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One minute the swimmers were weaving through an eight-lane loom of water like dolphins, to the delight of thousands of howling and whistling fans. The next minute some were gasping for air.
When more than 35,000 of the nation’s biggest swim fans and top swimmers, including Olympian Michael Phelps, came to the U.S. National Swimming Championship last year in Indianapolis, the thick smell of chlorinated chemicals coming off the pool caused athletes to suffer breathing problems, red eyes and headaches. Some walked out of warm-ups on the first day of the meet, waiting until a ventilation problem was corrected, because the air was so bad.
As the article states, it is not the chlorine, but the waste product from the chlorine keeping the pools clean.
Basically, it is not the chlorine, but poor pool maintenance.
Also, this is more of a problem in INDOOR pools.
Proper basic knowledge of pool chemistry and good filtration practices solve this problem.
Personally, I have seen more problems from non chlorine pools then chlorine pools.
When you smell that "chlorine smell" it is not chlorine.....it is the by products...THAT is not healthy. A healthy pool is easy to have. You do not need a ton of expensive chemicals, etc. Less is more.
My pool is always sparkling clean, never smells, and is healthy. I only use bleach, borax and baking soda, and stabilizer. That is it. You just have to know what you are doing......it is easy. Also, I avoid pool stores....they try to sell you stuff you do not need or want.
Ditto. I maintain my own pool. It's easy and I look at it as exercise and alone time to think. It's easy to do and cheaper than buying chemicals at the pool store.
I used to work for a pool delivery company where I used to go out to the public pools and refill their chlorine tanks...and the chemical that was always used was the sodium hypochlorite which was a much stronger form of bleach, but stings your skin pretty good if it gets on you. Usually how it was set up is if there was too much chlorine in the pool often hydrochloric acid was used to bring down the pH level of the water....usually if the chlorine pumps weren't operating correctly they shut the pool down until the problem was corrected.
I remember one time I went to a pool location in OH for a delivery and they had shut the pool down because there was too much chlorine in the water in which many kids complained of burning eyes and such. They had me refill their tank, but they had equipment problems though which they had to fix as well. I learned alot of things during the two summer seasons i was doing deliveries.
"Ask your pool operator if water chemistry is tested, especially on weekends when the pool is most crowded. Ask for the levels of chlorine and pH. Chlorine levels should ideally be between 1 and 4 ppm, but no more than 5 ppm. The pH level should be between 7.2 and 7.8 (ideally 7.4, the pH of human tears)."
Check Germany's standards since they invented water chemistry. You'll see a contrast.
"Ozone What it is: Three oxygen atoms bound together; injected into the water circulation system; used extensively in Europe Advantages
Can inactivate Giardia and Cryptosporidium (which are chlorine-resistant).
When supplemented with chlorine, can eliminate chlorine byproducts; can also be used in conjunction with UV.
Disadvantages
Can purify water as it is piped into a pool, but it does not leave a residual disinfectant. So it needs either a mineral system backup or a chlorine residual (or both) to protect against algae and disease-causing pathogens."
"Ultraviolet Radiation What it is: Short-wave radiation strong enough to kill viruses, bacteria and parasites; circulating water is passed through a UV chamber. Advantages:
Keeps chloramine levels very low.
Can inactivate pathogens like Crytosporidium and Giardia (which are chlorine-resistant).
Disadvantages:
Like ozone, UV radiation purifies the pool water as it passes through the UV-lamp chamber but doesn’t leave a residual disinfectant.
Requires UV lamps, which need to be maintained and replaced."
UV light destroys metals and is very ineffective at treating large volumes without huge banks of lights.
"Saltwater/Chlorine Generator What it is: An electrolytic cell breaks down salt (NaCl) and releases chlorine into the water; after salt is added directly to the pool or spa it is passed through an electrolytic cell, producing chlorine. Advantages
Operators don’t have to buy or handle chlorine in liquid or gaseous form (when it is most toxic and explosive).
Anecdotal data suggests fewer people report allergic reactions to saltwater pools than to "normal" chlorine pools; less reports of eye-stinging or smells.
Disadvantages
Because chlorine is still present, disinfectant byproducts (chloramines, chloroform, etc.) are still created and can linger in the water and the air."
It still has chlorine but is being totued as an alternative. It's also a lot less efficient...if they don't understand chlorine already why throw in another variable.
"Ionizers What it is: Uses copper and silver ions, as well as zinc; ionizers release positively charged ions that kill bacteria and algae. Advantages
I can tell we are in the same camp here, but you explained it better.
I hope I did not infer the use of stabilizer in an indoor pool. I should have stated I have an outdoor, residential pool. I kept it simple.
In layman's terms......if you smell chlorine, add chlorine. filter more, vacuum and scrub your pool's sides, etc,etc. Backwash if needed. Keep it up until you have no combined chlorine.
I believe there is a correlation between one's stabilizer lever and the amount of free chlorine available to "do the job", but that is another subject.
I'm amazed at how many homeowners have no idea what their stabilizer level is, and how much free chlorine they have or need, or if they have any combined chlorine. It IS easy.....but they prefer to "fly blind" and hope for the best.....then cry when they get an algae bloom.....
No your fine.....this just hits home with what I have been talking about.
I got fully inspected the other day. I was talking with the inspector and he was just noting how long it was taking him to do the inspections because of all the problems and people that run pools that don't understand water chemistry.
I was just stating the thing about the CYA not sure if that was part of the problem or not.
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