It’s a familiar scene - you’re towel-dried and ready to continue the day after a refreshing dip in the pool, when all the sudden the faint smell of chlorine grabs your attention. Skin itchy, hair stiff, you realize you’ve been caught again by the trap of traditional chlorine tablets.

Beyond the chalky feel and unpleasant odor, chlorine tablets come with additional costs that are only clear once you look below the surface. However, by choosing new alternatives like the I-PURE Salt Chlorine Generator, pool owners can maintain a luxurious water experience while avoiding a mountain of recurring maintenance expenses.

Lower Chemical Costs

The cost of traditional chlorine tablets adds up fast. For a typical 20,000-gallon residential pool, maintaining a recommended 1-3 ppm chlorine level can cost homeowners $10-$20 a week, depending on location. That’s close to $1,000 annually just for chlorine tablets.

Conversely, salt chlorine generator systems like I-PURE have minimal recurring chemical costs. This is because these systems automatically produce chlorine via electrolysis (rather than adding new chemicals weekly).

As part of the installation process, pool salt must be added to raise salinity levels to approximately 3,500 ppm. This is typically less than $100 worth of pool-grade salt (500-800 lbs.) for a 20,000-gallon pool.

Importantly, the salt from the initial startup investment isn’t consumed—it gets recycled after the chlorine dissipates, so homeowners only need to replenish a tiny amount of salt lost to splash-out or backwashing over the course of the year. This typically works out to just $10-$20 per year.

Reduced Stabilizer (CYA) Expenses

Another benefit of using a salt chlorine generator instead of chlorine tablets is that it reduces the need to manage cyanuric acid (CYA) levels within the pool. CYA is critically important to maintaining chlorine levels in a pool – it acts as a sort of sunscreen to protect the chlorine and increase its effectiveness.

Chlorine tablet manufacturers commonly add CYA to help stabilize tablets against UV degradation. However, this additive can build up over time and require pool owners to partially drain and refill their pools if levels exceed 100 ppm. This equates to more maintenance time and approximately $50-$100 per year in additional water costs.

Salt chlorine generators produce pure chlorine without CYA, which means levels stay consistent. For approximately $20, a homeowner can simply add the appropriate amount of CYA to their pool (e.g., 30-50 ppm) and rest easy knowing that their I-PURE system will not cause CYA levels to fluctuate.

Homeowner Maintenance and Time Savings

Using chlorine tablets or liquid chlorine will always require someone to manually add those chemicals to the pool. Between dosing, testing, and balancing, this can add up to 30-60 minutes of work each week for homeowners.

Because I-PURE automatically generates chlorine, homeowners can bypass the messy step of handling chlorine tablets. After initial setup, including salt and pH adjustment, pool owners can perform simple chlorine tests and make minor adjustments to the output of their I-PURE unit to maintain proper chlorination levels. For example, if a water test shows the pool has 10 ppm of chlorine, the homeowner would temporarily decrease the I-PURE unit’s output from 80% to 20% and then later raise it to 50%. These minor adjustments help keep the pool’s chlorination within a desirable range as outside conditions (e.g., sun, wind, bather load, etc.) push levels up and down.

While I-PURE has a built-in self-cleaning feature that should keep calcium buildup to a minimum, a clear housing makes it easy for pool owners to spot calcification and then wash out the unit when needed in less than 15 minutes.

Ready to upgrade your pool with an I-PURE Salt Chlorine Generator? Contact your local Intermatic representative to learn how our latest solution delivers silky smooth water and lasting savings for pool owners.