Automatic Pool Sanitation – Truth or Mirage?

June 28th, 2011

Over the past weekend, we visited friends in Phoenix who own a nice backyard pool (inground in this case) with a spa attached and sharing the circulation system. Bob took me out for a ride on his new motorcycle, but we had to make a stop at his pool dealer as part of the deal.

Turns out Bob isn’t very good at testing his own water. Luckily, his good dealer offers a free testing service, so once a week Bob fills a water bottle and takes it over, waits in line, waits for the test, and then buys or notes whatever chemicals he needs to restore his pool balance. When he gets home, his first task (when he remembers it) is to add the needed chemicals and set the timer delay for pool occupancy to make sure the water has absorbed the new dose and achieved its “balance.”

Give me Automatic!

What Bob would give for an automatic water balancer! Unfortunately, such a thing doesn’t exist, at least not in a perfect form.  We sometimes refer to ozone as the automatic sanitizer because the ozone machine is purifying the pool with no work on your part – that much is truly automatic.

But even with ozone, you will need to test your water and at least make sure there is a minimal level of Free Available Chlorine in the background.  We recommend .5 to 1 ppm FAC together with your properly sized ozonator to supply the sanitation you need for a safe pool experience.

Simple is Better

Automatic is impossible, but SIMPLE is truly available to you.  The combination of ozone plus a residual chlorine sanitizer is rapidly emerging as the simplest and most effective way to ensure safe, clean pool water.

Remember that ozone reduces chlorine need and that simplifies the chemical properties of your pool water immensely.  In that simple fact, ozone is as close to the automatic pool sanitizer you will find.  By reducing chlorine, you reduce the need to add as much stabilizer, simplify pH balancing, and reduce or eliminate the need to super chlorinate on a regular basis.

A current model ozone generator for your pool, either in the Eclipse line for in ground pools or the Big Dipper for above ground pools, will last for up to 5 years under normal operation.  That’s a lot of peace of mind.

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Posted by DELOzone on June 28, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks

Flooding Poses Chemicals Danger

June 28th, 2011

The huge volumes of water we have all seen in video from North Dakota, and points south, pose obvious hazards.  Another, perhaps not so obvious, hazard is the potential threat of having dangerous chemicals polluting the water. Included in the list of hazardous chemicals are pool chemicals.

The EPA has issued a “Pre-Flood Household Hazardous Waste Prevention Checklist” to help people threatened by flood to move these materials to safer ground. We all understand that there’s a lot of important things to do when the flood threatens, but if there is time, items like oven cleaners, pool chemicals, insecticides, petroleum products, paint supplies and batteries should be secured. For the complete list, see this EPA webpage.

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Consumer Reports: Another Reason to Avoid Chlorine

June 5th, 2011

As if we needed more evidence that chlorine has drawbacks as a pool disinfectant! Now, Consumer Reports is publishing that chlorine interacts with poolside equipment to increase corrosion.

In an article titled Pool Chemicals:  a Recipe for Distress for Your Deck and Grill, CR notes that pool chlorine “can corrode your grill or degrade your deck. Mix in a little dampness and a lot of foot traffic and you get a real mess.” They go on to tell us a few ways to avoid these issues – we’d add ozone to the mix to reduce the amount of chlorine in the first place, but whether you do that or not, here’s some tips on pool maintenance that might help mitigate the damage.

For the grill:

The article points out that it is almost unavoidable that the chlorine in the pool will produce chloride ions that will interact with moisture on your grill to create hydrochloric acid.  The acid will react with chromium  to corrode stainless steel.  To prevent this, CR recommends that you polish and wax the grill once a week (porcelain grills can be cleaned less often, but pay attention to their metallic trim and grill surfaces).  To reduce moisture on the grill, keep it covered unless it’s in an especially moist area (e.g., shaded) where the moisture could be trapped by the cover.

For the decking:

Foot traffic and general chemical residue can degrade decking, especially wooden decks (plastic is more resistant).  CR suggests you hose down and clean the deck with mild detergent every few days to remove chemical residues. One clue is that if water is no longer beading up on your deck, the stain or varnish has deteriorated to a susceptible level.  When re-staining decks, use a semi-opaque or opaque stain to provide the best protective barrier.

