Well Water Filters and Systems
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Technical Files |
CONTRADICTING CONCEPTS OF THE ECONOMICS OF PERSONAL HEALTH:
It is amazing to see people drinking $1 bottles of water to avoid tap
water sitting beside a chlorine and bromine treated swimming. A swim in
that pool equals more than 1 year of drinking chlorinated water and has
10 times the number of toxins and carcinogens at thousands of times the
level of tap water.
You are the proud owner of a swimming pool and/or a hot tub. Your big concern now, other than making sure no one drowns, is making sure no one gets sick or infected by using it.
You do that by putting something into the water to kill organisms that might be harmful to humans. The main chemical options are Chorine, Bromine and Baquacil. You need to be aware that there are serious health concerns with these products.
Chlorine
Chlorine has been around the longest, and is still the most common method of purifying the water. However, it is a poison. It kills things. That’s what it is supposed to do. The problem is that it can be harmful to humans, although not as harmful as the things it kills, supposedly. The trick is to put enough in to kill the bad stuff, but not so much as to harm you and your loved ones.
Why can chlorine be harmful? For one thing, the body absorbs it. You can absorb as much chlorine in one hour of sitting in chlorinated water as you would drinking unfiltered, chlorinated tap water for a week! Furthermore, by-products are formed in the water when it comes in contact with organic matter, ammonia compounds and nitrogen compounds. The main source of those is people’s bodies – the sweat, dead skin, urine, etc. These compounds reduce the effectiveness of the chlorine, necessitating adding more. They also cause the bad smell and burning eyes associated with pools. Some of the by-products have been linked to spontaneous abortions and other problems with embryos.
Bromine
Bromine is also a halogen, a poison and, for a number of reasons, might be a worse choice than chlorine. Its high evaporation point makes it more stable, so it doesn’t smell as bad or is as irritating to the eyes. On the other hand, that stability can make it more difficult to mix with the water and wash off your skin. It also may not be as effective against some bacteria as chlorine.
Baquacil
Baquacil is a totally engineered chemical, poly-hexa-methylene-biguanide. It is more expensive than chlorine, and much more difficult to use. It does not create noticeable irritating byproducts like chlorine, but there are reports of invisible vapors arising from spas treated with Biguanide that cause an unpleasant tickling in the throat, or more severe coughing, or may even build up to the degree that a person in the spa is unable to breathe.
There are other negatives to consider. It seems that after what could be a very short time, the water quality starts to decline. In addition, there have been reports of strange infestations occurring in pools on the Baquacil program. If this happens, you will probably have to drain the pool and start over again.
Unfortunately, the Biguanide leaves behind a slimy, sticky residue that covers the entire surface of your pool or spa and permeates all your plumbing, so simply draining the water does not eliminate this problem. It takes an acid based cleaner to dissolve this slime, and may necessitate lots of scrubbing and/or multiple cleanings and drainings. Fun!
Ozone
Ozone can be added to any of the above systems to make them more effective, cheaper to operate, and, in the case of chlorine and bromine, safer to use. Adding ozone allows you to reduce the use of the other chemicals.
Ozone is created in nature by lightening as it passes through the air, and by the action of ultraviolet rays on the oxygen in the air. That nice, clean scent you notice after a rainstorm is caused by ozone.
Ozone is a natural purifier and is the most powerful oxidizer that can be safely used. Its big problem is that it is highly unstable, so it does not last long in water. A hot tub has a relatively small amount of water in a confined area, and many people use ozone exclusively without health problems. For swimming pools, however, you will need to use other chemicals as well.
Making the Choice
Before you invest in a system to keep your swimming pool or hot tub safe for use, be sure to examine all the options carefully. Talk with others using systems similar to those you are considering. Do a lot of research and a cost/benefit analysis for each option.
Chlorine Dangers
* Chlorine combines with natural organic matter decaying vegetation to form potent cancer causing trihalomethanes (THM’s)
* Collectively include such carcinogens as chloroforms, bromoforms carbon tectachloride, bischlorothane and other cancer causing agents
* The level of chlorine in swimming pools is over 1,000% the level deemed minimally safe by the EPA in water
* Causes atherosclerosis, stroke and heart attack
* Causes skin to prematurely age
* Damages the human eye
* Causes bladder, breast, testicular, bladder, colon, or rectal and bowel cancer as well as malignant melanoma
* Damages lung tissue
* Causes acne, psoriasis, seborrhea and eczema
* Converts to dioxins - the most dangers of cancer causing chemicals
and which build up permanently within a person's body
causes infertility and birth defects
* Damages the nervous system permanently
"Chlorine is so dangerous" according to PhD biologist/chemist
Dr. Herbert Schwartz," that it should be banned. Putting chlorine
in water is like starting a time bomb. Cancer, heart trouble, premature
senility, both mental and physical are conditions attributable to chlorine
treated water supplies. It is making us grow old before our time by producing
symptoms of ageing such as hardening of the arteries."
Dr. Stephen Askin wrote: "The real issue is not just how toxic chlorine itself is but how the unintended by-products of chlorine (organochlorines and dioxins) remain in the environment. They are persistent in the environment; they do not break down readily and therefore bio-accumulate. This can create a very serious health problem; the dioxins and other toxic chemicals accumulate in the fatty tissues. These contaminants are also hormone disrupters because they mimic estrogen. The EPA has observed and documented hormonal imbalance, suppressed immune systems, reproductive infertility and alterations in fetal development of animals. In viewing the big picture, these factors are perhaps the most frightening results from the widespread use of chlorine."
In Super Nutrition for Healthy Hearts Dr Richard Passwater shows how
"the origin of heart disease is akin to the origin of cancer"
Chlorination could very well be a key factor linking these two major diseases.
Chlorine creates THM's and haloforms. These potent chemical pollutants
can trigger the production of excess free radicals in our bodies. Free
radicals cause cell damage. Excess free radicals can cause normal smooth
muscle cells in the arterial wall to go haywire, to mutate. The fibrous
plaque consequently formed is essentially a benign tumor. Unfortunately,
this tumor is linked with the origin of heart disease."
Is Bromine a safe alternative?
Bromine Dangers
* If spilled on skin it produces painful sores
* Has strong unpleasant odor
* Is Toxic
* Converts to dichlorobromomethane, bromoform and bromate
* The Metropolitan Emergency Response Network defines dichlorobromomethan
as particularly dangerous and harmful (see below)
Vapor will attack the eyes and lungs
* Causes cancer
* Damages skin
* Damages the liver
* Causes depression and brain damage
* Damages the nervous system and muscles
* Bromine vapors are known to reduce male sperm count, causes malformed sperm resulting in birth defects and causes male infertility
* Maximum safety precautions should be used when handling it
The Metropolitan Emergency Response Network advises: "Dichlorobromomethane should be handled as a CARCINOGEN--WITH EXTREME CAUTION. * Exposure can irritate the eyes, nose and throat. Higher levels can irritate the lungs and may cause you to become dizzy, light-headed and to pass out. Could cause death. * Repeated exposures affects the liver. * Contact can irritate the skin."
EVEN WORSE, some pool and spa suppliers urge using both chlorine and
bromine together - which doubles their sales. Combining chlorine and bromine
is the second most powerful cancer-causing liquid mixture only surpassed
by drinking highly radioactive liquids.
When combined, chlorine and bromine make 97 carcinogens, 82 mutagens,
28 acute and chronic toxic contaminants and 23 tumor promoters. Many of
these complex chemicals resulting from the conversion of chlorine and
bromine to other chemicals permanently accumulate in a person's body fat.
Each time exposed, the level of carcinogens, mutagens, toxins and tumor
promoters increases. With each increase, the risk of cancer increases
to a point of it no longer is a question of if the person will develop
cancer. It is only a question of how soon. Each exposure from that point
means sooner than before.
