Chlorine Free System

[KPROMERO]

Not sure if right place to post, but does anyone have one of these systems and how good are they? Was kinda hearing about it and searched a few places and seems like it would be nice. Cost seems the same as a salt chlorination system from what i can tell.

[CarlD]

No, this would be the place. Why would you want an alternative to chlorine or salt-chlorination? We find the usual reasons, sensitivity, burning eyes, blonde hair going green, etc. are always due to other causes than that of the chlorine itself when used properly.

Other people know more about them, such as ozone systems, but those require (as I understand it ) electrics that are legal in Europe but not the USA, and what's allowed in the US doesn't really work. I won't SWEAR to this, but that's what I remember, and I know someone will either correct or clarify what I've just said.

[KPROMERO]

From what i have seen on the web they do have them around here and seem to be getting very common. No chemicals to add to pools seems very nice from what they claim, plus they are advertising chlorine and salt is causing health issues, but i guess that is like everything else these days.

[CarlD]

Everything is a trade-off. First you have to establish that it actually works, and is not just another patent medicine. There's all kinds of magical systems that "cut chlorine use in half" or "never need chlorine again", but there's always a catch:
1) it doesn't actually work that way and you risk yours and your family's health.
2) It costs 10x-20x more to use than chlorine.

The ONLY non-chlorine/bromine system I know of that works AT ALL is an artificial pond fed by a constant flow of fresh water, like a natural pond. But they can be easily polluted and I guess cleaning them is a disaster.

Using chlorine or salt is easy. Yeah, there are trade-offs, but they are FAR in favor of chlorine. BTW, salt systems generate low, but constant levels of chlorine.

I suggest you read our guides on algae, pool maintenance, chlorine usage and general chemical balancing. Once you understand it all and how it works (at least superficially), pool maintenance is very, very easy. Nothing mysterious, and not expensive. It requires only one thing: Consistency.

And we are here to help you understand that and help you through the vultures who will do or say almost anything to separate you from your money. They'll tell you salt is bad. They'll tell you liquid chlorine and bleach are bad. They'll tell you that calcium is necessary in a vinyl pool. And all these things are untrue--and all have been said to me.

My pool takes me very little effort. A couple of minutes a day and 15 minutes every weekend. My pool is clean, safe and rarely do you even smell the chlorine. The other moderators and many of our denizens have pools that are, in that way, exactly like mine.

Pool care doesn't have to be hard work, it doesn't have to be mysterious, and it doesn't have to be expensive.

[KPROMERO]

Thanks for the reply CarlD. I am not having trouble with my pool and was just curious after hearing about chlorine free and wanted someones take on it. My salt generator (AquaRite) has been doing a wonderful job since i switch to it and has saved me some money and time by having it. This is a wonderful place to come and get answers that you need and fairly quickly. Thanks again for your input.

[chem geek]

If you are talking about CL Free (aka chlorinefreeusa.com), this appears to be a combination of copper ionization for the bulk pool water along with ozone (or active oxygen) for water that gets through the filtration system. The copper prevents algae growth, but at the risk of metal staining which is why the pH needs to be kept low and metal ion concentrations monitored carefully. The ozone/oxygen helps oxidize bather waste.

The problem is that there is no fast-acting sanitizer in the bulk pool water. Copper simply does not kill pathogens very quickly. Chlorine (at typical pool concentrations we recommend) kills most bacteria in around 1 minute while silver ions take around 10-20 minutes and copper ions take around 40 minutes. It's just enough to prevent uncontrolled bacterial growth, but not to kill quickly. Also, metal ions are not effective (at pool concentrations) at inactivating viruses. For example, this paper shows that copper ions do a 90% inactivation of Herpes Simplex Virus in 30 minutes at 100-200 ppm, but that is far, far higher in concentration than found in pools (copper is usually < 0.3 ppm in pools). This paper shows that silver ions have virtually no effect on vacciniavirus, adenovirus, VSV, poliovirus, HVJ, but that with herpes simplex virus there is a 5-log kill in 60 minutes (roughly a 90% kill in about 5 minutes), but at over 3200 ppb compared to the usual limit of 20 ppb to prevent silver staining.

As Carl says, it's a trade-off, or as I like to put it, it's a spectrum of risk. In a residential pool, the risk is lower since you generally aren't having lots of people over with diarrhea or other illnesses swimming in your pool, but this sort of system is not allowed in a commercial/public pool because it would not prevent transmission of disease from person-to-person.

Richard