Chlorine is a corrosive chemical.  In most pools, it is still the easiest way to keep residual disinfectant power in the water, but its use can be minimized by making  ozone the primary sanitizer.

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Posted by DELOzone on June 5, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks

Don’t Send Your Pool Chemicals to the Landfill!

May 12th, 2011

We couldn’t resist this. The Independence, Missouri online paper for the Examiner helpfully informed community members about hazardous waste collection day. This “popular event” was on April 23 this year.  Since then, we have seen literally dozens of similar articles published in community papers with the same message:  your extra, dated, or leftover pool chemicals are a hazardous material that should be disposed of through a proper program, and not in the general landfill.

Thus, we see included in the items you might want to bring for safe disposal are your “hazardous liquids and solvents, lawn and garden products, pesticides, pool chemicals [ok, we added the emphasis], paints and related products.”

One thing you do NOT need to do with ozone is clean up after it. Left over chemicals, salt residues, spills in storage or handling, and damaged pool machinery or decking are problems you will not face because of ozone. Ozone is a clean cut character through and through.

Of course we do understand that pool chemicals are necessary. We even advocate for a minimal use of chlorine as a secondary sanitizer for residential pools because we do need to keep some oxidation potential in the water for contaminants that do not or cannot circulate through the pump. But we also advocate for keeping the use of these potentially dangerous chemicals to a minimum.

Ozone is about maintaining a safe environment for life.  That’s the most important thing.

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Posted by DELOzone on May 12, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks

Make Ozone Part of Your Startup Routine

April 13th, 2011

At this time of year, every residential pool owner is thinking about the coming swimming season. Is ozone part of your startup routine?  It should be.  And if you don’t already have ozone, now is the perfect time to install it.

The startup routine is more than a series of chores. If you go through the steps carefully, you will start the year with clean, well-balanced pool water that is easier to maintain. Ozone is an important way for you to keep to a simple but effective sanitation routine that takes advantage of your good start throughout the season.

Here’s some common steps in the opening process:

  • Clean the cover and decks and set the cover aside to dry before storing it.
  • Organize your supplies including chemicals.  (This is simpler with ozone as your primary sanitizer.)
  • Re-install and clean equipment as needed, including pump, filter, ladders, lights, and diving board. Professional maintenance may be needed at this time, e.g., for the heater or other major mechanical components.
  • Remove plugs in plumbing and replace return outlet fittings. Inspect and reset electrical components to operating marks.
  • Refill the pool as needed, clean it, and start the circulation system.
  • Shock the water and stabilize it at pH of 7.4 to 7.6 with alkalinity between 80 and 120 ppm.  Run the circulation system for at least 24 hours, and possibly several days, before using to make sure the water balance is stable.

Now, Keep It Clean with Ozone

Once your pool is set up and the water is in clean balance, you are ready to re-install your ozone system (or install it for the first time, if new). Re-installing the ozone system is a great time for routine maintenance that will pay off in trouble-free sanitation all season.  For first time installations, please review the installation guide for your ozonator model, available at the DEL Ozone website.

Inspect the ozone tubing, check valve, injector assembly including the injector itself, and electrical connections for wear and tear.  The tubing may display yellow/brown discoloration and brittleness which could lead to a vacuum leak, and not allow ozone into the pool.  DEL recommends annual replacement of the tubing and check valve (replacement kit #9-0150E is what you should look for at one of DEL’s online partners).

Reconnect the ozone system tubing making sure the check valve is installed in the proper direction (allows flow in the direction of the hose or water return line). Again, the best guarantee of proper check valve operation is to install a new one each year, a low cost way to ensure proper operation of this critical component.  Check to make sure all the fittings are secure and leak free.

Turn on the ozonator and make sure the pool pump is running at the same time. The ozone generator will be delivering ozone if you see bubbles downstream of the injector manifold. Depending on the model of ozonator you have, there will be an LED indicator for the ozone cell.  On Eclipse models, there is a flow meter that can be used to verify airflow, and a red LED indicator will light if one of the ozone cells is not functioning.