To dive into a swimming pool and claim "see, I'm ok" is no
different that a person holding up radioactive material making the same
claim. Both cause permanent carcinogens and health damaging elements permanently
with the person's body - primarily in body fat. The more the exposure,
the higher the level becomes.
Who makes such a claim? Essentially every chemist, doctors in the field
of environmental toxins, the EPA, medical researchers, and essentially
all health professionals and experts in the fields of cancer and toxins,
except those employed by the chemical manufacturers of chlorine and bromine.
Chlorine also is the number one cause of household poisoning and is particularly
dangerous to children.
The sellers of chlorine as a safe household pool chemical and declaring that hydrogen peroxide is a danger if carried in a car that is in a massive auto accident, are side-stepping a fact. Beyond the extreme health dangers and damaged caused by chlorine used in water, it also is the single most dangerous of all chemicals to have at home. For instance, in 1997, 217,989 calls to the Poison Control Center. Of those calls, 62,023 were about chlorine. So, that means that 28.4 percent of all calls were related to poisonings by chlorine products. What's even more important, most of those calls were about children under 6 years old.
The difference in the killing factor of chlorine and bromine compared to hydrogen peroxide is clear. Chlorine and bromine are two of the most deadly poisons in existence, both in immediately killing power and long term killing power on the dna and cellular systems. These toxins kill everything, including people. Hydrogen peroxide kills micro-oganisms by over oxidizing them with too much oxygen. Oxygen is not toxic in any manner. Hydrogen peroxide is water and oxygen, the two most essential and beneficial elements to human life. The contrast is between the two of the most deadly chemicals and one of the most beneficial.
PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN
The health damage of chlorine and bromine are cumulative. The younger the person, the more likely they will develop serious, permanent or fatal disease, birth defects of their own children and the other extremely harmful health effects. Compounding this is that young children tend to swallow more water in a swimming pool.
While you may be so old that filling your body with permanent toxins and dioxins increasingly is a risk you will continue to take, it is unthinkable to have children swimming in such water with the long terms devastating health damage well known.
One recent study revealed that a non-smoker with a chlorinated pool is over twice as likely to develop cancer as a heavy smoker without a pool. The high number of pools and spas in the United States may well be the reason that cancer rates in deaths in the United States generally are 200% to 600% higher than other countries, with similar differences in many other degenerative diseases. Many Americans are putting toxic waste pits of the most powerful toxins and carcinogens in the world in their backyards and then swimming in it.
VAPOR DANGERS: The dangers of chlorine and bromine are not only within the water, but the vapor from the water. The air from such a pool or spa subjects those around it and the household near it to continuous breathing of such a damaging chemical mixture. Carbon, paper filter and ionic air filters will not remove these chemicals from the air you breathe. The harmful air vapors surrounding a chlorine and bromine treated pool or spa make it a 24-7 health damage.
Baquacil System?
I came across a web site of a Baquacil salesman who gave dire warnings not to use hydrogen peroxide because a person could be in a terrible auto accident while transporting it. Instead, he urges using the Baquacil system, which is a brand name, claiming it uses not harmful chemicals.
Exploring the Baquacil company web site, they will not divulge what chemicals are in their long list of chemicals to use with their system. Somehow refusing to identify what chemicals are in their products does not lead to a rational conclusion that the unknown ingredients are safe. I never trust any product where the company will not state what chemicals are in their product.
One of their pool chemicals is only described as a "polymeric"
What does this mean? A polymeric chemical, or polymer, is a "chemical compound with high molecular weight consisting of a number of structural units linked together by covalent bonds (see chemical bond). The simple molecules that may become structural units are themselves called monomers; two monomers combine to form a dimer, and three monomers, a trimer. A structural unit is a group having two or more bonding sites. A bonding site may be created by the loss of an atom or group, such as H or OH, or by the breaking up of a double or triple bond, as when ethylene, H2C[double bond]CH2, is converted into a structural unit for polyethylene, -H2C-CH2-. In a linear polymer, the structural units are connected in a chain arrangement and thus need only be bifunctional, i.e., have two bonding sites. When the structural unit is trifunctional (has three bonding sites), a nonlinear, or branched, polymer results. Ethylene, styrene, and ethylene glycol are examples of bifunctional monomers, while glycerin and divinyl benzene are both polyfunctional. Polymers containing a single repeating unit, such as polyethylene, are called homopolymers. Polymers containing two or more different structural units, such as phenol-formaldehyde, are called copolymers. All polymers can be classified as either addition polymers or condensation polymers. An addition polymer is one in which the molecular formula of the repeating structural unit is identical to that of the monomer, e.g., polyethylene and polystyrene. A condensation polymer is one in which the repeating structural unit contains fewer atoms than that of the monomer or monomers because of the splitting off of water or some other substance, e.g., polyesters and polycarbonates. Many polymers occur in nature, such as silk, cellulose, natural rubber, and proteins. In addition, a large number of polymers have been synthesized in the laboratory, leading to such commercially important products as plastics, synthetic fibers, and synthetic rubber. Polymerization, the chemical process of forming polymers from their component monomers, is often a complex process that may be initiated or sustained by heat, pressure, or the presence of one or more catalysts"
"Polymeric" is not an ingredient. It is a word meaning "pertaining to polymers". What polymer(s)?
What are polymers? Polyethylene is a polymer - a particularly deadly one. So is polycarbonates. The list of polymers chemicals include chemicals such as formaldehyde, styrene and ethylene. The technical meaning is "a chemical compound with high molecular weight consisting of a number of structural units linked together by covalent bonds." So the only thing we know of one of their chemicals is that it contains a highly complex, artificially produced composite chemical often - but not always - containing dangerous chemicals. Maybe there is a very good reason Baquacil will not divulge the ingredients of its "perfectly safe" system.
Other Baquacil chemicals are equally secretive and concerning.
They including one that is an "algaecide". Algaecide is not an ingredient, it is an adverb meaning it kills algae. Roundup and spray weed killer is an algaecide. Agent orange used in Vietnam is an algaecide. So is chlorine and bromine. Salt is an algaecide.
Baquacil's next pool chemical has the ingredient of "A non chlorine oxidizer used to oxidize organic compounds." What is the oxidizer? It could be hydrogen peroxide. Or 1 of about 1,000 other chemicals.
Another is the undefined "Chemical used to tie-up dissolved metals,
preventing discoloration of pool water and staining of pool sides and
bottom"
Still another is "An acid based liquid cleaner" There are thousands
of acids. It could be orange juice. It could be hydrochloric or cyanide
acid.
Rather than go through the long list of chemicals they sell for their system, each of the Baquacil chemicals in their list does not state any actual contents or ingredients.
This is not to state that their chemicals are dangerous, rather that it is secretive and unknown to consumers. Yet it is reason to be concerned when a company boosts how safe their chemicals are, and then will not give a clue what chemicals actually are in their products.
The material below tells an alternative pool and spa water treatment method that is growing geometrically in popularity.
Sampling of pool and spa supply retail outlets:
We found no pool or spa supply outlets offer 35% hydrogen peroxide. though
have been told they are out there.
We did find a few that said they have it, but then actually tried to
sell us another product "just like" or "better than"
35% hydrogen peroxide in a switch and bait style. This was particularly
true of searching the Internet. The listing would state it offered hydrogen
peroxide for pools and spas, but then would give alarmist reasons not
to do so and try to talk the reader back into intense usage of chemicals.
This is most likely due to the huge mark-up in relatively cheap pool chemicals
with unlimited shelf life. This also possibly is due to the little to
no equipment necessary to use hydrogen peroxide (meaning little equipment
and equipment maintenance to sell) and lack of knowledge of h2o2 for pools
and spas. If a customer switches to hydrogen peroxide, they will not longer
be making frequent trips to the pool and spa supply store. Other than
for an occasional solid material filter, the need to go to the supply
store vanishes. Why would a supply store sell you a product that makes
them otherwise irrelevant?
