THE BIG 6

by Joe Gautier

There are six vital components that make up a healthy pool.  If you ignore or mis-manage any one of these key components, your pool will eventually fall out of balance and become an unhealthy and ugly environment.  So, instead of fixing your issues, you can simply bleach them away, right?  What you can't see can't hurt you, right? Wrong.  In fact, it's not so much the chlorine that's so bad for you, but the disinfection  by-products (THMs for one are 10,000 times more toxic than chlorine).

So, if you're going to have a natural, healthy pool for your family and friends, you will have to assess the issues and address the issues.  Nature Boy is the only system in the world that tackles all of "The Big 6".   Move the "dot" down the line with your cursor to see the entire article.

They are:

1 Filtration- This component measures the ability of certain types of filters to remove contaminants.  There are three factors:
a. Capture size of the media (measured in "microns")
b. P.S.I. or "pounds per square inch" of a pumps capacity to circulate water effectively. (measured in horse power/HP)

c. Type of filter.  Charcoal, RO, DE, cartridge or pool sand filters each have different actuarial effects on contaminants that are captured.  These are typically from 1-20 microns.  The smaller the number, the more effective the filter.

2. Circulation- The ability of a pools pump to circulate the entire body of water (pool capacity) within a certain time frame.  A healthy pool should circulate completely through one complete cycle at least one and a half times in a 12-hour period.  We recommend two times daily during heavy swim seasons.

3. Organic load- pools, spa or hot tubs, especially those  that are located outdoors, are subjected to a variety of organic precipitation on a constant basis and, more so in particular seasons, when foliage sheds pollen, mold spores or leaves. This "organic load" is the pirmary source of most potential algae blooms and bacterial growth in your pool.

4. Chemistry-pH, Total Alkalinity, Hardness, etc. are central to the effectiveness of pool chemicals and in establishing an environment that is either favorable or not favorable to the growth of certain organic feeders, such as cyanobacterium.

5. Residual chemical contents.  When switching from one type of disinfectant to another, there may be residual chemicals, such as cyanuric acid in the water, which would be left behind as a by-product of residual chlorine.

6. Disinfection by-products.  Chlorine or salt systems produce hypo-chlorous acid, which is the primary disinfectant in chlorine.  The action of these disinfectants on organics can cause the production of THMs and other carcinogens, as a by-product of the process.  In fact, swimming one hour in a public pool, is the health equivalent of drinking chlorinated pool water for a week!

Trihalomethanes (THM or THMs) form when disinfectants such as chlorine combine with organic substances like sweat, skin and hair. The dangerous chemical is making news because there is evidence to suggest that it is thousands of times more toxic than chlorine. They are particularly hazardous because they are a gas and can therefore be absorbed and inhaled through the skin when showering, as well as from drinking water. One example of this toxic substance is chloroform. Studies have found a link between breast cancer and high levels of Trihalomethanes.

Pools We Love

Here's an ad from a German Company.  Can't help but love this one, Herr Jones.

Summer Start Up

One of the most important things to remember when you're starting your pool for the summer swim season, is that organics, that just about anything that's alive in your filters, will start to GROW once the weather warms even a little bit.  You have two alternatives to handling organic load; you can bleach it or remove it. Superchlorination, which is the most commonly recommended procedures, doesn't necessarily clean anything.  It simply bleaches the lipids so you can't see how nasty the pool really is.  A lipid is basically a fat cell or a lump of organic that comes with just about any living thing.  Your typical pool guy will tell you that you simply "bleach the crap" out of your pool and, since you can't see anything with your naked eye, you're "good to go".

But, you and I (and any reasonable adult) realizes that just because you can't see something does not mean that it does not exist.  And, once you bleach something, it becomes almost impossible to manage, because you can't find it to fix it.

There is another alternative to bleaching the crap in your pool...get it out!  A typical chlorine or salt system is 80% chemicals and 20% filtration.  A "natural system", like Nature Boy™ for instance (hint hint) is 80% filtration and only about 20% chemistry.

So. let's filter.  Run a good quality metal sequestering agent throughout your pool water to "pull out" the metals that have built up over the fall/winter season.  You'd be amazed at the amount of metal in tap water and/or rain water....both of which add major problems to managing your pool through the summer.  We recommend our Advanced Prep, but there are a number of sequestering agents available.

Next, use a non-chlorine shock to dissemble organics.  Our Advanced Shock is an oxidizing agent. (Think oxy-clean on speed).  An oxidizer contributes to the speed at which organics are broken down.   This agent also helps to increase DOC (dissolved oxygen content) in your water, which also speeds the breakdown or organics.  Once an organic compound has been dissembled, it can be managed much more easily WITHOUT CHLORINE.

Finally, backwash your filters (if DE or sand).  If your sand is three years old or more, considered "recharging" with ZeoSand.  After three years, your sand will clump (think kitty litter) and it's worthless to the filtering process.  If you're using DE, consider switching to ZeoFiber.  You use a lot less and get a lot more filtering for less money.  You'll also be helping to reduce the amount of nasties you dump into the rivers and streams.

Also, we would recommend having a pool store do a full spectrum pool water test.  Even if you're using chlorine, you can make a better decision about what to do or what not to do once you have a true picture of your pool's chemistry.

August

Hey, everyone.  We're so pumped about finally getting this blog up and running.  Please do stop in and comment, yell or inquire.  We're after the very latest in safe, healthy, inexpensive, viable and green pools, spas and hot tubs. We're going to try and fill your cup full here, so check back often.  This is our first entry, so I'm going to try to make this short and sweet.

Salt Systems

We get a lot of people who are looking at "salt" as an alternative to chlorine.  This, unfortunately, is a bit of a trick played on the public by unseemly pool guys.  Salt is chlorine!  It's been touted as the green alternative, but the fact is that salt systems produce hypochlorous acid...which is chlorine.  If you dig a little bit, you'll also find that salt systems simply convert NaCl to chlorine.  The systems run anywhere from $1200 to more than $3000 per....plus salt, conditioners, algicides, etc.  For those of you who've already switched, don't take it so hard.  You're in about $2000, but you can still find ancillary systems that will help reduce the amount of chlorine you're using.  And, of course, we'd highly recommend our own.