If you cannot verify the ozone flow, here is a checklist of possible causes:

  • Make sure the pump is circulating the water at its rated speed.  If the pump is failing for some reason to keep adequate pressure in the line, there may not be enough flow to create the vacuum needed to draw ozone.
  • Make sure the pump skimmer and filter are clean.
  • Re-check the check valve to make sure it is installed in the correct direction (there is an arrow to indicate flow direction).
  • Re-check ozone delivery connections to be sure there is no leak.
  • An unlikely but critical item is the injector assembly:  it must be installed in the proper direction of flow to operate.

After going through the checklist, if your ozonator is still not delivering ozone when the pump is running, call your pool maintenance technician.

Pool Ozone is Usually Trouble Free

DEL Ozone pool ozone generators and systems normally operate automatically with very little maintenance, aside from annual tune-ups.  They are reliable and long-lived. For example, the Big Dipper above ground pool ozonator has a projected life of 15,000 hours, or about 5 years when running 8 hours per day.

Ozone is a powerful, simple way to keep your pool fresh and safe for family fun.

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Posted by DELOzone on April 13, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

March 13th, 2011

This idea from Robert Frost is nowhere more true than with your backyard pool. Your liability from a poorly fenced or non-compliant fence keeping uninvited guests out of your pool is sky high. We know this is the obvious statement of the year, but have you checked it out with local public health or building codes?

Fencing isn’t normally part of DEL Ozone’s beat, but we thought we would pass along our voice in caution with the coming pool season getting so close (well, if you aren’t getting pounded in the snow belt).

A General Guide

First, here is a general guideline to proper pool fencing from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. In it you will find information for both above ground and in ground residential pools, as well as requirements for portable spas or hot tubs. The guidelines are illustrated, followed by the detailed language.

Local Public Health Requirements

Your state or locality may also have requirements for fencing. These are often bare bones and in legalistic language, so the Consumer Product Safety guide might be a good companion piece for them.

We cannot provide links to every locality, but here’s what we found in the rules from one Florida jurisdiction:

(6) “Effective Barrier” — A barrier which consists of a building, or equivalent structure, plus a 48 42 inch minimum height fence on the remaining three sides or a continuous 48 inch minimum height four sided fence. All access through the barrier must have one or more of the following safety features: alarm, key lock or self-locking doors and gates. Safety covers that comply with the American Society for Testing Materials standard F1346 may also be considered as an effective barrier.

In some jurisdictions you can search online for the regulations; in others, you’ll have no choice but search through a dusty library. Better, perhaps, to start with your local pool professional and find the facts fast.  Then, it’s up to you to comply.

Here’s to a safe and happy swimming season!

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Posted by DELOzone on March 13, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks

Is Salt Still an Alternative for Residential Swimming Pools?

February 16th, 2011

If you are a pool owner, of either an above-ground or built-in pool, you know the drill: add chemicals, check levels, add more chemicals. Constantly. Pools require a lot of maintenance and if you’re using chlorine exclusively, it gets expensive. Furthermore, chlorine chemicals have some not-so-pleasant side effects, such as red eyes and swimmer’s itch.

Luckily, alternatives to traditional chlorine chemicals do exist. When it comes to reducing unwanted chlorine side effects, many pool owners have gone the way of salt water pool systems which still generate chlorine, but in a more natural way. Much to their dismay, however, salt water systems didn’t measure up to the expectations of many hopeful pool owners. Pool ozone systems are an up-and-coming – though hardly new – and readily available technology used in commercial and residential pools alike. Below is a brief overview of how ozone compares to salt water systems.

Salt Water Pool Systems

Salt water pool systems initially seemed like a great alternative to chlorine-only sanitation. However, salt water systems don’t actually cut down on constant pool-chemistry maintenance.

Salt water systems, instead of requiring you to add chlorine, produce chlorine, which generates hypochlorous acid. You must continuously check and monitor the chemical levels in salt water systems to ensure they don’t get out of balance. Moreover, salt water systems require disposal of the salt and you’ll have to deal with the resulting corrosion that salt causes.

Ozone Pool Systems

Ozone pool systems have been used in Europe for decades and are found in most spas. Ozone is also a popular sanitizer for bottled water. Ozone has long been used in many commercial aquatics and especially aquarium facilities, but until recently, ozone was not widely available for residential use.