Why people switch to h2o2 for their pools and spas:
One reason is to answer a simple question: Why don't you use your pool
or spa more than you do? How often do you think of using it, but then
somehow just don't?
While some switch for reasons of personal health (pool chemicals are very harmful), most have a more basic reason. They want to enjoy using their pool or spa.
The main reason people with pools and spas quickly come to rarely actually use - or even sit by - their pool or spa is an instinctive health repulsion your body recognizes, even though you do not consciously recognize the danger. The water and area smells like chemicals. The water stings your eyes and turns them red. Skin turns white to deep layers and for some can just be peeled off.
People familiar with h2o2 treatment of pools and spas will not use toxic pool chemicals. To no surpass, there are people who do not want to relax or swim in toxic chemicals or breathe toxic fumes. Rather, they want to relax is pure, healthy, and clean water.
It also is increasingly understood that the "relatively safe" (as often called) pool chemicals interact with other chemicals and organics that enter a pool or spa, the chemical composition of the pool chemicals change to even more dangerous and harmful chemicals. The list is long and varies for different pool chemicals. Included are chemicals known to cause cancer and known to cause lung, liver and brain damage. Some are very complex molecular structures. Others are simple and obvious.
When any organic life form is destroyed, a result is the formation of ammonia. Most pool chemicals contain chlorine or bleach (or derivatives). Bleach and ammonia combined form chlorine gas, which also is what was used in death penalty gas chambers and in WWI chemical weapons.
The chemicals also continue to build up with each treatment by pool chemicals, because the working chemicals have converted to other non working and more dangerous forms. Quickly, the pool becomes a toxic chemical trench, rather than the pure water swimming pond hoped for. The combinations and complexities of the toxins chemicals would kill a person within seconds and destroy their body as in a vat of acid were it not so highly diluted by the water in your pool. Instead, it only burns your eyes, wrinkles your skin, and possibly kills you slowly across time.
This is why most people often plan to use their pool or spa, but do not. They come to start telling themselves that they should use their pool and spa more often out of some sense of duty to use the thing they paid so much money for and some sense of guilt - almost like a person saying "I should go to church more often". Of course, pools and spas are not about duty, they are suppose to be about pleasure and cleanliness. This also is why most people reject offers to come over and swim in their pool.
The subconscious mind is very survival oriented. Just like it will know that gasoline fumes are harmful and drinking gasoline would be harmful, it also is putting up powerful resistance to using the pool of chemicals or even being around the fumes of it.
Some people switch to h2o2 for their pool or spa because they are health conscious. However, most switch because their pool or spa is more enjoyable to use and be around for whatever reasons that is.
Smell Factor:
To understand the "smell" benefits of hydrogen peroxide over
dirty water with organic waste in it or the smell of chemicals in a treated
pool or spa is to understand what hydrogen peroxide is and what it does
in nature.
Hydrogen peroxide is the atom h2o2. This means it has water (h2o) and
an extra oxygen molecule that is attached. It is a liquid. However, it
also is only semi-stable. Contact with organic substances of any kind,
with a short list of minerals or U.V. light (such as sunlight) causes
it to decompose. This means it releases the extra oxygen molecule in gaseous
form of 100% pure oxygen (oxygen is a gas with a free atom) and what remains
is 100% pure water.
Pure oxygen is extreme toxic to micro-organisms. Essentially, it burns
them. If you have ever been on an oxygen tube in a hospital, you may remember
that if the oxygen level was turned up too high, your nose would start
to burn. While oxygen is extremely beneficial, if the level is too high
it causes organic substances to burn (actually they "rust",
but I will avoid chemistry in detail.) Hydrogen peroxide also is a charged
atom, very movement active.
On the atomic level, h2o2 will kill simple organisms on the molecular
level. It does so by decomposing to pure water and pure oxygen when contacting
organic substances of any kind. In a pool or spa, it acts similar to the
human immune system, in which immunity system cells attack foreign objections,
but do not harm the larger life form (you.) This is how h2o2 works. It
uses pure oxygen against micro-organisms.
The Lightning Example:
In nature, hydrogen peroxide appears only in trace amounts and only briefly.
Hydrogen peroxide can be found in trace amounts sometimes in fast moving
mountain streams for complex mineral/magnetic/movement energy., '
When hydrogen peroxide is primary created in nature is by lightning.
During a hard electrical storm, particularly at night, the air will
come to have a crisp smell to it. It is not just that the air is electrically
charged, it also has increasing trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide. In
pure form, hydrogen peroxide "stings" whatever organic substance
it touches. Pure hydrogen peroxide can exist only momentarily in nature
and can not be artificially produced. Produced hydrogen peroxide is in
levels of concentration (ratio of hydrogen peroxide to water). That very
slight stinging sensation makes the air seem crisp.
After an electrical storm, when the clouds clear a bit or the sun comes
up at sunrise, the air will smell almost sweet, somewhat damp and a bit
heavy, though in an attractive way. The trace amounts of pure hydrogen
peroxide had destroyed (burned) massive amounts of fungus, bacteria, and
dead organic dust (most dust is not from dirt, but dead cells). With the
U.V. light from the clearing clouds or sunrise, the hydrogen peroxide
decomposes to atoms of pure water vapour and pure gaseous oxygen. Thus
the air smells cleaner because it is cleaner, damp because of the pure
water vapour in individual water atoms and a bit heavy in an attractive
way for the higher level of oxygen in the air.
Although subtle, the water in a h2o2 treated pool or spa and the air around it is actually attractive and desirable. Pure water and pure oxygen beneficial to a person as compared to toxic and nauseous chemicals that are repulsive and harmful.
Pool chemicals in bath water for health?
Many people add hydrogen peroxide to their bath and foot bath water for health reasons. H2o2 oxygenates the skin and helps to clean skin (skin is porous and builds upon waste excretion). Hydrogen peroxide also kills fungus and other micro-organisms that live on and just below skin surface. There is no harmful side effects possible as h2o2 is non-toxic.
No one pours typical chlorine and bromine pool chemicals into their bath water believing it healthy.
HOW HYDROGEN PEROXIDE WORKS AGAINST ORGANIC SUBSTANCES
Hydrogen peroxide has been called a "kamikaze" or "depth charge" chemical against organic substances. H2o2 is simply water (h2o) with an extra oxygen molecule loosely attached (h2o2). When h2o2 contacts any organic molecule, the contact knocks off the extra oxygen molecule.
The result is two fold. First, energy is released. Though certainly not noticeable at the atomic/molecular level, the power in "decomposing" h2o2 is so great that hydrogen peroxide has been used to power rockets into space, powered the X-15 first subsonic jet and the U.S.S.R. supersonic attack torpedoes. When the atom breaks free, the kinetic energy holding that atom is released, resulting in a flash of steam heat. The first "killing" ability of the h2o2 is to blow up the organic molecule.
The free oxygen atom then impacts the organic molecule, resulting in burning the molecule. Organic substances in contact with pure oxygen "burn" (or more precisely oxidize. The combined result is that the organic molecule is blown up and burned.
What remains, then, of the hydrogen peroxide atom? It is now only pure water (h2o2) and pure oxygen (o). It destroys the organic substance and then converts itself to pure water and pure oxygen in the process. There are no toxins in hydrogen peroxide and it is the pure bio-degrading chemical that can not build up in your pool or spa. It not only destroys organic contamination, but also destroys itself in the process to the two purest and most beneficial chemicals: pure water and pure oxygen. There are no other elements in hydrogen peroxide.
NO TOXINS IN HYDROGEN PEROXIDE:
H2o2 in pool treatment is not only neither toxic nor harmful, it actually is good for your skin by oxygenating skin (rather than bleaching and poisoning it).
As the elements of h2o2 are only pure water and pure oxygen, it will naturally decompose in its usage cycle for 100% decomposition into pure and safe atoms of water and oxygen only. Thus, there is no chemical build up nor conversion to other chemical compositions.
