The Aqua Rite™ and Aqua Trol® electronic chlorinators generate chlorine by passing low voltage electrical current through the pool
water and converting the chloride ions from salt into chlorine. When salt is added to the swimming pool, it immediately dissociates
to form sodium and chloride ions:
NaCl 
Na+ + Cl-
Inside the Turbo Cell there are a series of titanium/ruthenium plates that are connected to the low voltage power source in the
Aqua Rite™ or Aqua Trol® electronics unit. The system is shown in simplified form below:
Electrical current flow is denoted at the movement of electrons (e- ) which start at the negative terminal of the power supply and
flow through the pool water and return to the power supply at the positive terminal. The number of electrons leaving from, and
returning to, the power supply is always the same. At the anode (connected to positive voltage terminal) the following reaction occurs:
2 Cl- Cl2 (gas) + 2e-
At the cathode (connected to negative voltage terminal) the following reaction occurs:
2 H2O + 2e- H2 (gas) + 2 OH-
The hydrogen gas is not soluble in water and so it is carried along with the water flow into the pool. Sometimes, it is possible
to actually see the tiny hydrogen bubbles coming out of the return jets. At the other electrode, the chlorine gas is highly
soluble in water and reacts with the water as follows:
Cl2 + H2O HOCl + HCl
The HOCl is known as hypochlorous acid and is the primary sanitizer in the swimming pool. Whenever chlorine is introduced into
the swimming pool, whether it be by liquid bleach, granular chlorine, gas chlorine, di- or tri-chlor tablets, the end result is
always hypochlorous acid.
The above reactions tend to cause the pH of the pool to drift slightly higher. The hydroxide ions generated at the cathode are
highly basic. This is countered by the chlorine reaction with water that generates hypochlorous acid (a weak acid) and hydrochloric
acid (a strong acid).
Depending on the pH of the pool water, a varying amount of the hypochlorous acid will dissociate to form hypo chlorite ions.
While both forms act as a sanitizer for the pool, tests have shown that the hypochlorous acid is up to 10 times more effective
than the same concentration of hypochlorite ions.
HOCl 
H+ + OCl-
Lower pH levels will increase the amount of hypochlorous acid, higher pH levels will increase the amount of hypochlorite ions.
It is important to keep the pool pH in the range of 7.2 to 7.8.
The function of hypochlorous acid in the pool is two fold: first it will kill algae and bacteria and secondly, it acts as an
oxidizer to remove the dead material from the pool. During the oxidation process, the hypochlorous acid reverts to water and salt (Cl-).