How Does Ozone Pool Purification Work?

Ozone systems use a pump and ozone generator to continuously sanitize a pool by injecting ozone into the water. A properly sized system eliminates chlorine by 60-90% and requires much less chemical maintenance.

Ozone is an all-natural powerful oxidizer that leaves behind no dangerous byproducts, corrosion, or disposal issues. When the ozone is forced into the water, it dissolves and instantly kills a wide range of contaminants, including bacteria, viruses, algae, oils, human fluids, fungus, chlorine byproducts like chloramines, and some metallic elements. The byproduct of all of this? Ordinary oxygen. Sounds better than hypochlorous acid, right?

Curious to learn more about using ozone to maintain your pool? Turn to the leading provider of ozone sanitation technology, DEL Ozone. DEL Ozone’s technologically-advanced, non-chemical pool ozone generators help you easily maintain crystal clear and sanitized pool water by turning oxygen into safe and powerful ozone.

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Posted by DelOzone on February 16, 2011 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks

Preventing Algae is 16 Times Better Than Curing It

January 5th, 2011

Remember that old formula, An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?

When it comes to algae in your swimming pool, Ben Franklin’s old advice is right on the mark. As you will see, eliminating algae in your pool is an arduous chore, but preventing it in the first place can be based on the simplest pool maintenance routine there is – using ozone.

The Cure: Getting Algae out of a Pool

Though there are several reasons why algae will bloom in your pool, the main one by far is inadequate sanitizer.  Unfortunately, once algae begins to get out of hand, it can double every half day, quickly making the pool unpleasant and unusable. After it  takes hold you will have to attack it with chemicals.

Here’s a summary of the ‘kill the algae’ routine. Consult with your pool guy to get all the gory details.

  • Prepare the pool: adjust to normal pH (7.2 to 7.6), scrape the algae attached to the pool walls, clean the filter, and start the pump manually. Leave the pump running.
  • Shock the pool, perhaps with 2 to 3 times the normal dose (consult instructions).  Add an algaecide at the same time.
  • Test the water. If necessary shock it again, and continue the shock treatments every 12 hours or so until all the algae is dead (discolored and settling to the bottom of the pool).
  • Vacuum and clean the pool and filter, and replace the filter if necessary.
  • Include algaecide in your chemical routine, maintain 3 ppm free available chlorine (FAC; use more depending on the bather load) and shock on a regular basis.

It might smell a little like a chemistry set, but you can swim in it.

Prevention: Start with Clean Water and Keep it Clean

Keeping clean water in a pool used to require a lot of diligence or a lot of money for services, or both. Today, reliable pool ozone generators like DEL’s make water quality maintenance straightforward and simple. Avoid the algae!

We assume you begin with clean water. To keep it that way, follow these steps.

  • Install a right-sized ozone generator according to manufactuer’s instructions, and run it at least 6 hours per day (more is better; the ozonator runs when the pump is running).
  • Maintain FAC at the .5 to 1.0 ppm level to provide continuous sanitizer and algaecide to the entire pool water body.
  • Use a good test kit to check the water frequently at first until you figure out your needed chemical dose based on experience.  Again, a higher bather load will require more chemicals or more ozonation, or both.

Avoid the Cure: Install an Ozonator

Visit DEL Ozone’s pool ozonator page to learn how to choose the right one for your pool.  If you have an in ground pool, you might also consider adding DEL’s unique variable-speed injector manifold with your ozone installation.  DEL’s is the only system available that can inject ozone into your pool at all pump speeds, so you can run your energy-efficient multi-speed pump and sanitize your pool at the same time.

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Posted by DELOzone on January 5, 2011 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks

Go Green to Get Green – Pool Rebates

October 10th, 2010

Variable speed pumps offer big energy savings for pool owners. They also help energy companies like So Cal Edison to meet their renewable energy goals. Luckily, DEL Ozone also makes an ozone system that works with the variable speed pumps, so you can have an environmentally friendly pool sanitation system that’s more effective than chemicals, at a lower total cost.

