the cheapest. There is also a ton of myths about chlorine that you need to understand are not true. For one it doesn’t burn your eyes. What burns your eyes is low pH.

Now we understand that chlorine is the most popular and effective means of pool sanitation but some people just don’t want to use it for a number of different reasons. Therefore, we have to turn to alternative means of sanitation.

Bromine is a sister chemical to chlorine without the harsh smell. More bromine is required to effectively reach the level of sanitation that chlorine provides. But most indoor pools use it because it doesn’t have that “chlorine smell.”

Baquacil is another sanitizer that uses a liquid chemical to sanitize. Baquacil is a brand name, so you can find it else where under different names. The only other one that I am familiar with is Bioguard’s Soft Swim. This is an all liquid sanitation package that people use because they say it feels better on the skin and doesn’t dry it out. It’s probably true but there are chemicals that can make any pool feel that way. More about that in other sections.

Now Bromine and Baquacil are really the only two other popular methods of sanitation as opposed to chlorine, however there are two more methods I would like to explain. These methods use the power of chlorine but in a little different way. I’m sure you’ve heard of salt water pools. Salt water pools are exactly what they say they are, salt water. But it’s not the salt that sanitizes. The (very minimal, you can barely taste it) salty water runs through an electronic pipe that turns the salt into chlorine. So salt water pools use chlorine to sanitize but it’s built into the pool water. You never have to add outside chlorine to your pool (unless your having a problem).

Another method is using a mineral system. These are becoming more popular each year. They use minerals to sanitize your swimming pool however, they only work so far. They still require a small amount of chlorine to instantly kill the bacteria that the mineral system may take too long to kill. These systems are cheap and easy to install.