As a pool industry veteran of some years I am constantly amazed at the misinformation and outright fraud perpetrated by inventors, manufacturers and scam artists on pool owners.
Clean pool water is an absolute necessity for any pool and promoting pseudo-science under the guise of safety or ecological concerns is no excuse for bad and potentially harmful information.
Most of these scams are aimed at chlorine, the single most popular and proven method of pool sanitation.
Demonized as poisonous and ecologically unfriendly, most pool sanitizing scams take dead aim at convincing pool owners that chlorine is unnecessary and harmful.
This is complete bull-puckey! Water sanitization consists of two parts: prevention of any harmful infestation by algae or bacteria and remediation of such an infestation should it occur.
Chlorine is the single best agent yet tested at preventing infestation.
Chlorine is a member of the halogen family of chemicals that includes bromine, iodine, fluorine and others.
All share the common trait of being powerful oxidizers.
They are all quite good at reducing complex organic compounds into simpler forms.
This oxidation is at the heart of keeping a pool clean and safe to use.
Chlorine can be delivered in a number of different ways: tablets or sticks, granular or more recently as dissolved gas from a salt water chlorine generator.
Bromine is always a small tablet and has a substantial amount of chlorine in it.
Complex organic molecules are the preferred food of bacteria and algae.
These ever present organisms just need the right conditions to multiply rapidly.
Water and complex organic compounds introduced by swimmers such as sweat, oils etc.
provide just the right conditions for algae and bacteria to grow.
Chlorine in a pool oxidizes these contaminants into simpler molecules that are useless to algae and bacteria.
No food, no growth.
If this oxidation does not take place the by products of swimmers and the local environment build up in swimming pools and will cause serious problems over time regardless of any other treatment.
When the oxidizer is overloaded, algae and bacteria will take hold and part two of water sanitizing takes the stage.
A number of chemical and mineral agents are effective at killing algae and bacteria: copper, silver and various ammonia compounds are commonly available as liquids or delivered through electric devices that deposit minerals in the pool.
Any of these compounds will kill algae and bacteria quickly and help restore the water quality in a pool.
However, none of these substances will prevent an infestation alone.
Let me repeat; copper, silver or algaecides alone are completely ineffective in preventing an algae or bacteria problem.
They can cure but will not prevent.
Any product that promises clean pool water without use of an oxidizer like chlorine or bromine is inviting trouble and possibly fraudulent.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
Clean pool water is an absolute necessity for any pool and promoting pseudo-science under the guise of safety or ecological concerns is no excuse for bad and potentially harmful information.
Most of these scams are aimed at chlorine, the single most popular and proven method of pool sanitation.
Demonized as poisonous and ecologically unfriendly, most pool sanitizing scams take dead aim at convincing pool owners that chlorine is unnecessary and harmful.
This is complete bull-puckey! Water sanitization consists of two parts: prevention of any harmful infestation by algae or bacteria and remediation of such an infestation should it occur.
Chlorine is the single best agent yet tested at preventing infestation.
Chlorine is a member of the halogen family of chemicals that includes bromine, iodine, fluorine and others.
All share the common trait of being powerful oxidizers.
They are all quite good at reducing complex organic compounds into simpler forms.
This oxidation is at the heart of keeping a pool clean and safe to use.
Chlorine can be delivered in a number of different ways: tablets or sticks, granular or more recently as dissolved gas from a salt water chlorine generator.
Bromine is always a small tablet and has a substantial amount of chlorine in it.
Complex organic molecules are the preferred food of bacteria and algae.
These ever present organisms just need the right conditions to multiply rapidly.
Water and complex organic compounds introduced by swimmers such as sweat, oils etc.
provide just the right conditions for algae and bacteria to grow.
Chlorine in a pool oxidizes these contaminants into simpler molecules that are useless to algae and bacteria.
No food, no growth.
If this oxidation does not take place the by products of swimmers and the local environment build up in swimming pools and will cause serious problems over time regardless of any other treatment.
When the oxidizer is overloaded, algae and bacteria will take hold and part two of water sanitizing takes the stage.
A number of chemical and mineral agents are effective at killing algae and bacteria: copper, silver and various ammonia compounds are commonly available as liquids or delivered through electric devices that deposit minerals in the pool.
Any of these compounds will kill algae and bacteria quickly and help restore the water quality in a pool.
However, none of these substances will prevent an infestation alone.
Let me repeat; copper, silver or algaecides alone are completely ineffective in preventing an algae or bacteria problem.
They can cure but will not prevent.
Any product that promises clean pool water without use of an oxidizer like chlorine or bromine is inviting trouble and possibly fraudulent.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.