Pool and Spa usage is the largest volume percentage of our customers and the most rapidly growing area of sales.
Contents:
The hydrogen peroxide of our pool and spa packs are IDENTICAL to G.O.E.
35% food grade hydrogen peroxide - the premium source of food grade hydrogen
peroxide for internal health usage as a health supplement. G.O.E. prohibits
selling any 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide as "food grade"
under their name that is more than 30 days old from sealing.
For pool and spa 35% hydrogen peroxide, G.O.E. does not guarantee the
contents are less than 30 days old and will allow up to 90 days for gallons
stating their usage is for pools and spas. However, it is labelled "Pool
and Spa" rather than "Food Grade" for the distinction.
Pool and Spa 35% hydrogen peroxide is 100% suitable for any other usage
of food grade hydrogen peroxide. Its concentration level at 90 days will
be 34.4 to 34.1% and has exactly the same level of purity.
H2o2 never "spoils" or goes bad. However, over time it does
"decompose", which means releasing the extra oxygen molecule
of its h2o2 composition.
While it can vary depending upon temperature of storage and whether exposed
to U.V. light, if properly stored h2o2 will decompose at a rate of 1/4
to 1/2% concentration level per month. As concentration gradually reduces,
its rate of decomposition slows.
Pool and Spa 35% hydrogen peroxide is NOT outdated G.O.E. h2o2 food grade
hydrogen peroxide that has been relabeled. No bottles are allowed to be
changed. Generally it will be as fresh and less than 30 days from sealing.
But we are allowed to offer it for sale up to 90 days from being sealed.
G.O.E. is very exact on quality standards. The result is unmatched quality,
purity and potency at a notably reduced price.
Spa Usage and Costs
I can not imagine anyone with a spa using any toxic or nauseous chemicals
in their spa. The cost difference between maekes hydrogen peroxide highly
attractive if all actual costs are figured.
While h2o2 can cost more than other pool chemicals, if you add the numerous
support chemicals, testing, and frequency of draining the pool to total
comparison makes h2o2 less costly. If you try h2o2 in your spa, you will
fall in love with your spa again and never go back to chlorine, bromine
or secret ingredient pool chemicals. The h2o2 will eliminate the bad smells
that come from untreated spa water, but also has none of the chemical
smell of spa treatment chemicals.
Pond Maintenance:
Hydrogen peroxide also can be used in ponds with plants to reduce algae and micro-organism growth.
The finest commercial aquariums now use h2o2 to treat their tanks, which contain sea life inventories valued into the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Draining and cleaning tanks is extremely costly, dangerous to sea life that has to be removed and particularly harmful to plant life that can not be removed. However, they can not use the toxic chemicals used for water treatment.
What they found is that h2o2 "attacks" the lowest life forms first - meaning the micro organisms such as fungus and bacteria that harms their sea life. Next, the h2o2 will attack algae and lowest plant life forms.
They cease h2o2 treatment level at that point to avoid harm to the higher plant, fish and other aquatic life. The h2o2 that remains in the water will quickly decompose to merely pure water and gaseous oxygen by its interaction with the organic matter in the tank and U.V. from the display lights or sunlight if outdoors.
We DO NOT recommend amateur usage of h2o2 in ponds or aquariums with fish. This requires fairly exact testing of concentration levels and supervision that is best left to the professionals in marine life. However, h2o2 treatment is an outstanding way to minimize algae, fungus and other infestations growth turning a beautiful pond into a smelly, cloudy mini swamp.
Safety Issues of 35% hydrogen peroxide:
Hydrogen peroxide for water treatment has been extremely popular and preferred across Europe for decades and in greater numbers in the U.S.A. each month. It not only poised economic challenge to the suppliers of pool chemicals (that require more pool chemicals, refreshing pool chemicals, and then pump-it-all-out and start again with chemicals - but also the manufacturers of complex pool systems for usage of such chemicals.
There is little legitimate criticism to make of hydrogen peroxide, because in diluted form it is good for your health. Yet the chlorine and bromine merchants must find reason. As a result, we have read some very alarmist warnings of the dangers of hydrogen peroxide. The most common is to read "Imagine the terrible thing that could happen in a serious auto accident in which the hydrogen peroxide bottle is broken!" That is a curious one, given that vehicle also contains many gallons of explosive gasoline and an impact would have to be massive to bust a plastic bottle being driven home. The solution is to transport hydrogen peroxide (and all other chemicals) in the trunk or back of your truck.
There is a danger factor to 35% hydrogen peroxide concerning handling that applies to all chemicals in general. It is highly concentrated and if undiluted will sting a person's skin. If you spill 35% hydrogen peroxide on you, in a few seconds your skin will start to sting and to turn white where contact was made. The "treatment" is to quickly wash the area off with water or any safe liquid (soda pop or any other non harmful water based liquid.) Your skin will continue to sting for a few minutes and will turn light yellow or white where there was contact. Within half an hour to an hour, skin color will return to normal. There will be no scarring and no toxins entered the body as h2o2 has no toxins.
Like all liquid chemicals, concentrated hydrogen peroxide can damage eyes. Unlike other chemicals that are not water based, flushing the eyes with water not only is the treatment, but water also dilutes hydrogen peroxide to a safe concentration level. If highly diluted, h2o2 is safe to drink and millions of people world wide use hydrogen peroxide as an internal health supplement (it must be VERY diluted) - something not true for nearly all other chemicals.
35% hydrogen peroxide will not burn or explode. If spilled on the ground where plants grow, spray it with water to reduce the concentration and it will benefit the plants and grass. Gardens and farmers use hydrogen peroxide for house plants, gardens and commercial farming to oxygenate the soil and kill harmful micro-organisms.
The only safety issue of highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide is to avoid splashing it on yourself or in your eyes, and to store it away from children or incompetent adults. Carry it in your trunk if moving it.
SAFETY COMPARISON:
Once the hydrogen peroxide is diluted in your pool or spa, there are exactly
ZERO safety issues. When diluted, all danger vanishes. H2o2 contains no
poisons or toxins or any harmful substance. It is water and oxygen. It
does not cause cancer. It does not harm or age skin (it refreshes skin).
It does not harm the liver, brain, nervous system or brain. Hydrogen peroxide
in your pool or spa as the water treatment will not and can not harm you.
Once in the pool or spa, it is 100% safe, completely non harmful and only
beneficial to your health.
The safety issues for typical pool chemicals begin when added to your
pool or spa. You just put poisons in your water. They will interact with
other chemicals and organic substances to make more toxins. And each time
you add pool chemicals, the concentration of toxins in both the water
and surrounding air equally increases. Those toxins and poisons harm you.
They can slowly kill you. The air around your pool or spa, and therefore
around your home, also contains these toxins and poisons that you breathe
every day and every night. Day after month after year.
KEEP YOUR POOL OR SPA - GET RID OF THE CHEMICALS:
For the majority of people, the health damage is very gradual. However,
some people have strong allergic reactions to some of the chemicals in
pool and spa chemicals - or the chemicals made by those chemicals. Although
no conscious of why, some people will come to so deeply dislike their
spa they will leave them permanently drained or even throw them away.
Others will fill in their pool or sell their house to buy one without
a pool.
While concentrated hydrogen peroxide should be stored and handled with common sense, the true safety distinction is that h2o2 becomes only beneficial once added to a pool or spa. Most pool and spa chemicals make their dangerous aspects when they are put into your water.
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE IS NOT A RARE, COUNTER-CULTURE ENVIROMENTALIST NICHE MARKET FOR WATER PURIFICATION
Chlorine and Bromine are sold as pool, spa and hot tub chemicals to people who know little to nothing about water purification. Hydrogen peroxide is used by the true professionals. Here are just a few examples of our own experience:
The Fort Worth, Texas Watergardens covers many acres. It is sunken, heavily
covered with old trees, and has hundreds of yards of flowing water, hundreds
of feet of waterf curtains, ponds and fountains. They do not use chlorine
or bromine. They use hydrogen peroxide. Because the area is sunken there
is little wind. The fumes of chlorine or bromine would be unbearable.
