Basic Chemistry question: We all learn in basic chemistry, that if you add salt to water it raises the boiling point. My question to those of you who remember chemistry better than I...

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

We all learn in basic chemistry, that if you add salt to water it raises the boiling point. My question to those of you who remember chemistry better than I is; if you add salt to water, does it diminish the evaporation rate of the water?
The reason for the question is pool evaporation is getting a lot of attention here in drought plagued Nevada. If there was a mass conversion to salt water chlorine generating pools, would the evaporation rate reduction be significant?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It appears that it does evaporate more slowly. Is it worth the trouble to convert, though? ow about covering the pool?

https://www.clearwaycommunitysolar.com/blog/science-center-home-experiments-for-kids/experiment-with-the-water-cycle/#:~:text=In%20the%20case%20of%20saltwater,molecules%20for%20them%20to%20evaporate.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

Personally I have used both pool covers and salt water generating systems on my pool when I lived in Scottsdale. The problem with covers is that it traps dirt in the pool and you cannot see what is going on underneath. It is not so bad with a rectangle pool, where a simple system can take the cover off and wrap it up, but most pools today are are free form and the cover is in a non-wrap shape. Salt water chlorine generators are great, and the water is more pleasant to swim in. The reason for the question is that the Southern Nevada Health District is in sort of odds with the Southern Nevada Water District because they are not advancing salt water generators, whereas the water district is regulating pool sizes downwards to reduce evaporation. Typical government hypocrisy!

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Want to reduce evaporation? Fill the pool with plastic balls. That will reduce the exposed area and the plastic balls will move out of the way when you swim. Or you can include a net to gather them to one corner. Most people only use a pool a few hours a day (although if kids are involved the usage increases).

Reducing evaporation also removes the need to heat the pool in extremely dry areas.

I suspect that the reduction of evaporation by adding salt will amount to only a few percent. Covering will probably be more effective.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

The real solution (pun intended) is to get rid of all those pools. Turn them into rocked xeriscapes.

therwol Loc: USA

azted wrote:

Personally I have used both pool covers and salt w... (show quote)

I had a salt water pool with a chlorine generator. The pH of the pool would eventually go through the roof, and the only way I could control it was with muriatic acid, and I even partially drained the pool once, which discarded a lot of salt. This article explains that there are two products of chlorine generators, chlorine and sodium hydroxide, which is a strong base that raises pH. The suggestion is not to produce so much chlorine, but that's ridiculous. You need to chlorine to keep the pool sanitized. The other thing that happened was that with the chlorine generation, the salt eventually became depleted. Make your own decision.

https://thesummerpools.com/blogs/blog/why-is-ph-level-rising-in-my-saltwater-pool

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

gvarner wrote:

The real solution (pun intended) is to get rid of all those pools. Turn them into rocked xeriscapes.

Easy for you to say, you live on the green coast!

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

therwol wrote:

I had a salt water pool with a chlorine generator.... (show quote)

Interesting article with various situational advice. I had a salt water pool for over ten years (25 total) and never had a problem with high ph. Using chlorine tablets will cause a problem with Chloramines and too much cyanuric acid. Nothing is perfect!

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

DirtFarmer wrote:

Want to reduce evaporation? Fill the pool with pla... (show quote)

Effective? Yes. But I'm talking about community pools regulated by the health department, and their contradiction with the Water district.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

azted wrote:

Easy for you to say, you live on the green coast!

Where will you all live when the water is gone? And it will be.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

gvarner wrote:

Where will you all live when the water is gone? And it will be.

Wrong. Tell that to the people of Kentucky. There is no less water today than 400 years ago on the earth. What we have is a distribution problem. Where will you go as the seas rise according to the climate negativists?

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

azted wrote:

Wrong. Tell that to the people of Kentucky. There is no less water today than 400 years ago on the earth. What we have is a distribution problem. Where will you go as the seas rise according to the climate negativists?

And you choose to distribute your water into swimming pools. Typical climate change denier thinking.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

gvarner wrote:

And you choose to distribute your water into swimming pools. Typical climate change denier thinking.

Who said I deny climate change? The climate changes all the time. How else to explain the ice age, or the sea that covered where Salt Lake is now? But the amount of water on earth does not change and you seem not to be able to understand that fact! Distribution has not changed since Hoover Dam was built in 1936.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

azted wrote:

Who said I deny climate change? The climate changes all the time. How else to explain the ice age, or the sea that covered where Salt Lake is now? But the amount of water on earth does not change and you seem not to be able to understand that fact! Distribution has not changed since Hoover Dam was built in 1936.

Surface water sources for your pools are drying up because of climate warming. Aquifers are being depleted. The distribution that you need to fill your pools will be taken from someone else until that water is no longer economically available. At some point you’re going to be forced to give up your pool.

azted Loc: Las Vegas, NV.

gvarner wrote:

Surface water sources for your pools are drying up because of climate warming. Aquifers are being depleted. The distribution that you need to fill your pools will be taken from someone else until that water is no longer economically available. At some point you’re going to be forced to give up your pool.

Thanks for hijacking my thread with your asinine replies!