SCE Rebates

Energy rebates from So Cal Edison start the ball rolling. SCE has a program this year, through December 2010, to offer rebates to pool owners in their service area who purchase and install an approved variable speed pump. The rebate is up to $300 per unit, so it’s nothing to sneeze at.

Visit online for SCE pool rebate info if you’re in the SCE service area to get the details. Your pool professional can advise you about pump types and sizing to match the best option to your existing system. If you need help locating a pro, try our dealer locator.

Get Best Ozone Sanitation with Variable Speed

DEL Ozone unique injector manifold for variable speed pool pumps.Only DEL Ozone makes and sells a pool ozone sanitation system that works effectively with a variable speed pump. Other manufacturers’ ozone systems will only work when the pump is running full speed so their ordinary injector valves can develop enough suction to pull the ozone.

Now, with DEL’s unique variable speed injector, your pool can receive ozone sanitation whenever the pump is running at any speed. This means you will have a more continuous supply of ozone to kill or neutralize the organic (and many inorganic) contaminants in your pool. This is a critical improvement because it allows you to minimize the chemicals you need to add, thereby keeping your pool water fresher, healthier, and less chemically toxic.

Get the Best of Both Worlds

The combination of the variable speed pump with DEL’s variable speed ozone injector gives you the peace of mind of water safety combined with a much more energy efficient circulation system. Energy savings and the environmentally-friendly ozone sanitation are both green ways to go: help the environment while you save money.

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Posted by DELOzone on October 10, 2010 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks

Minimize Pool Chemicals to Reduce Cancer Risk

September 15th, 2010

Recently reported research finds a link between pool chemicals like chlorine and pre-cancerous changes in human subjects.  The researchers argue that the positive benefits of swimming can be retained by reducing the health risks of pool water.

Ozone pool sanitation greatly reduces these risks. There is no reason to postpone moving to pool ozone generator sanitation systems.

The Research Reported by CREAL

The Barcelona-based Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) reported the research to the public in its September 13 news release .  CREAL says “Swimming in chlorinated indoor pools can cause genotoxic effects (DNA damage) and respiratory effects.”

This research was first published in several installments in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal,  and is based on work by an international consortium of scientists led by Manolis Kogevinas, associated with various hospitals and universities. The researchers collected blood, urine and exhaled air samples from 49 non-smoking adult volunteers before and after swimming 40 minutes in an indoor chlorinated pool.  They measured the concentrations of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) like trihalomethanes (e.g., like chloramines, a byproduct of chlorine) in exhaled breath and correlated them with “biomarkers” for biological changes that might be associated with pre-cancerous changes in cell tissues.

The swimmers’ exhalation after swimming contained 7 times the concentration of trihalomethanes than before swimming.  This was associated with changes in the biomarkers that “support potential genotoxic effects of exposure to DBPs from swimming pools.  The positive health effects gained by swimming could be increased by reducing the potential health risks of pool water.”

Ozone Prevents Waterborne Illness of Many Kinds

We have tried in every publication to stress the benefits of ozone, and there are many.  But perhaps none are so important for swimmers and pool operators as the fact that ozone is a significant preventer of various kinds of waterborne illnesses.

  • Ozone reduces the need for chlorine by up to 50% in most residential pools, so fewer dangerous byproducts of chlorine can be formed (fewer ‘trihalomethanes’ like chloramine).
  • Ozone oxidizes the organic wastes in pool water, like urine, that interact with chlorine to produce noxious byproducts.
  • Ozone kills dangerous microorganisms like cryptosproridium and e. coli on contact, much more effectively than chlorine alone.
  • Ozone creates NO dangerous byproducts in swimming pools and spas – its only byproduct is ordinary oxygen.

Learn More About Pool Ozone and Your Health

For a comprehensive review of the positive health effects of pool ozone sanitation, take a look at DEL Ozone’s slideshow on Ozone for Secondary Pool Water Sanitation.  In that powerpoint, you will find additional science behind the reasons for installing pool ozone.  It also explains why the Centers for Disease Control have endorsed secondary ozone sanitation in the emerging Model Aquatics Health Code (MAHC) which is intended as a guideline to pool operators and public health officials concerned about public pool sanitation.

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Posted by DELOzone on September 15, 2010 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks
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