Those chemicals would kill the trees. It would stain the stone and brick
work.
Instead, with hydrogen peroxide, there is no smell at all. It will not
harm the vegitation or bleach out the stone and bricks. It is such a perfect
system the only clue the water is treated at all is a hydrogen peroxide
sticker on the door to the small pump room.
When a large local urban water supply (drinking water) reached levels of toxins and cancer-causing agents, the pending crisis called in the experts. To try to determine the cause, they had to test incoming water without chlorine or bromine to eliminate all the poisons and cancer causing chemicals they create when they interact with organic material. To do so, they used hydrogen peroxide (from us) to kill the organics - thus leaving only the chemicals from the water - not from the chlorine and bromine. To no surprise, it was learned that it was the chlorine interacting with higher than average organic material that was causing the poisoning of the water.
This is not rare. In our own small community, there have been two notices in the last year that the water was dangerously high in cancer causing chemicals - and that the cause was the chemicals used in the water treatment. To address this, they had to dramatically cut back on chemical treatment and instructed people to boil the water before consuming to kill organic contamination. Note what most mattered in safety. Nothing could remove the toxic chemicals - there were the real danger. Boiling would eliminate the lesser danger of micro-organisms.
The largest chain of commercial aquariums in the U.S.A. use G.O.E. 35% food grade hydrogen peroxide to treat the water in their huge aquariums - without removing the sea life and fish. While this requires expertise, treating an aquarium with the sea life still in it with chlorine or bromine would result in killing everything in the aquarium.
Chlorine and bromine are sold to home pool, spa and hot tub owners on the P.T. Barnum principle: 'There is a sucker born every minute". They even convince customers that somehow doing so enters the person into an exact science of water treatement - with endlessly testing the water's PH factors, adding chemicals, offset chemicals, balancing chemicals, anti-foaming chemicals... It is a sucker's play to do so. More than eliminating organic growth in your pool, you want to avoid poisonous and toxic chemicals in the water. That seems obvious. I have no concerns swinning in a river or lake in terms of organic life in it. My only concern would be if it has dangerous chemicals. Given the choice between swimming in a river or swimming in a chemical waste water dump?
Putting poisons and toxic chemicals in your pool, spa or hot tub is not what a rational person knowingly does.
SAFE FOR YOUR POOL OR SPA FILTER AND PUMP?
Some pool and spa chemical suppliers and Internet retailers warn that
hydrogen peroxide will damage the pump and/or filtration system. Is this
true?
The answer is no, maybe, and no.
Hydrogen peroxide in a concentrated form can damage natural rubber and certain metal (silver). Nearly all pools and spas use plastic, steel, synthetic "rubber", fibreglass and stainless steel. Those would not be harmed by any concentration of hydrogen peroxide.
The answer is "maybe" if natural rubber is used AND if you have the mindset of the chemical merchants. Their view of water treatment is that you pour powerful chemicals into your pool to remain permanently in the water. As those turn to other chemicals, you then should add more chemical. Finally, when the chemical soup is so out-of-wack and awful, you should pump it all out and start with a new chemical soup and repeat the process.
There is no rationality if following that apparent love of chemicals in usage of hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide will kill the organics - and convert itself to pure water and pure oxygen in doing so. What hydrogen peroxide remains will also convert to water and oxygen over the next few days by reaction to the U.V. in sunlight. No only does h2o2 purge your pool of organic contamination, it also then purges your pool of itself. There is no increasingly chemical build up with h2o2.
Most who use h2o2 for their pool add it at night, turn off the pump and forget about it. Across the night the atoms of h2o2 will destroy micro-organisms. The next day, the sun will reduce the h2o2 concentration further. The pool owner can turn on the pump anytime.
Most bleaches, chlorine and pool chemicals also harm rubber - and unlike h2o2 they also build up chemical film and clogging build up. So IF you have natural rubber fittings and IF you pour in lots of h2o2 over and over like other pool chemicals, it could damage your seals, fittings and pump like other pool chemicals ultimately do.
So then the final "no", not if you use h2o2 as h2o2, rather than like other pool and spa chemicals - meaning always building up the level of chemicals in your water.
TERRIBLY FOULED POOLS AND SPAS:
Some pools and spas are neglected for months and even years, resulting in terrible levels of growth fouling. As the pool or spa dries out time to time, this also forms a thick crust, like a contaminated ship bottom. A high concentration of hydrogen peroxide will kill the growth and even will remove surface layers of it, but will not remove dense dead growth on the pool surfaces. This would allow renewed usage of the pool without further growth from the fouled surfaces, but there would still be the unsightly appearance.
There are rare instances where this is desirable, however, in the instance of decorative ponds or "pond pools" in which the pool is stone lined or otherwise made to look like a natural pond in a natural setting. Having a natural appearing pond or pool, but also with clear and clean water, is a challenge not met by pool chemicals.
PONDS, POND POOLS (swimming holes) AND LIVING POOLS
For the natural appearance effect, the pond or natural appearance pool
is deliberately allowed to foul. Then the "green growth" is
hydrogen peroxide killed to prevent further growth. From that point, the
water is h2o2 treated. This allows crystal clear and clean water, but
without the antiseptic swimming pool appearance.
It is possible to have a safe swimming pond or pool with plant growth using h2o2. However, this does take paying attention to some detail to avoid too high and too low levels. This will be unique to each pond. H2o2 will destroy small organisms first and then the higher (or larger) life forms. Thus, in a living pond or pool the level of h2o2 usage is sporadic. A high concentration level of h2o2 is used (usually for half a day) and then the level reduced to very low to sustain maintenance, but not damage the plants. Very small trace amounts of h2o2 are beneficial to nearly all plants.
POOL SIDE PLANT LIFE
Some people struggle to keep plant life around a pool where water is splashed or spilled on the plants or grass areas. Pool chemicals kill plants. While concentrated hydrogen peroxide also would be harmful to plants, the level of dilution of pool water is beneficial to plants. Gardeners and farmers use hydrogen peroxide for soil treatment and even plant watering water. The benefit is so great that if you do drain an hydrogen peroxide treated pool or spa, you can do so onto grass and for plant and tree watering.
There is no pool chemical that can honestly say it would help your plants and yard if you poured pool water on it. This is true with a hydrogen peroxide treated pool.
HOW TO USE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE IN YOUR POOL OR SPA?
For a spa, we do recommend you drain it to get rid of all chemicals. However, h2o2 will not adversely interact with current pool chemicals and some will transition to h2o2 usage. If your pool is highly organically fouled, you may want to use a much higher initial level of h2o2 to kill the organics, drain this, and then go to the same maintenance levels as for a pool.
For a pool, it is not necessary to drain the pool if you do not want to until when you would regularly drain the pool while using pool chemicals. Or you may want to transition to h2o2 at that time. Hydrogen peroxide will not have any adverse reaction or interaction with pool chemicals. The level of h2o2 suggested below will vary by the amount of organic material that comes into the water (leaves, dust) and by pool usage that then also brings contaminating organics into the water. Within the context of the water volume in a swimming pool, increasing concentration to address high pool usage or high organic content can not reach a harmful level no matter how high a concentration you decide to use.
The company name "Guardian of Eden" refers to the Biblical angel
left to block admission back into the Garden. In their product line, G.O.E.
pursues re-creating the nutritional environment when the earth was new
and pure.
Several chemicals should be added to a swimming pool on a regular basis to keep the water safe and clean. Many swimming pool owners become unhappy with the common chlorine based chemical routine, and look to alternative sanitizers (such as Baquacil or SoftSwim) called “biguanide” based pool chemicals. Unfortunately these alternatives prove to be more expensive initially to purchase the chemicals, and cause problems over time which temporarily close the pool down.
