Grams of chlorine an hour, and the salt that has to be there first
A salt chlorinator does not replace chlorine; it makes chlorine, by passing current through salted water. That distinction is the whole shelf, and it is why the figure to read is output in grams per hour. The listings that publish it — "20 g/h" for a pool up to 90 000 l, "2,5 g/h" for one up to 10 m³ — let you do the only calculation that matters: a pool needs roughly two to three grams of chlorine per cubic metre per day in summer, so a 30 m³ pool wants something near 7 g/h over ten running hours. Where output is missing and only a pool size is given, you are trusting a conversion the maker has not shown. The second figure is the salinity the cell needs, in grams per litre. Three to five g/l is typical on this shelf and it is far below sea water, but it is not nothing: a 30 m³ pool at 4 g/l needs 120 kg of salt in it before the cell will produce anything at all. Then the cell, which is the consumable: titanium plates coated with ruthenium or iridium oxide, with a life published in hours by the makers who publish anything. Self-cleaning by polarity reversal is what keeps scale off those plates, and its absence means manual descaling in acid. And the control, from a dial to app-based scheduling. We compare output per hour, required salinity, cell type and stated life, self-cleaning, flow and salt sensing, and control.
2 g/h for 8 327 l — 0.24 g/h per cubic metre
The smallest chlorinator here and, per cubic metre, the strongest: 2 g/h against a stated maximum of 8 327 litres. It needs a pump flow between 1 136 and 3 785 l/h to work at all.
Best for: A round pool up to 366 cm already running an Intex cartridge pump in the stated flow range
6 g/h for 26 498 l, 3 g/l salt, GS-certified
Six grams an hour for pools up to 26 498 litres, with a published starting salinity of 3 g/l and a minimum filter flow of 1 249 l/h. One of only three units here to state how much salt it needs.
Best for: A mid-sized above-ground pool with a filter already moving more than 1 249 litres an hour
2–10 g/h range, 4 g/h supplied, titanium cell, app control
Sold as a 4 g/h unit from a 2 to 10 g/h range, for pools of 2 600 to 13 000 US gallons. Titanium plates reverse polarity every one to eight hours, and output is adjustable from 25 to 100 per cent.
Best for: A pool well under the stated ceiling, where app control and a settable output matter more than headline grams
Up to 30 m³, four operating modes, all filter types
A compact electrolysis unit rated to 30 cubic metres with four operating modes, stated to suit all filter types. It is the only unit in this family that never publishes an hourly chlorine output.
Best for: A pool near 30 cubic metres where the filter is unusual and compatibility matters more than figures
20 g/h for 90 000 l, ruthenium-coated titanium, IPX5
The largest unit in this family: 20 g/h for pools up to 90 000 litres, on a ruthenium-coated titanium cell with a flow sensor and an IPX5 housing. It publishes the union sizes it ships with — the only listing here that does.
Best for: A large pool with a plant room, where the unit will be set once and watched remotely
8 g/h for 10 000–49 000 l, titanium cell, 25–100 % control
Eight grams an hour for pools of 10 000 to 49 000 litres, with titanium electrolysis plates reversing every one to eight hours and app control from 25 to 100 per cent. The only unit here to publish a lower capacity limit as well as an upper one.
Best for: A pool between ten and forty-nine cubic metres where the salt system is expected to be watched from a phone
8 g/h for 55 m³, 4 g/l salt, above-ground or in-ground
Eight grams an hour for pools up to 55 cubic metres, with a published recommendation of 4 grams of salt per litre. It is stated for both above-ground and in-ground pools and described as maintenance-free.
Best for: A large pool, above ground or in, where the unit is sized generously and run long hours
Only the specifications at least four models out of five state. A column that is more empty than full compares nothing.
| Model | Price | Amazon reference | Cell type | Control | Flow and salt sensing |
|---|
Specifications: manufacturer sheets and Amazon product pages. Prices and availability: Keepa. No product on this site has been physically tested.
Most recent revision in this category: September 21, 2026.
