Alternatives To Chlorine For Treating Collective Pool Water22 August 2022
Thanks to its undeniable advantages, chlorine is the most commonly used product in the world for treating the water in private and public pools. However, some may decide to choose a solution more in line with their specific needs. Do you? Below is a list of alternatives to chlorine. Each has specific benefits.
A Floating Chlorine Dispenser
A floating chlorine dispenser is a little container for chlorine pucks that floats around the surface of your pool, slowly dissolving and releasing the chlorine into the water.
This is the cheapest and easiest way to add chlorine to your pool, but you guessed it, its also the least effective way. Since it floats on the surface, the lack of circulation means it doesnt disperse very well and ultimately leads to poor sanitation.
These things also tend to get stuck behind pool ladders or steps, at which point the chlorine being released starts to build up in one area of the pool. In fact, this high concentration near the edges can bleach your pool liners. As you can imagine, theyre not ideal to have in the pool when people are using it, either.
Your Phosphate Level Is Too High
Phosphates are algae food, and these can be found in swimming pools to varying degrees.
If you have a particularly high phosphate level, this can make algae even more aggressive and force your chlorine to work harder to keep it at bay. This will indirectly use up a little more of your free chlorine, leaving less of it in your water to deal with everyday contaminants.
This gives the impression your chlorine isnt working when its actually working overtime.
With that being said, phosphates arent nearly as problematic as some pool experts will have you believe. After all, algae wont even be able to get going if you just maintain a high enough free chlorine level.
Solution: Maintain a free chlorine level above 3 parts per million and you wont have to worry about algae even forming, let alone feeding.
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Swimming Pool Chlorine Types And Use
In The Swim pool chlorine dissolves fast and almost instantly begins to sanitize your pool water. In The Swim 3 Inch Chlorine Tablets are 8 oz. stabilized pool tablets are available for pools of every size. Our 3-inch Super Multi-Tabs are unique chlorine tabs with stabilizer, algaecide and clarifier added. Sticks or tablets can be used in chlorine floaters, or place the pucks into an in-line or off-line chlorine feeder, to provide a daily sanitizer level that is consistent and constant.
In The Swim granular chlorine like the economical Cal-Hypo granular chlorine and stabilized Di-Chlor chlorine granulesare both available loose in buckets and also sold in 1-pound bags, as Pool Shock, Super Shock and Di-Zap Multi-Shock. Pre-dissolve chlorine granules into a large bucket of water for vinyl pools, or sprinkle the powder directly into concrete pools, spas and fountains to maintain sanitizer levels, to raise low levels rapidly, or to super-chlorinate the pool. Granular chlorine is used regularly to quickly kill algae and bacteria, and to oxidize microscopic particles and contaminants in the water.
How To Remove Chlorine From Skin After Swimming
Swimming is a great exercise and a recreation activity prefered by a lot of people. While there are lots of advantages of swimming, we also cannot deny the aftereffects that swimming may result.
Almost all swimming pools are treated with chlorine as a disinfectant to keep away germs and bacteria. However, the chlorine used in the pools have negative effects on your hair and skin. Therefore, it is better to completely clean off the presence of chlorine from the body to avoid any kind of skin related issues.
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How Chlorine Keeps Pools Safe For Summertime Fun
Answers to common questions about chlorine and pool safety
Most people probably wouldnt want to go swimming in a giant, germ-filled petri dish. But without modern chemistry, thats what swimming in pools could be like. Even a quick swim in unsanitized water could expose a person to illnesses such as diarrhea, swimmers ear and various types of skin infections, including athletes foot.
Chlorine chemistry helps fight germs to keep pool water sanitized, so swimmers are not exposed to harmful levels of microbes that cause illnesses. How do we know that pool sanitizing chemicals can be used safely?
Balance Your Pool Water
Excluding chlorine, are the remaining chemicals in your pool balanced? Balancing your water is an important step that pool owners sometimes forget. The very first thing you want to do is get an accurate reading of your chemical levels.
If you dont have a home testing kit, we recommend either purchasing one or taking a water sample to a local pool store and testing it there. Getting the most recent and the most accurate chemical readings is imperative before adding any additional chemicals.
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Ozone: Preferred By Many Public Pools
To create the chemical reaction necessary for pool treatment with ozone, an ozonizer is installed in the technical locale. It sucks in oxygen from the air and converts it into an odorous and oxidant gas , either via an electric field or by a UV lamp depending on the ozonizer chosen. The ozone is then released into dirty water to disinfect it, before returning cleansed and limpid water to the pool. It is twice as effective as chlorine.
Ozone makes water pleasant, odorless and good-tasting . This is why it is very popular with public pools which can amortize its high cost of acquisition more easily.
