Any water treatment program for swimming pools has one objective: to mitigate the growth of bacteria, algae, and waterborne viruses in the water.  This has traditionally been accomplished through the regular addition of chlorine and other chemical agents that eliminate organics from the water. However, there has been rising demand from pool owners for a gentler, less toxic method to accomplish this.

The synthesis of known technologies that form the basis of oxygen based water treatment provides a relatively simple and easily understood process that is capable of maintaining clean, safe water in residential pools.  The actual chemical demands of a residential pool are quite manageable since residential pools are generally not in use 95% of the time. The chemical needs are much higher for public pools where use is much heavier and where sanitation demands can spike erratically.

The drawback of both chlorine and non chlorine treatment systems has been the lack of a residual oxidizer in the water. Chlorine requires a stabilizer in the form of cyanuric acid (CYA) to retain a residual in the water.  Without this stabilizer, chlorine dissipates out of water in a matter of minutes in direct sunlight. However, there have been questions concerning human exposure to CYA as well as the effectiveness of chlorine when stabilized.  As a result, reducing CYA in swimming pools has become important for many in public safety agencies.

In an Oxygen Pool, no stabilizer is added since oxidizer levels are maintained by continuously injecting ozone into the water at high velocity.  This dissolved ozone then creates a residual level of peroxide that is measurable with common test methods.  The Oxygen Generator is run for 12 hours daily during daylight hours to maintain sufficient levels of oxidizer.   Peroxide levels can be increased with the regular addition of liquid pool peroxide to maintain a proper residual in the water. 

oxygen pools clouds

SHOCK TREATMENT OF SWIMMING POOLS

Both chlorine and oxygen treated pools should be shocked regularly.  This provides a margin of safety against times when the pump is not running or when demand levels spike after heavy rains, winds or high bather loads.  Since most pool owners, given a choice, would prefer a chlorine free pool. it is possible to shock the pool with powdered, activated oxygen blended with other natural components.  

But if the use of the weekly oxygen based treatment should prove to be insufficient for a specific pool with unusual demands, it is a simple matter to supplement treatment with liquid hydrogen peroxide as a solution for pools with specific issues.  Peroxide for pools is available on this website and at most pool dealers.  Test strips are available to measure peroxide levels to assure proper levels for sanitation.

There are no expensive protocols required to switch between a chlorine based program to an oxygen based program as there is, for example, with a biguanide treatment program.   In the case of a biguanide treated pool, a transition treatment is required.  Download…. How To Convert from Biquanides to an Oxygen Pool