Salt water conversion made me sick?

Former Member
Former Member
I was so excited to learn our pool was finally converting to salt water. While I was swimming, the pool dude dumped 3 huge bags of salt in each lane. That night I experienced sinusitis -- huge thick amounts of mucus (sorry, I know this is gross). That was a week ago. I'm still sick - just tons of gunk coming out everyday, I'm really fatigued, can't taste anything. I haven't had a voice in 3 days (some people are happy about that!:applaud: I haven't swam since Friday. Is this possible that the sudden onslaught of salt brought this on? I wear a silicone cap and nose clips. I'm trying to do this the natural way - ginger tea, and an antihistamine, but I miss the pool. This is a bummer
Parents
  • Salt is organic, .... Salt (i.e., table salt) is an inorganic ionic compound and when it is not dissolved in a liquid it is crystalline mineral composed of (NaCl or sodium chloride). Note there is the element Cl chlorine in table salt. In chemistry there are many substances referred to as "salts." These salts are any ionic compound formed from the neutralization of and acid and base such that the product is a neutral combination of positive ions (cations) and negative ions (anions). Usually salts are a combination of a metal anion and non-metal cation. There are actually lots of different salts - for instance magnesium iodide, aluminum sulfate, ferric chloride, calcium carbonate, etc. In salt sodium is a cation with a +1 charge and Cl is an anion with -1 charge Together they share an electron and form an ionic bond as the compound NaCl. "Salt water chlorination is a process that uses dissolved salt (2,500–6,000 ppm) as a store for the chlorination system. The chlorine generator (also known as salt cell, salt generator, salt chlorinator or SWG) uses electrolysis in the presence of dissolved salt (NaCl) to produce hypochlorous acid (HClO) and sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), which are the sanitizing agents already commonly used in swimming pools. As such, a saltwater pool is not actually chlorine-free; it simply utilizes a chlorine generator instead of direct addition of chlorine." (wiki) "The presence of chlorine in traditional swimming pools can be described as a combination of free available chlorine (FAC) and combined available chlorine (CAC). While FAC is composed of the free chlorine that is available for sanitizing the water, the CAC includes chloramines, which are formed by the reaction of FAC with amines (introduced into the pool by human perspiration and urine). Chloramines are responsible for the "chlorine smell" of pools, as well as skin and eye irritation. These problems are the result of insufficient levels of free available chlorine, and indicate a pool that must be "shocked" by the addition of 5-10 times the normal amount of chlorine. In saltwater pools, however, the generator continuously produces free chlorine, eliminating the formation of CAC. Electrolysis burns off chloramines in the same manner as traditional shock (oxidizer). As with traditionally chlorinated pools, saltwater pools must be monitored in order to maintain proper water chemistry. Low chlorine levels can be caused by insufficient salt, higher-than-normal chlorine demand, low stabilizer, sun exposure, or mechanical issues with the generator. Salt count can be lowered due to splash-out, backwashing, and dilution via rainwater." The Ocean contains many times the amount of salt (10x) that would be added to a pool for disinfection and it does not burn your nose or cause it to run except sometimes for a short period of time while your sinuses drain after getting out. Its possible that the pool company added sun stabilizers (cyanuric acid in outdoor pools) or that the partial reactions when the salt was added burned your sinuses and made them run, especially if they were shocking the pool. Its also possible that they added HCl hydrochloric acid to "neutralize the alkalinity and convert sodium hydroxide back to sodium chloride." Its also possible that they are using sodium bromide (a salt) instead of sodium chloride, which requires use of a shock. I've had my sinuses burned in chlorinated pools and it does cause a runny nose for hours/days thereafter. To learn more about salt water chlorination in general try this wiki site: en.wikipedia.org/.../Salt_water_chlorination. In all instances chlorine is being used to oxidize the cell walls of pathogens and kill them. The only stronger oxidant is ozone, but it "eats" metal and does not produce a residual in water to keep killing, if there is no ozone present.
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  • Salt is organic, .... Salt (i.e., table salt) is an inorganic ionic compound and when it is not dissolved in a liquid it is crystalline mineral composed of (NaCl or sodium chloride). Note there is the element Cl chlorine in table salt. In chemistry there are many substances referred to as "salts." These salts are any ionic compound formed from the neutralization of and acid and base such that the product is a neutral combination of positive ions (cations) and negative ions (anions). Usually salts are a combination of a metal anion and non-metal cation. There are actually lots of different salts - for instance magnesium iodide, aluminum sulfate, ferric chloride, calcium carbonate, etc. In salt sodium is a cation with a +1 charge and Cl is an anion with -1 charge Together they share an electron and form an ionic bond as the compound NaCl. "Salt water chlorination is a process that uses dissolved salt (2,500–6,000 ppm) as a store for the chlorination system. The chlorine generator (also known as salt cell, salt generator, salt chlorinator or SWG) uses electrolysis in the presence of dissolved salt (NaCl) to produce hypochlorous acid (HClO) and sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), which are the sanitizing agents already commonly used in swimming pools. As such, a saltwater pool is not actually chlorine-free; it simply utilizes a chlorine generator instead of direct addition of chlorine." (wiki) "The presence of chlorine in traditional swimming pools can be described as a combination of free available chlorine (FAC) and combined available chlorine (CAC). While FAC is composed of the free chlorine that is available for sanitizing the water, the CAC includes chloramines, which are formed by the reaction of FAC with amines (introduced into the pool by human perspiration and urine). Chloramines are responsible for the "chlorine smell" of pools, as well as skin and eye irritation. These problems are the result of insufficient levels of free available chlorine, and indicate a pool that must be "shocked" by the addition of 5-10 times the normal amount of chlorine. In saltwater pools, however, the generator continuously produces free chlorine, eliminating the formation of CAC. Electrolysis burns off chloramines in the same manner as traditional shock (oxidizer). As with traditionally chlorinated pools, saltwater pools must be monitored in order to maintain proper water chemistry. Low chlorine levels can be caused by insufficient salt, higher-than-normal chlorine demand, low stabilizer, sun exposure, or mechanical issues with the generator. Salt count can be lowered due to splash-out, backwashing, and dilution via rainwater." The Ocean contains many times the amount of salt (10x) that would be added to a pool for disinfection and it does not burn your nose or cause it to run except sometimes for a short period of time while your sinuses drain after getting out. Its possible that the pool company added sun stabilizers (cyanuric acid in outdoor pools) or that the partial reactions when the salt was added burned your sinuses and made them run, especially if they were shocking the pool. Its also possible that they added HCl hydrochloric acid to "neutralize the alkalinity and convert sodium hydroxide back to sodium chloride." Its also possible that they are using sodium bromide (a salt) instead of sodium chloride, which requires use of a shock. I've had my sinuses burned in chlorinated pools and it does cause a runny nose for hours/days thereafter. To learn more about salt water chlorination in general try this wiki site: en.wikipedia.org/.../Salt_water_chlorination. In all instances chlorine is being used to oxidize the cell walls of pathogens and kill them. The only stronger oxidant is ozone, but it "eats" metal and does not produce a residual in water to keep killing, if there is no ozone present.
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