Would like to stay away from clorine

[rdefino]

Hi all,

So in the next couple weeks I should get my 18x34 Doughboy setup.

I'm hoping on staying away from using chlorine. Would anyone have thoughts or links on what I can use instead of chlorine? I will be using a DE filter, and want the water clean. Are there any alternatives to using chlorine?

thanks for any help

[Watermom]

Why do you want to stay away from chlorine?

[rdefino]

Why do you want to stay away from chlorine?

My daughter has sensitive shin, and I hate the smell and eye irritation it gives.

Just looking for alternatives.

[PoolDoc]

Unless her skin is so sensitive she can't take a shower or a bath in tap water . . . there shouldn't be any problem.

The skin irritation and smell that people experience on outdoor pools result mostly from using chlorine the wrong way. Teaching people to use it the right way, is what PoolSolutions and the PoolForum are all about! Fresh water is also intrinsically irritating to eyes --- that's why they sell "eye saline", which is just fresh water with enough salt added to match the salinity of the human eye.

You'd may be surprised to learn that pediatric dermatologist routinely recommend "bleach baths", with 10 - 20x the level of chlorine in pools, as a treatment for various skin conditions. Search Google for "bleach bath".

Do this:

1. From Amazon, order a K2006A or K2006C (better deal) general pool test kit and a K1106 phosphate kit.

We don't usually recommend phosphate kits and phosphate removers, but having low phosphates will enable you to run lower chlorine, than you could otherwise.

2. Once you have the kits, test your FILL water, and report the results here. Do NOT depend on pool dealer testing or 'guess'-strips. Neither can be trusted -- there ARE some dealers out there who do accurate reliable testing, and who don't recommend chemicals you don't need, but they are in the minority. Plus, the only way you can find them, is to test your water yourself, and compare. But, at that point you won't NEED their testing!

3. I'm sure you are looking at some chlorine 'alternatives' or some 'natural' pool treatments. To date, every such alternative we've looked at is either misleading or out right dishonest. Some are in violation of EPA sanitizer regulations. Post the names your looking at, and we'll either point you to previous discussion of those products, or Chem_Geek and I will take a look. He's already 'sic-ed' the EPA on one shady outfit this season.

But I'll cover the most common alternatives quickly:

=> ozone: not a complete system, not really chlorine compatible, more toxic than chlorine IF the system actually produces effective levels of ozone. Ozone system DO have some valid applications on spas.

=> bromine: just like chlorine, only worse. Again, there are some valid arguments for bromine use on covered spa.

=> PHMB (Baquacil): much more expensive, but a genuine chlorine alternative for residential pools with low bather loads. Is very hard on filters. Works great the first season, but residue builds up, and the pools become unmanageable by the 2nd or 3rd season. This can be avoided if your drain 2/3 of your pool water every 4 months of pool use.

=> Copper: the most common 'alternative'. It is NOT any more 'natural' than other mined chemicals and minerals, like asbestos, DE powder (carcinogenic if inhaled), soda ash, borax, etc. Copper *is* an effective algaecide, but it is also a toxic 'heavy metal', that's not very toxic to people, but is quite toxic to marine life. As a result, backwashing or draining a copper filled pool is probably illegal in most locations, though you aren't too likely to get caught. However, copper is NOT a sanitizer, which means it does nearly nothing to prevent disease transmission in pools.

=> 'Minerals': Many shady pool ops refer to copper based (or copper/silver) as 'mineral' systems, in order to take advantage of most non-chemists chemical ignorance, and make their products 'sound' more natural.

=> Bio-pools: a valid -- but VERY expensive -- option for in-ground residential pools in cooler areas of the US. See this thread: http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php/14427 Some of these pools are VERY cool; I'd love to own one, both to 'play with' (as a curious pool guy) and because I prefer swimming in natural waters. But both my wallet, and my location (Georgia!) say, NO! Many people who get them, will end up not using them, because they are so 'natural' that you'll end up swimming with frogs ('naturally') and fish (to eat mosquito larvae). God forbid that the Canada geese find one of these pools. If they do, you'll either have to become a night time poacher (night vision + high powered air rifle or silenced .22) or abandon the pool to the geese. (It's my understanding that night vision systems are fairly popular with owners of expensive lake front home on Lake Chickamauga, north of here.)

=> Salt: It's no longer sold that away (AFAIK), but salt water systems have been marketed as a chlorine alternative. This is completely dishonest, because salt systems are ACTUALLY salt water chlorine generation (SWCG) systems . . . and are just another method of adding chlorine to your pool.

Hope this helps!

[CarlD]

Ben,
This would make the basis for a great stickie or addition to PoolSolutions.com. Don't want to have to re-write several times a season!

[PoolDoc]

Yeah, I'd already realized that. I was going to see if others had contributions, before I turned it into a sticky. I figure I've forgotten about some of the things people as about.

What I had in mind, was to look up some of the threads on each topic, and link to them under each sticky heading.