If used in large quantities, or if not maintained properly, chlorine may irritate the eyes and skin of swimmers. Biguanide based swimming pool chemicals are much softer and have almost no affect on swimmers, but these chemicals are not capable of controlling organic contamination. Examples of organic contamination might be wastes left behind by swimmers or material that has blown or fallen into an outdoor pool, which promotes the growth of algae. While a chlorine swimming pool instantly neutralizes harmful organics, a biguanide swimming pool requires the addition of concentrated hydrogen peroxide on a regular basis. This liquid hydrogen peroxide solution proves to be more dangerous than chlorine to both store and handle.
Because biguanide based sanitizers cannot control organic contamination, microorganisms present in the pool water will build a resistance to the biguanide chemical over time. Like an evolving virus, these organisms become used to the biguanide sanitizer and form a type of water mold or slime. This ugly slime can only be eliminated with a strong dose of chlorine-based pool shock. The chlorine pool shock quickly removes the water mold, but also destroys all of the biguanide in the water. The immediate result of the chlorine and biguanide chemical interaction is very cloudy water which turns several unnatural colors, making the swimming pool unsafe to use for several days or weeks. Rather than risk further organic contamination and lost swimming time, most pool owners return to a chlorine pool chemical routine.
Chlorine is the right pool sanitizing chemical in every situation, except
when a swimmer has developed allergies to the chemical. Pool chlorine
is relatively inexpensive and easy to use, when used properly. With a
basic understanding of pool water chemistry, and an easy weekly pool maintenance
routine, any home owner can maintain a backyard pool with very few problems.
The Dangers, Uses, and Discovery of Bromine
Bromine has many uses. It is used in several products that are used in
our daily lives. Bleach, a house hold product, is made from Bromine.
There are many dangers to using the element, Bromine. Bromine causes
severe damage to human tissue. It is also irritating to the eyes and throat.
Bromine absorbs organic bromines through the skin, food, and breathing.
It is VERY important to keep your whole body covered while using Bromine.
If burned by Bromine, the best thing to do would be to water down the
burn as fast as you can.
It has come to my attention that baquacil or products using baquacil can
damage your spa . The exact reasons are not yet known but the findings
coming in are none the less conclusive Baquacil is not a good replacement
for Chlorine or Bromine.
The Evidence
I the last several years complaints have been called in to manufactures regarding fractures of the clear lite lenses used in portable spa. Once this number became larger than expected tests were made and questions asked of the customers saps and the common factor was Baquacil. Apparently baquacil goes after the resin in some plastics resulting in fractures and rapid deterioration of the molded parts .
I am suggesting at this time that you consider getting out of baquacil and go into more conventional water treatments and those are:
Chlorine Power
Bromine Powder ot Tablets
Ozone W/ Bromine Powder
Nature 2
posted by Steven Bjerke @ 6:52 AM 0 comments
Monday, February 20, 2006
Chlorine vs Bromine
When it comes to treating the water there are of course several concerns
. One is try not to ruin the experience of a good soak with noxious chemicals
and at the same time maintain a level of sanitizer that gets the job done
safely.
Bromine was developed to address some concerns coming back from customers
regarding the smell of Chlorine. Bromine is formulated in such a way that
it has a reduced odor when used correctly and that of course is the problem.
I'm finding that Spa dealers and their sales staff sidestep the "how
do I treat the water question" by saying to their customers that
all you need is a floating dispenser and a supply of tablets to put in
this dispenser like the dispenser has a brain to know when to stop releasing
its compounds.
If you have an average size spa one say 350-400 gallons of water your
going to want no more than two tablets in this dispenser to maintain a
comfortable residual in the water. Try also purchasing a non-Chlorine
shock to give the water a little boost with out adding more tablets.
The big problem with Bromine is that it is compressed much harder than
Chlorine and breaks down more slowly as a result. There can be as much
as three days lag after a water change before the required level of bromine
shows up on a test. There are powdered forms of Bromine that do establish
the required levels in the water quickly .I recommend using the powered
form after a water change or start up but after three days it should be
put away and the tablets and the non-chlorine shock be used to treat the
water.
There are people that want to use the powered form exclusively which is
ok but requires more frequent testing as with Chlorine .Its more expensive
but for those people that have reactions to Chlorine it allows the best
of all worlds
Bromine as with Chlorine is compatible with Ozone systems and you would
use less of the compound as long as the ozone system is working properly.
Lastly as regards Bromine I find that customers that don't check at least
weekly , their sanitizer levels , the acid delivered in the bromine compound
cant eat right through stainless steel. With out the odor to alert your
senses, Bromine becomes destructive to things like heaters,heater manifolds,motor
shafts and pump seals and the worst thing dehydration of the PVC plumbing
to the point that lines collapse and eventually break .
If you get a test reading (using reagents) where the bromine level is
orange -red but the acid seems to be in normal levels you have reached
saturation levels where the reagents cannot produce a valid test. DO NOT
GET INTO THE SPA if you get this result drain the spa safely but not onto
the lawn and refill with fresh water .
This generally only happens with bromine running rampant or with people
that crush tablets into a powder . Think off the spa as a house plant
too much of a good thing can be bad for it. A good rule of thumb is changing
the water every three months. Swimcerely S.B.
posted by Steven Bjerke @ 8:33 AM 0 comments
Friday, January 06, 2006
Water Chemistry
1/6/2006
Perhaps the biggest question I get has to do with water chemistry . New
spas after the electrician is all done and the panel screwed down the
spa runs pretty much like that other big thing in the back yard the air
conditioner with one exception you get into a spa.
Water chemistry can be a real nightmare depending on the hardness of the
water the TDS (total dissolved solids) count the natural PH of the water
out of the tap and to some extent the municipal treatment of the water.
There are at least a dozen ways to treat spa water and if you keep the
water hot all the time some are more difficult than others
Lets start with Chlorine.
The EPA has tried for over 20 years to get this product removed from
the grocers shelve. They find that in the hands of the consumer it generally
falls into the hazard's material category. I agree,were it not for the
mis-applications of chlorine I would not be the successful repair company
that I am.
Remember that the label is the first place to start in selecting a product
to use for your spa. First find out the volume of water that you are treating.
If you cant find that , imagine that a bath tub is roughly 30 gallons
.Using that figure calculate how many bath tubs will fit into your spa.
Most Spas today will come in between 250 Gallons and 400 gallons of water
(remember the seats will displace some of the volume)
The label will be your first clue . If it refers to thousands of gallons
you know you have the wrong product. Look for buffered products and something
that refers to hundreds of gallons. Buffered products mean that they are
formulated for hot water and breakdown more slowly. By no means take your
pool tablets and break them up with a hammer and use in your spa, your
spa will be ruined in 6 months. Also not a good idea for the pool guy
to use the same product on the spa because of the difference in temperature
some pool chemicals will work like an atomic bomb on your spa. Liquid
chlorine? Some people swear by it .Those people in hard water areas I
can see that liquid chlorine would be preferred than tablets but it has
to be used and stored more carefully because of it's corrosive nature.
Chlorine is a complex molecule containing ions of sulfuric acid ,ammonia
, calcium and binders others and because it is lighter than air lifts
readily into the atmosphere leaving behind the acid. Now to be fair chlorine
has gotten a bad rap over the years being blamed for red eyes,dry skin
asthma attacks and other maladies But if used properly and the PH is looked
after Chlorine can be used very effectively. It is more the acid byproducts
left behind that is responsible for the damage to systems and burning
eyes damage to spa covers and de-hydration of PVC fittings. Acid can only
be removed two ways. You can drain the spa or neutralize with a base material
like Sodium Bi-Carb (Arm&Hammer Baking soda) or a stronger product
available thru your pool supply store. Those people in hard water areas
benefit more from frequent draining than chemical augmentation
As I mentioned there are at least half a dozen products used to treat
spa water . In the coming weeks we'll look at all of these in depth them
are Baquacil,Ozone or Ionazation,Silver Iodide,and of course bromine the
cousin chemical to chlorine.