Burned To The Ground After Hurricane Laura A Chemical Plant Wants Millions In Tax Breaks To Rebuild
A swimming pool chemical plant that was damaged by Hurricane Laura and burned to the ground last year near Lake Charles is looking to rebuild
The shortage destroyed a huge amount of dry chemicals used to make trichlor tablets, as well as granular chlorine preferred by some pool owners and the quick-boosting granular product known as pool shock.
Prices for bulk containers of the trichlor tablets have doubled for pool service companies since the fire, and some have said suppliers are refusing to sell more than two buckets of tablets to any individual purchaser. Retail prices for do-it-yourselfers have increased sharply as well.
A 50-pound bucket of In The Swim-brand 3-inch stabilized chlorine tablets that sold for $109 a few years ago is currently listed at $169.99 on Amazon.
Pool service companies that use the tablets have had little choice but to increase prices for their customers.
Because the Louisiana fire happened late in the 2020 summer season, consumers and pool service providers likely had no problem finding chlorine tablets or granules during the cold season, when fewer chemicals are necessary even in warm weather states.
That should change now as pool owners in northern states begin buying chemicals to reopen their pools for summer, industry experts warn. This year, northerners have many more pools to open. They bought them in droves last summer while the pandemic kept them stuck at home.
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You Have No Stabilizer
As effective as chlorine is at sanitizing pools, it has one major weakness.
When exposed to the suns UV rays, even in water, chlorine is literally burned off and released into the air.
This is why outdoor pools, or any pool under direct sunlight, require a chlorine stabilizer to shield their chlorine from the sun. Without a stabilizer, free chlorine can disappear from an exposed pool in a matter of minutes.
This is also why shock treatment is often added to a pool at night, as it ensures it has enough time to work before the sun comes into play.
Solution: Add 30 to 50 parts per million of cyanuric acid to your pool in order to protect it against UV light.
Avoid Swimming In Chlorinated Pool
There are many places where you get an option to use salt and UV filters. They may still contain small amount of chlorine but thats better than the chlorinated pool. There are natural pools and places to swim outdoors which has less exposure to chlorine. Using water resources with less chlorine is an easy way to reduce vulnerability associated with chlorine contact.
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What Experts Say About Chemicals And Pool Safety:
- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that chlorine is added to water to kill germs. Chlorine and pH are the first line of defense against germs that can make swimmers sick, according to CDC.
- Whether you choose chemical products or electrical devices to clean your pool or spa, you must maintain a certain amount of sanitizer to prevent disease-causing microorganisms from multiplying, according to Health Canada.
- Belgian scientists also support pool disinfection, stating that chlorine is the best disinfectant currently available, and there is no evidence that alternatives to chlorine will provide an appropriate solution for the disinfection of swimming pools.
When Will The 2022 Chlorine Shortage End
After the Louisiana plant burned back in 2020, BioLab put forth a $170 million investment to rebuild.
The new plant will produce 30% more once its up and running, which should meet some of the increased demand. While the plant was originally predicted to reopen in early 2022, it has yet to be completed.
Currently, industry experts predict the chlorine shortage will end when the plant is completed and running in January of 2023.
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In The Swim Knowledge Pool: Pool Chlorine & Bromine
America’s Most Popular Pool Chlorine!
According to the CDC, free chlorine kills most bacteria in less than a minute if concentrations and pH level are maintained properly. Swimming pool chlorine is the most widely accepted pool sanitizer available, and for over 75 years, pool chlorine has been the most popular method to disinfect and sanitize pool water. Pool bromine can be used as an alternative pool water treatment, yet chlorine tablets and granular chlorine remain America’s first choice for maintaining clean and clear pool water.
What Does Chlorine Do To Your Skin
Chlorine is most of the times harsh to the skin and can wipe off the essential natural oils produced by the skin, leading to problems like:
- Dry and itchy skin
- Damage of protein cells causing premature aging.
- Skin rashes due to disturbed pH balance.
- Excessive oil production by skin to maintain its inadequacy.
- Clogging of pores and acne due to excessive oil.
- Weak skin strength that is easily damaged by Sun.
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Your Pools Skimmer Basket
Your filter system is designed to pull in, clean and circulate your pool water. Of course, an integral part of that system is your skimmer, and the skimmer can be leveraged when it comes to adding chlorine to your pool.
All you need to do is add chlorine to your pool skimmer , and you can sit back and let it do the work of sending the dissolved chlorine through your filter system and our into your pool water.
This is more effective than a floating dispenser and is a much better option overall, but you will need to remove the chlorine from your skimmer when your pump is off, otherwise youll get a high concentration of chlorinated water which can be corrosive.
The Different Forms Of Chlorine
I already mentioned that chlorine used in swimming pools comes in either tablet, powder or liquid form, but there are some nuances you should be aware of before pulling the trigger on a purchase.
