pH and air quality
The scientifically supported pool water treatment method regarding pH balance has been devised in almost every existing swimming pool or spa and has been studied by professional pool operators worldwide. Everyone agrees, recreational water must have a pH above 7.2, but lower than 7.4 (when using chlorine as a sanitizer). By keeping the pH within this range, a greater percentage of hypochlorous acid can be produced. Greater chlorine activity provides pool operators better control over water quality, providing flocculation filtration is employed. Chemical flocculating agents cause colloids and other suspended particles in liquids to aggregate, which improves the sedimentation or filterability of small particles.
The concept of operating an aquatic facility with free chlorine levels over 1.2 parts per million (ppm) to overcome poor filtration and mechanical design also creates high combined chlorine issues. The filter is the dirtiest part of the circulation system, as it collects all of the bather waste from the water. As this waste is collected, pressure progressively builds on the filter media (e.g. cartridge, perlite, diatomaceous earth [DE] or sand) and towards the end of the filter cycle, dirt begins to re-contaminate the pool/spa’s plumbing and water. The accumulated bather waste and the continuous addition of more bather waste creates a contamination ‘overload,’ which must be removed—not with chlorine, but with agglomeration. As bather load increases, the facility’s air quality suffers.
Removing bather waste
The goal for every professional pool/spa operator is to provide a healthy, odour-free facility for bathers. A proper water treatment procedure should agglomerate (collect) bather waste and remove the colloids left behind by bathers, as well as remove the microscopic suspended particles, which scatter light (known as the Tyndall effect). Bathers, supply water and the pool shell all contribute to suspended matter in the water, which causes cloudiness. Removal of this matter is critical and preventable by enforcing a bather cleanliness regimen and using an efficient water treatment system, such as the Wapotec System,® which allows a facility to operate with improved water quality through an effective flocculation/filtration process and improved oxidation. In turn, this also dramatically improves the aquatic facility’s air quality by reducing the amount of bather contaminants, which form chlorine byproducts.
Dennis Ashworth is president of SP&S® Commercial Swimming Pool & Spa Equipment. He joined the aquatics industry in 1963 and has been a National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF) certified instructor since 1974. He can be reached via e-mail at swimpool@msn.com.
Every indoor commercial facility requires Hydroxan. It is the only product that will solve the problem. If the stainless steel railings and the deck equipment are rusted that is a sign of nitrogen trichloride. Water slide stainless steel bolts rusting is nitrogen trichloride reacting with the humidity to form hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid).