Chlorine Dangers (posted by pro-EcoSmarte spammer!)

For many years now I haven't used my pool because of the problems chlorine was causing for me. I have finally found a system to eliminate the use of chlorine in my pool.

We had an ECOsmarte system installed and very pleased with it. No chlorine smells and drying out the skin.

I don't think people clearly know the dangers of chlorine to their systems. Many people are now being diagnosed with Chemical sensitivity and chlorine highly dangerous for people with Fibromyalgia.

I only want to share my experience with our pool system. No issues - no chlorine - co2 for adjusting the ph.

Sunshine

I believe EcoSmarte has stopped claiming that their copper/silver system sanitizes pool water . . . which of course it does not. Of course, these corrections came after lawsuits, regulatory actions, and bankruptcy (from which they have emerged). I trust you'll forgive me, if I don't place EcoSmarte among those pool industry manufacturers I trust.

Copper/silver systems can keep pools algae free, but they cannot sanitize them, because the bacterial kill rate of copper + silver is so slo-o-w. If you are OK with swimming in an unsanitized pool, and have no guest swimmers, I have no problem with that. My personal preference is to swim in the ocean, and that is not sanitized, either.

You write that you "don't think people clearly know the dangers of chlorine to their systems" -- and you are entirely correct. For years, we have encountered posts by forum users who are confused by the rumors, half-truths, and general goobledegook that has been published about chlorine in the popular media over the past 30 years. Anyone who has gained their information about chlorine from such sources will not know anything "clearly" about chlorine, but will instead have collected a mishmash of misinformation. Providing reliable, research and science based information about chlorine and other pool chemicals has been one of my goals, since I started PoolSolutions 15+ years ago!

As far as "the danger of chlorine to their systems" . . . frankly, I doubt that you *know* what they are, either. Much of what is published about the "dangers of chlorine" is written by eco-freaks who are perfectly willing to lie in order to further their political goals OR by journalists who are (a) scientifically illiterate and (b) eager to jump on any bandwagon that will get them published. Writing "just the facts" about chlorine is boring; writing sensational garbage is much more likely to further a budding journalist's career.

But, if you have actual *data* about chlorine's dangers, we'd be glad to look at it.

Your statement that "any people are now being diagnosed with Chemical sensitivity" may or may not be true -- but it's irrelevant regardless. There are literally dozens of chemicals in every pool, regardless of whether you use chlorine or not. You imply that you use carbonic acid in your pool -- which is certainly a chemical. If your pool is filled with city water, it contains nitrates, phosphates, chlorides and many, many other chemicals. If it's filled from a well, it may have ferrous or cuprous ions, or even manganates. And of course, as I noted many years ago, all pools have exceedingly high levels of dihydrogen oxide, which kills hundreds of people each year.

And, copper and silver ions, produced by the Ecosmarte are chemically identical to the copper and silver ions added to a pool via the "chemicals" copper sulfate and silver nitrate. Both copper and silver are "heavy metals", often described as potentially toxic.

You refer to chlorine being "highly dangerous for people with Fibromyalgia". Do you have fibromyalgia? My wife taught water aerobics for 10+ years, and had a regular attender with fibromyalgia, who reported being greatly helped by attendance. I maintained that particular hospital affiliated pool, with relatively high levels of chlorine, so you can consider me pretty skeptical about that claim.

Again, do you have data? A quick search with Google revealed no such association reported by *medical* or *scientific* writers, though some "holistic" writers did. Sorry, but I don't count those opinions as significant data.

Ben,

This poster appears to be a spammer. See this post on another forum that is basically the same. I wouldn't waste time with this poster and now that I see the posting here I feel I've wasted my time with my post in the other forum. By the way, I believe that EcoSmarte is copper-only and not a copper/silver combo. That makes it even worse since copper ions do not kill fecal bacteria.

Richard

Thanks, CG