Each form has benefits and drawbacks, as well as different price-points, applications and overall effectiveness in specific situations. Theres no one-size fits all.
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Breaking Your Chlorine Lock
While there are many ways to solve this issue, we will only be covering a few of them. Please select the option you are most comfortable with.
Partially Draining Your Pool
One of the simplest methods to breaking chlorine demand is by partially draining your pool. The severity of the chlorine lock determines how long this method takes. Unfortunately, theres no exact science to this. Simply drain your pool little by little, refill it, test it, and repeat if necessary.
Shock Your Pool
Another method of breaking chlorine lock is shocking your pool. Bring your chlorine levels to 20ppm or three times higher than the current levels. We recommend using a non-chlorine oxidizing shock until your free and total chlorine reads the same.
We typically see more pools with a high demand for chlorine during spring opening season. A lot of the times, pools sit for months accumulating a ton of different contaminants. This is one of the reasons we always recommend balancing your pool before you close it. You dont want to compile pool issues or push them to the side. Although high chlorine demand is more common than you might suspect, it is something pool owners can handle themselves.
Give us a call if you think your pool is experiencing this same issue. Make sure you have your most recent chemical readings before we can offer any help.
Shower With Warm Water
It is important to take shower right after you get out of the pool. Warm water is preferred because it helps open your pores and allows thorough cleansing. You can also use an anti-chlorine soap along with the shower to wash your body thoroughly. As you finish, use cool water to tighten back the opened pores and locking the moisture.
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What To Do About The Swimming Pool Chlorine Shortage
Chlorine is a vital ingredient for pool maintenance. It prevents algae buildup, protects swimmers from illnesses like cryptosporidium, legionella, and Naegleria fowleri , and prevents mosquitoes from turning your summer relaxation hub into their own personal breeding grounds.
But, before you start hoarding chlorine tablets, consider that, even in the best conditions, they last just three years. If youre stuffing them in a pool shed or garage, you could be dealing with a shorter shelf life. Overbuying will only extend the shortage and could end in wasted chlorine .
Instead, adjust your pool care routine to be more manageable. Test your water often to ensure youre adding chlorine when the levels are actually low. To keep your pool waters clean for longer, shower before swimming.
And, despite the Instagram opportunities, remember to keep pets out of your pool, too.
Pool Chlorine For Sale
Leisure Pool & Spa Supply offers commercial-grade, high-quality pool liquid and solid chlorine products for sale. From single gallon jugs to 55-gallon drums, we offer a wide variety of sizes to fit your needs. We are pleased to offer a wide selection of pool and spa chemicals from industry leading brands. Shop our e-store today for the ultimate in convenience and peace of mind. Have questions? Email us or give us a call.
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About Us:
Since 1982, Leisure Pool & Spa Supply, Inc. has diligently worked to become YOUR premier aquatic supplier. Our locations in Syracuse and Indianapolis, IN. stand ready to serve you. The Leisure Pool & Spa E-Store features a wide selection of top quality products to assist you in maintaining a beautiful pool, spa or hot tub.
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- Saturday: Closed
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Can I Just Throw Chlorine Tablets In My Pool
Contents
While chlorine tablets are a quick and easy way to add chlorine to your pool, they should not be your only method of chlorination. Chlorine tablets alone are not enough to maintain proper chlorine levels in your pool and will not kill all types of bacteria.
Why Stop Using Chlorine To Treat Pool Water
Chlorine is number 1 in the treatment of swimming pools, thanks to its antibacterial and algicidal properties. It is suitable for large volumes, easy to use and, especially, cheap. On the other hand, chlorine also has some disadvantages when it is incorrectly dosed or incorrectly used: it can be irritating.
Last but not least, there can be chlorine supply problems in peak seasons and over stabilization phenomena. This is why, even with the good quality offers that exist today thanks to automation, pool managers might look for alternatives.
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What Does Hold Chlorine Even Mean
Well, there are two ways to interpret this:
The first is if youve tested your water soon after adding chlorine only to find youre somehow seeing no free chlorine in your pool.
The second is if your water always seems to look dirty or green despite adding plenty of chlorine and getting a normal free chlorine reading.
Either of these scenarios is bad news for you as a pool owner, but they do each offer a clue as to what might be causing your pool water to ignore chlorine, and how you might go about fixing it.
Your Water Isnt Circulated Well Enough
Circulation is everything when it comes to maintaining a healthy pool.
Without adequate circulation, chlorine is unable to properly penetrate your water which leaves your pool under-sanitized in places.
If that wasnt bad enough, testing an under-sanitized area of your pool will give you a false negative when taking a free chlorine reading, leading you to believe theres no chlorine in your pool when, in fact, there is.
Solution: Ensure your pump is running long enough throughout the day to completely cycle your water, and clean/replace your filters to ensure your filtration system is running efficiently.
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