Some apartment communities are looking to saltwater pools for lower maintenance costs and a more enjoyable swim.
When Resource Residential took over the management of all the apartment communities it owned, the company’s president quickly made a splash that is saving thousands of dollars a year in maintenance costs. “One of the first things we did was convert all of our traditional chlorine pools to saltwater pools,” says Harlan Krichman, President and CEO of the Philadelphia-based company.
Intentionally filling a community pool with saltwater might sound strange to those unfamiliar with salt chlorination technlogy, but it’s not as if Krichman and others who maintain salt-chlorinated pools hooked a hose up to the ocean.
Saltwater pools and spas use a small amount of salt in the water—about 3,000 parts per million (ppm), or one teaspoon of salt per gallon of water—to generate sanitizing chlorine. That level of salt is similar to a teardrop or contact lens solution. By comparison, the ocean’s salt levels register 30,000 ppm or higher.
Saltwater pools aren’t yet past the tipping point where most people have heard of them, but they are gaining in market share, according to Ray Denkewicz, Product Manager, Sanitization and Controls, for Hayward Industries, a manufacturer of pool equipment including salt-chlorination and traditional chlorination systems. He says about 1.3 million residential in-ground pools out of 5 million nationwide are equipped with salt. There is no accepted source for the percentage of commercial pools that include saltwater.
Worth Its Salt
Lowering maintenance costs is one of the most important reasons for saltwater pools’ growing popularity. To explain, a quick primer on pool sanitization: Traditionally chlorinated pools are treated with liquid or tablet chlorine. The chemicals can be harsh, they can be time-consuming and expensive to transport and store, and they can be expensive—$100 to $150 for a bucket of chlorine that may need to be refilled weekly or biweekly.
Saltwater pools create chlorine differently. The pool is filled with the appropriate amount of sodium chloride—ordinary salt, essentially, but at pool-grade levels. The pool’s water is run through an electrical system that converts the chloride ions to sanitizing chlorine.
The difference is that whereas the sanitizing effects or traditional chlorine eventually dissipate in the sunlight, meaning the chemicals must be regularly replenished, salt-generated chlorine turns back into chloride after sanitizing. That means the pool only needs to be replenished with salt once—at the beginning of the season—and then only occasionally during the year when the pool is topped off with fresh water. The operator purchases bags of salt for less than $20 instead of buckets of chlorine for hundreds.
The cost difference will catch your eye.
Resource Residential saves approximately $2,500 per year per pool, Krichman estimates, including the cost of supplies, easier-to-maintain equipment, and reduced maintenance hours.
Eric Pogue, Little Rock Regional Maintenance Coordinator for Resource Residential, says maintenance technicians spend much less time maintaining the company’s saltwater pools. “With traditional chlorinated pools, we would spend anywhere from two to four hours a day cleaning the pool and checking the chemicals,” he says. “With saltwater pools, that’s down to an hour or hour and a half,” allowing technicians to attend to other issues.
Switching a pool from traditional chlorine to salt carries some upfront cost, and with capital expenditure budgets tight, that cost may be one reason why more companies aren’t making the transition immediately. A salt chlorinator costs approximately $1,000 for a 40,000 gallon model, Denkewicz says, and multiple or larger systems may be needed for larger pools. Pogue roughly estimates the cost to transition to a saltwater pool at $2,500 to $3,500 per pool.
Satisfying Soak
Resource Residential’s maintenance savings provide quick ROI, however, and maintenance costs aren’t the only benefits of saltwater pools.
“It’s a much more enjoyable pool to swim in,” says Krichman, whose company operates 52 communities and 15,000 apartments in 14 states nationwide. Because a properly maintained saltwater pool keeps chlorine at stable levels, they don’t have a chlorine smell or taste (nor does the water have a noticeable salt taste), and they won’t discolor bathing suits or dry out skin and hair.
The saltwater pools have been an “absolutely wonderful” selling feature at Resource Residential’s Chenal Lakes Apartments, a 456-unit community in Little Rock, Ark., with two saltwater pools, according to Jeanne Morris, Community Manager.
“We’re pretty much the only company incorporating saltwater pools in the area,” Morris says. “It’s really helped as a closing tehnique.”
Bathers should notice less eye irritation because the water has a similar salt content to the human eye. Denkewicz says some swimmers describe the water as more silky and smooth, like the effect of bath salts. Morris says she’s seen a lot more residents using her community’s pools, rather than just sunbathing, since they were converted.
Those enjoyable features have had an impact on Resource Residential’s move-ins and referrals, Krichman says. “Residents are thrilled to invite people over to swim, and that’s pulled in some new renters,” he explains. “I know we’ve literally had people move in because of our pools.”
The company is marketing its pools in its literature and tours. “We make sure employees swim in it so they understand it and can talk about it,” Krichman says. He adds that for marketing purposes, “The word ‘pool’ is not allowed at our company without the word ‘saltwater’ in front of it.” New pool signage will identify the pools as saltwater.
Resource Residential’s communities also take advantage of the pools for resident events such as dive-in movie nights, where a community will set up 9-foot-by-12-foot inflatable movie screens for lounging residents.
The lack of knowledge about saltwater pools among pool inspectors and contractors has created some practical issues, Krichman notes. The company has had to educate some municipalities on how the technology works, and some inspectors have been resistant to the systems. Denkewicz notes that salt chlorinators are certified for use in public pools by the National Sanitation Foundation.
Another issue is that service technicians for salt pools aren’t easy to find in all parts of the country, Krichman says. In some cases, the company has had contractors come to a community from neighboring states.
Krichman considers the saltwater pool initiative a clear success, and one that he attributes partially to the NAA. “I came up with the idea while I was in the saltwater pool at Mandalay Bay Resort when it hosted the NAA Education Conference,” Krichman says. “NAA earned its keep right there.”
Jeffrey Lee is NAA’s Manager of Communications. He can be reached at 703/797-0647 or jeffreylee@naahq.org.