Swimsearly S.B.
posted by Steven Bjerke @ 8:10 AM 0 comments
Saturday, December 10, 2005
What to do before the spa guy comes !
You've got company coming the temperatures are in the 30's at night and
Dang the spa goes down. This site will be for those doityourself types
out there with the guts to tackle the beast in the back yard ,the portable
spa.
We can get as technical as you like but be aware most things related to
an appliance you physically put your body into are better left to the
professionals.
I've been fixing on spas now for nearly 20 years so I've seen a few things
Sometimes you just want to find out if you have a problem, Other times
you just need to hear what you already know ...deep down ,that little
voice , you know ,Its time to get a new spa!
So keep it short try to be as specific there will be things I can't help with because there are relatively few standards in this industry. But I might be able to suggest some things to try before the spa guy gets there and say you a few bucks S.B.
posted by Steven Bjerke @ 8:09 AM 0 comments
About Me
Name:Steven Bjerke
Location:Sacramento, California, United States
Graduated DeVry Technical Intitute June 1974 Self Employed in Construction
and Service feilds since 1983
View my complete profile
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Owning a pool is a lot of work!
This is what people typically tell us when we tell them we have a pool. At first, I thought that what they really meant by that was, "You lucky bastards. I hate you!"
Sadly, I was mistaken.
Owning a pool is a lot of work.
We were pretty excited when we first got the pool, often going in when the air temperature was 80, and the water temperature was in the upper 60s. Unfortunately, as the days get hotter, the water actually feels better when it warms up. Ideally, to 84 degrees. I think we saw 84 degrees but once this summer. When we erected the pool, we hadn't considered the location of the trees in the wetlands, and the pool only gets direct sunlight for a few brief hours in the morning. Then the sun rises and the trees shade the pool, thus depriving it of its life-giving sunlight. Skinny-dipping is no fun when you're shivering.
Before we realized this, however, we switched from chlorine to baquacil. The reason for this was I was about to get another perm, and I wanted to maintain it to some degree over the summer without totally over-drying and destroying my hair. The chemical switch cost around $600. And the pool stank. I mean it stank like algae, although there was none, because the pool never got warm enough to encourage algae to grow. Also, sucking in baquacil-infested water is one of the nastiest things a person could ever encounter. I wish someone had warned us of this, but who's going to warn us when they're about to make a sweet commission off a $600 sale?
The quality of pool products in comparison to their price, upkeep, and lack of product review is astounding. I could go on and on about this, but I'll save it for another post. I can't help but give an example, though. Imagine you've just spent 5 grand on a pool. That's a sizeable chunk of change. You expect everything to be pristine. But the ladder is a cheap piece of crap, and in order to weigh down the ladder inside the pool, you are supplied with 2 large ziplock bags (yes, I said ziplock) that you're supposed to fill with 50 pounds of sand each. So you fill the bags and weigh down the ladder, but you're skeptical about how the bags will stay ziplocked. What will happen if they don't stay ziplocked? You dump 100 pounds of sand into your pool, which you must now vacuum out, which clogs the pump and the filter (yet another very expensive bit of equipment which ironically comes with no instructions) and nothing functions right for a week. Don't ask me how I know this. I might growl at you.
Okay, so we resign ourselves to the idea that we will have to buy a pool heater if we're going to get the full enjoyment out of our pool for years to come. We're talking dropping now $2,200 for something we can't find any reviews about to tell us whether the money is worth it or not.
We went up to Richmond today to get a week's worth of baquacil so we can get in the pool and clean it this week before closing it up for the winter. We have a pool store right around the corner from us, and we could go there, had it not been for my previous point: the quality of their products in relation to their inflated prices is mind-boggling. Literally EVERYTHING we've ever bought from them has broken or has been defective. We've had slightly better odds at the pool store in Richmond. So off to Richmond we go.
While at the pool store in Richmond, we see these sun panels that can be attached to the pool, and the idea is that they collect the sun and use it to heat the pool by pushing the heat through the pump. Cost? $365. Hmmmm, we wonder. But does it work? It claims it pushes 80,000 BTUs per day. But we have a lot of trees, and the solar panels might not get enough sun to do any good. On the other hand, if they do work....well we've just saved ourselves a ton of money....but is it worth it to spend $365 to find out? We pass for now.
We pick up the baquacil we need, and the friendly chemical guy says hello and says, oh, you need more baquacil? To which I reply yes, and it's too bad we have to buy more when we're just about ready to close up the pool, because next year, we're switching back to chlorine. At least the water smells disinfected. And he says, "Salt is the way to go. It's really the best thing." and he shows us this $400 piece of equipment which apparently you add salt to it, and the salt goes in the water and creates chlorine. He says it's way cheaper than going with chlorine, because instead of spending tons of money each year on chemicals, you only spend $50 a year on salt. Additionally, this miracle product prevents the damaging effects of chlorinated water on skin, hair and clothing.
I'm skeptical. I ask questions. Does the water smell funky? Is it salty, like sea water? Does it leave a crusty brine around the rim when the water in the pool evaporates, but the salt does not? Like he knows. He doesn't own a pool. Still, the idea is tempting...
It's almost 7:30 now, and Stefan has been in the pool since 3 this afternoon, trying to clean out all the debris from the pine tree that is dropping pine cones, bits of pine cones, and needles into the pool. These things clog up very easily, and the pool is more covered in pine by-products than I initially thought. He's gotten about a quarter of the pool clean so far.
So we decided that before we open the pool next year, we're going to take down this offensive tree. And while we're at it, we're going to take down 3 additional trees, thus leaving only one tree in our backyard, and that one is far away from the pool. We don't want to do this; we have to do this if we are going to have any fun with our pool for the next 20 years or so.
Owning a pool is a lot of work. We have spent more time fussing with the pool this summer than we have enjoying it. I keep reminding myself though, that it's only hard work now. It will get better, as we learn exactly what it means to be pool owners, and then we really will be lucky bastards.
Right? Right?!?!
posted by Holly Bourque at 8/27/2006 06:58:00 PM
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Word's :390
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Several chemicals should be added to a swimming pool on a regular basis to keep the water safe and clean. Many swimming pool owners become unhappy with the common chlorine based chemical routine, and look to alternative sanitizers (such as Baquacil or SoftSwim) called “biguanide” based pool chemicals. Unfortunately these alternatives prove to be more expensive initially to purchase the chemicals, and cause problems over time which temporarily close the pool down.
If used in large quantities, or if not maintained properly, chlorine may irritate the eyes and skin of swimmers. Biguanide based swimming pool chemicals are much softer and have almost no affect on swimmers, but these chemicals are not capable of controlling organic contamination. Examples of organic contamination might be wastes left behind by swimmers or material that has blown or fallen into an outdoor pool, which promotes the growth of algae. While a chlorine swimming pool instantly neutralizes harmful organics, a biguanide swimming pool requires the addition of concentrated hydrogen peroxide on a regular basis. This liquid hydrogen peroxide solution proves to be more dangerous than chlorine to both store and handle.
Because biguanide based sanitizers cannot control organic contamination, microorganisms present in the pool water will build a resistance to the biguanide chemical over time. Like an evolving virus, these organisms become used to the biguanide sanitizer and form a type of water mold or slime. This ugly slime can only be eliminated with a strong dose of chlorine-based pool shock. The chlorine pool shock quickly removes the water mold, but also destroys all of the biguanide in the water. The immediate result of the chlorine and biguanide chemical interaction is very cloudy water which turns several unnatural colors, making the swimming pool unsafe to use for several days or weeks. Rather than risk further organic contamination and lost swimming time, most pool owners return to a chlorine pool chemical routine.
