Whats in that water..??

AdamOHare

Im not sure that this is going to go down well but heres hoping.

I started doing a bit of lake fishing over the past few months and I figure its about time I do myself a favour and learn to swim before someday its either swim or sink.

Right of the bat. Yes, I'm a health freak. I obsess over every little flavour and colouring in foods. I dont use soaps/toothpaste etc if its not organic.... you can see where this is going. Right?

So Im doing some research about the chemicals in the pools. And there seems to be a few claims out there (all based on anecdotal evidence of course :rolleyes: ) that our pools often times use chemicals that horrify other countries and that some of our pools can be a bit too generous when putting in said chemicals. However there are a few more trustworthy websites (including sciencedaily) which conclude that the chemicals arent the best thing for our health.

As a person who has never been to a pool, and has no idea how all this works. What is the general etiquette regarding this? Would it be seeing as rude if I ask at my local pool what chemicals (and quantities) they use- or perhaps this information is already on compulsory display for all to see?

Also Id be interested to hear from anybody else who has the same concerns as myself and any conclusions to have come to

Donelson

you should ask away, I can't see any reason they wouldn't be happy to tell you. there are some pools that use uv light to clean the water. but I'm happier with a little bit of chlorine that way you know the tiles hand rails are being disinfected too.

AngryHippie

It depends on who is managing the pool.

Most local authority pools have sampling done by the local health-board to check on Crypto/Giardia etc. This will ensure that the treatment thats happening is adequate.

As far as using too much goes, generally water is sampled anywhere from twice a day to hourly depending on the pool loading, the chemicals added will be based on the results of these tests.

Many facilities have switched over to automatic dosing systems which will add a concentrated dose to the pool water based off a constant monitoring system.


Break point disinfection is generally used to calculate the levels of chlorine required in a pool. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorination

It also depends on the chemicals being used. HTH powder is the most common in my experience. With this if it is being manually dosed, the levels will spike for a period after it is added this can occasionally lead to levels being temporarily high until it has disspated/reacted. Most pool managers will have a pretty good idea where their active levels are sitting at any given time and will be able to give you a straight answer for target Active Chlorine levels.

Chloramines on the other hand, which are reacted chlorine compounds (these are the ones that make your eyes sting) these escape from the pool through the filters and through the atmosphere, if the levels of these are too high, it is generally because the pool has been heavily loaded and the levels haven't had a chance to drop back down. Time (and occasionally flocculant) are the only way to bring this back down.

That is why when the covers come off a busy pool in the morning, it is crystal clear and doesn't smell strongly of chlorine, but by late afternoon, it starts to have that strong chlorine smell and the water is generally dull and lacks its sheen.

There is a gradual switch happening over here (oz) to salt water pools, in which there is a Chlorinator (electrolysis unit) that breaks down the sodium chloride molecule into free chlorine (gas phase) in order to disinfect the pool. The system struggles on high UV days, but otherwise provides far more consistent chlorine delivery in most circumstances, and fantastic water clarity. It does require very close monitoring of the water balance, as the pool can very easily get corrosive to any metal components if the balance is not maintained.

In short, the chemicals being used are not the greatest thing in the world for you, but at the dosages concerned, (generally less than 5 ppm) they will not do you the slightest bit of harm unless you have overly sensitive skin or sinus. That being said, feel free to quiz your pool manager. they should know what is in their water.