What is an automatic pool chlorinator?

The automatic pool chlorinator is very efficient way to chlorinate your pool with large or small Trichlor tablets or Bromine slow-dissolving tablets to make sanitizing your pool or spa easy and automatic. If you do not have this unit, your options are;
1. Put the tablets in a floater
2. Put the tablets in the skimmer basket
3. Put the tablets in the pump basket
Any one of these three options will present you with a problem. The use of a floater is the lack of the ability to get the proper amount of chlorine in your pool. Since you do not have water flowing into the floater to dissolve the tablets, your pool water is going to be usually low in chlorine with the result being green water and algae build up.
When you place the tablets into your skimmer basket, they dissolve very quickly and it becomes very difficult to maintain the proper amount of chlorine in the pool. It can also deteriorate your skimmer basket and the seals and o-rings on your pump and filter. If you turn the pump off, chlorine will flow back into your pool causing a white stain in front of your skimmer.
If you place the tablets into your pump basket, they are also dissolving very quickly here and the chlorine level could be too high. This also will cause your pump seal to start leaking and your o-rings to wear out quickly with possible pump damage.
The automatic chlorinator is installed after the filter in the water return line going to the pool. It should be the last thing the water goes through before returning to your pool. These units are completely enclosed systems – no escaping fumes. Simple, trouble-free designs with no special venting required. Top loading makes it easy to add chemicals. You remove the lid and place the tablets inside. There is a control knob with different settings that will let you control the amount of chlorine being released into your pool. Note that every pool is different and you will need to adjust the settings based on your particular pool. Automatic chlorinators save time, reduce manual handling of chemicals and take the work and worry out of keeping your pool sparkling clean and ready to use.