Chlorine is the right pool sanitizing chemical in every situation, except when a swimmer has developed allergies to the chemical. Pool chlorine is relatively inexpensive and easy to use, when used properly. With a basic understanding of pool water chemistry, and an easy weekly pool maintenance routine, any home owner can maintain a backyard pool with very few problems.
..................................................
from ezhottubs.com/news/enzymes.htm
If you've been buying pool or spa water care products, you're probably
aware of the growing popularity of "natural" oil and scum-reducing
products that contain enzymes. Many claims have been made about these
products - some are even true.
To properly assess which claims are pure and which is pure hype, it's
important to understand how these products are supposed to work and what
they can do for your pool or hot tub when used properly.
Think back to high school chemistry and recall the term "catalyst". A catalyst is something that causes or accelerates a chemical reaction or change without undergoing a change itself. An enzyme is simply a catalyst of biological (not chemical) origin. Enzymes play a crucial role in the human digestive system because they break down food into nutrients our bodies can absorb. Without enzymes, we literally could not survive.
In pools and hot tubs, some of the most adversarial water quality contaminants are greases and oils that accumulate from bather waste. These materials build up on filters and form scum rings. When the build-up is allowed to accumulate, it can retard disinfection and lead to foaming or a dull, cloudy appearance in the water.
In the past, frequent use of surfactants (soaps) was the only way to clean scum lines, and filter gunk was almost unavoidable when water was subjected to excess bather waste. However, overuse of surfactants can lead to foaming and they require a lot of elbow grease in order to work.
Therefore, the pool industry set out to develop an alternative. That alternative - enzymes - is based on a simple concept: Add an enzyme to the water that breaks down oils and greases and prevents them from accumulating.
Early attempts to apply this simple theory met with some difficulty. One problem was that the enzyme had to be in liquid form for easy pool and hot tub use, and the enzyme chosen for it's ability to breakdown oils and greases (called lipase or fat-splitting enzyme) was not always shelf-stable in liquid form. So the enzymes worked to break themselves down in the bottle before the product was ever used.
A second problem was that low doses of chlorine or bromine would destroy the enzymes. To overcome this obvious drawback, some manufactures blended enzymes with surfactants. Test showed that the surfactants - not the enzymes - were the only active ingredient. Therefore, some "enzyme" products offered no activity at all.
So Advantis Technologies developed a new generation of enzyme-based products. Unlike other formulations, the Advantis family of enzyme products - GLB Natural Clear, Robarb Scum Digester, Dissolve from Applied Biochemist, and Leisure Time Spa Scum Gone - are shelf stable and work in the presence of bromine or chlorine, in addition to biguanide, ozone, and non-chlorine shocks. In fact, laboratory test showed Advantis products to have more active enzymes than others on the market.
The benefit of these products is that they address a specific problem - scum and oily buildup - with a targeted approach. That is, the enzyme chosen - a specific form of lipase - breaks down body oils and lotions into glycerol's and amino acids, which are readily oxidized by common water treatment practices.
Therefore, regular use of Natural Clear, Scum Digester, Dissolve or Spa
Scum Gon can eliminate scum lines at the water's edge and also prevent
buildup in filters that would otherwise shorten the filters life span.
Plus, these biodegradable products appeal to earth-conscious consumers
because their active ingredient is truly natural.
_______________________________________________
from expertpool.biz/spa_chemistry.htm
Biguanide sanitizers barely work in a large swimming pool and are completely worthless in a spa. Biguanide sanitizers are a better marketing tool than a sanitizer.
If you were unfortunate enough to have been recommended to use this sanitizer, here is how you get off of it and switch back to good old chlorine.
Drain the spa, clean entire spa and clean spa cartridges thoroughly, fill spa back up but do not install filter cartridge(s) yet, run the freshly filled spa for an hour or so then drain and refill the spa again. Add 6-12oz of Oxy-Brite (Peroxy Monopersulfate or non-chlorine shock treatment) and let the spa circulate for a day or two then test for Biguanide residual. If there is still Biguanide in the water, you will need to add another 6-12oz of Oxy-Brite and repeat the process. If there is no Biguanide residual you can now add chlorine and maintain the new sanitizer system and related water chemistry parameters. When you are finally converted, take the remaining unused Biguanide chemicals back to your dealer and get your money back. While your there, ask any other customers you see about Biguanide and share your horror stories. Leave the store with a smile on your face because now you are free of the "marketing machine" and you will have clean clear water in your spa for much less money. Remember: Nothing cleans like chlorine!
Biguanide sanitizer systems include "Baquacil" and "SoftSwim". Expert Pool & Spa has had a great amount of experience with these systems and we have nothing good to say about them. We are factory trained by Baquacil. They are expensive and do not work reliably over time. Please visit our Forum/Bulletin Board for more information.
Use Oxy-Brite (potassium monopersulfate) to get rid of Biguanide from pool water. Replace filter media (sand, filter cartridge or manually clean DE Filter Grids), and preferably replace the water in the pool for the best results. If you have a vinyl liner pool, have the pool water changed by a pool professional to avoid a liner blow out or wrinkles upon refilling. Good luck...
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The biguanide systems for spas is even worse than the systems for pools...
We would not recommend using it. We have seen serious water line build up, smelly, cloudy water and severly clogged filters. Ask the dealer for 5 people whom you can talk to about biguanide systems that have been on it for more than 1 year. See what they say.... I can give you 500 people who have used chlorine for years with no problems.
Chlorine or bromine, when used correctly, will not bleach, stain, irritate your eyes or smell or fumes. Simply maintain a 3-5ppm residual in the water and SHOCK TREAT with oxy-brite or monopersulfate once per week. Even better, add an ozonator then you only need to add chlorine after you use the spa and still shock the spa once a week with oxy-brite/monopersulfate. The most effective, cheapest and easiest way to keep the spa water crystal clear...
You would need to drain and refill the spa, soak and clean the filter cartridges, and shock treat it with Oxy-Brite before adding Dichlor to the spa.
Baqua Spa definately smells like Almonds or something and is sic. Chlorine will have no smell if it is used correctly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! People - you have to shock treat the water weekly to get rid of chloramines and the smell!!!!!!! It's used chlorine that you smell. Please visit the "water chemistry" section of our web site for further details.
Your drinking water has chlorine in it and you drink and shower in it every day! Nothing cleans like chlorine!
Baquacil is a marketing tool to get you to come back to your dealer and give him a bunch of money each visit. It is a much better marketing tool than a sanitizer. As a pool professional who has been to ICI's Baquacil School and also seen Biguanide pools and spas out in the field, I would not ever recommend this sanitizer to anyone for any reason!
Hope this helps!
Oxy Brite is a non-chlorine shock treatment commonly known as potassium monopersulfate. No, it is not the same as the laundry stuff!
Visit http://www.expertpool.biz/chlorine.htm#Shock%20Treatment for further info on shock treatment.
For a spa sanitized with chlorine you will need:
Dichlor Granular Chlorine
Aquachek Yellow or better Test Strips
pH adjustment chemicals (usually pH increaser)
Oxy-Brite or similar Non-Chlorine Shock Treatment
The following items are not required but are recommended:
Scale Protectant such as GLB Protect Plus
Water Clarifier such as GLB Spa Clarifier
An Enzyme Treatment such as Natural Chemistry Spa Perfect
Water De-Foamer such as GLB Foam Out
You will probably want to give your filters a quick rinse before converting.
It is not necessary to let your filters completely dry out. Be sure to
treat the water with about 8-16oz of Oxy-Brite and let it sit for a few
days before adding Chlorine otherwise "Cottage Cheeze" will
form which is a result of Biguanide interacting with chlorine. The Oxy-Brite
will remove the residual biguanide from the water. If possible, drain
the spa, re-fill it, run it for a few minutes and then drain and refill
it again before adding any chemicals to the water. This will "flush"
the lines out and help to remove any remaining biguanide.
We can set you up with the chemicals if you wish just let me know and I will get you some "internet pricing"!
Hope this helps!
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