Seapool? Nope - C-Pool!

Read this in another non-pool forum. Person posted about more efficient pool pumps, and I posted links to pool solutions, then this post showed up. Never heard of Seapool, and am wondering about the sanitation of what was posted there?

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my dad uses a chemical in his pool called "SEAPOOL". it is a copper-sulfate compound that replaces the use of chlorine in the pool with an exception to one puck a week in the skimmer. the advantage to using SEAPOOL is that it only requires the pump and filter to be run twice a day for 3 hours at a time. so he has it set up on a automatic timmer and as you can guess saved 75% of his electricity bill for the pool. *There is no conversion kit that is required to use this chemical, unlike a saltwater pool.*

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Copper sulfate shows up in many "non chlorine" sanitation systems.

1. It is not an EPA approved residual sanitizer.
2. It is very slow acting and a pool requires a sanitizer with fast kill times.
3. Copper is an efficient algaecide so the water doesn't turn green from algae so one is lead into the false assumption that clear water is sanitized water. It is not.
4. Copper is what turns hair green and stains pool surfaces. Period.
5. Copper sulfate is dirt cheap so companies that sell this garbage make a LOT of money.

You nailed it, Waterbear.

Ben

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Originally Posted by PoolDoc

You nailed it, Waterbear.

Ben

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Aw shucks! :o Thanks! ;)

I put most of what Waterbear posted as a response in the other forum, and he came back that it was his Dad that used it and he is a senior chemist at BSAF, etc., etc. I invited him to come here to discuss it but still waiting.

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Originally Posted by Spensar

I put most of what Waterbear posted as a response in the other forum, and he came back that it was his Dad that used it and he is a senior chemist at BSAF, etc., etc. I invited him to come here to discuss it but still waiting.

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Tell him to tell his dad just to use copper sulfate, since that is the active ingredient and MUCH cheaper. I am sure that being a "senior chemist" he can figure out the dosage needed.:rolleyes:
OH WAIT, he probably does not work in water chemistry at BASF so he really doesn't have a clue except for the one he bought!;)

Nothing like the smell of a freshly opened can of Spam.

As noted in that thread on the other forum you are referring to, his arguments to the points waterbear made are ridiculous. He is in Canada so the EPA registration doesn't apply -- but what does that have to do with efficacy of copper sulfate? It doesn't pass EPA DIS/TSS-12 in the U.S. and I write more about kill times in this post and I write more about sanitizer and disinfectant registration in Canada below.

He claims it is not slow-acting because copper sulfate is not the only ingredient in this powdered chemical. I cannot find "Seapool" as a brand on the Internet -- if the guy can provide a link to where it is sold, I might be able to dig up an MSDS equivalent -- or he can just read the ingredients on the bottle. Disinfectants and sanitizers ARE regulated in Canada as described in this link. As seen here, Seapool is NOT a registered pesticide product though there are many other algaecide products registered using copper sulphate. There are also registered swimming pool bactericides such as products containing calcium hypochlorite (Cal-Hypo), sodium hypochlorite, trichloro-s-triazinetrione (Trichlor), sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione (Dichlor). See if he can provide you with a Health Canada Pesticide Registration Number.

His response to point #3 is that "copper isn't just used as an algaecide, it is also used as a pH balancer" shows that he doesn't understand chemistry as that is absolutely not true. Copper does not balance pH, period.

In his response to point 4 he says that "in high concentrations copper can turn your hair green", but then says that "in Seapool it the ppm is an ammount close to 10-15 ppm" which would certainly stain since normal copper concentration in a pool to prevent algae is in the 0.3 to 0.7 range and anything higher is certainly going to stain unless the pH is kept very low (7.0 or lower).

Good luck with your arguing with this person.

Richard

To Quote Forest Gump, "Stupid is as stupid does."

LOL. Good digging Chemgeek. That is actually a very, very good high tech and electronics forum, and is terrific for over the air broadcast reception, with very knowledgable people on those topics similar to the pool know how here... but pool stuff not so much.

I couldn't find Poolsea on the net either. I'll keep your facts in the quiver in case he wants to pursue it further. Right now it is sinking out of site, as that is a high traffic site.