Alternative sanitation methods. Smoke and mirrors?

Mar 13

2 min read

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Ozone, AOP, (Advanced Oxygen Process) copper, silver, UV.

Without getting into too much high tech mumbo jumbo, ask yourself, can you test the level of Ozone, UV, oxygen in the water? How do you know the water is safe to swim in? Most of these alternatives are satisfactory additions that can reduce your chlorine usage. Be careful if you are looking to completely eliminate the use of chlorine.

Let's talk about copper first.

Copper is not a sanitizer, it is an algaecide! Copper ions are released through a copper ionization system, as a method to keep pool water algae free by effectively killing algae, often reducing the need for high levels of chlorine; essentially acting as a natural algaecide by disrupting the cell walls of algae and bacteria when the copper ions come into contact with them, allowing for cleaner pool water with less chemical reliance. Be careful, copper can stain pool surfaces. Liquid copper algaecides are available also.

Ozone:

An ozone pool system uses an ozone generator to produce ozone gas, which is then injected into the pool water to effectively kill bacteria, viruses, and other contaminants by acting as a powerful oxidizer, requiring less chlorine compared to traditional pool sanitation methods; however, because ozone quickly breaks down, most pool systems still require a small amount of chlorine as a residual disinfectant. There are two methods for the generation of ozone, corona discharge and ultraviolet ozonators. DC systems produce a much greater amount of ozone, compared to a UV ozone generator.

Ultraviolet Light produced by a direct contact lamp:

This sanitation process is used for water purification in several industries.

UV systems can eliminate up to 99.99% of harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Ultraviolet disinfection systems is the most powerful oxidizer available.

There are caveats. Only the water that passes by the lamp is sanitized, there is no residual. The speed of the water passing by the lamp is critical also. Typical lamp life is 10,000 hours. Lamps must be changed on a regular basis and if they are enclosed in a quartz tube, the tube must be kept clean.

Advanced oxidation process: (AOP), refers to a group of chemical treatment procedures designed to remove organic (and sometimes inorganic) materials in water by oxidation through reactions with hydroxyl radicals (·OH). One of the main advantages of AOPs is their ability to treat a wide range of pollutants, including persistent and toxic substances that are challenging to remove using traditional methods like coagulation, filtration, and chlorination. AOPs also do not generate harmful by-products like some conventional treatment methods can.