A saltwater chlorinator could be the right choice for your family, but how are they different from "fresh water" chlorinators? It's actually a combination of pool chemistry and system design efficiencies that make saltwater chlorination a popular option.
Why salt water? Salt water pools are one of the most popular pool types.
Their  water comes with a few built in benefits.
Salt is sodium chloride.
It contains a lot of natural chlorine, and that chlorine can be used for water purification, to remove bacteria, algae, and keep the pool clean.
Salt water crystals have also become the green alternative to other forms of chlorination.
Many suppliers advertise "organic" salt crystals, solar- evaporated sea salt, and the fact that unlike pure chlorine, there's no bleaching effect, damage to swimsuits, or other chemical issues with salt.
How does it work? Chlorinators are actually pretty efficient devices.
The salt water chlorinator uses electrolysis to separate the chlorine.
An electrolytic cell does the work, which converts the salt into sodium hypochloride, (also sold as a separate pool chemical) which does the actual work of chlorination.
This material then reforms back into salt (so there's no loss of salt).
This is an automatic, adjustable process.
You can control the chlorination process quite easily, and adjust the chlorination to suit your needs.
The salt water chlorinators also provide a reliable chlorination system, literally at the flick of a switch.
How does it compare to other forms of chlorination? Compared to old style chlorination, salt water chlorination does have major advantages.
Salt water is a natural option as a chlorination alternative.
The chlorination process is automatic, and there's no need to handle the chemicals.
Salt water electrolysis cells do require occasional cleaning of deposits of scale on the nodes, but this is a simple matter, and all that's really required is not to allow too much build-up of scale.
The relative efficiency of using chlorinators is one of the main reasons for their popularity.
Pool chlorination for fresh water pools involves handling the chlorine, regular maintenance treatments, etc.
The convenience of these systems is one of their major appeals to consumers, removing the requirement for manual chlorination.
This type of chlorination also reduces the "chlorine effect" of traditional fresh water pools, including eye irritation.
Salt water pools have relatively low salinity, about 12% of sea water, and the lower salt levels are very refreshing.
It's fair to say that this system does most of the hard, necessary work of chlorination.
Chlorinators have evolved to become a good working single system for managing pools.
They're economical, and they're easy to operate.
For pool owners, their other big benefit is that they're easy to understand.
The setup of equipment is very straightforward, and consists of a hookup to a power source, a cell, and a pump line into the chlorinator controls.
Check out a salt water chlorinator, compare prices on name brands, and you'll find you've discovered a good choice for your pool.