In my opinion, you have to be using your pool quite a bit to benefit from switching to an alternative to chlorine, and some deep pockets to run these alternatives.

Ozone and Ultraviolet are a good complement a chlorine or bromine system, but what they dont tell you is that they only work when the pool pump is running. So the hours the pool pump is off there is no benefit from these expensive equipment additions. And if you are trying to save money by running your pool pump less to save in the utility bill costs, then this is not for you.

The pool only sanitzes and cleans itself while it’s running. The less you run it the less it cleans. Which means if you are thinking you are saving $$ by running it less and it turns green, it’s going to cost you more to clear it through additives, and running it longer hours, usually overnight, to clear it! I am sure your pool service person won’t mind as they’ll be the ones’s having steak and lobster that night instead of you.

Also, yes you do have to clean out your filter more frequent as to keep up the addional contaminates it collects, so if you’re too busy to do it yourself then you will need to hire out this crucial task, or make it one or your offsprings chores.

As for the Metal Ion system, I personally have not used this method, but as this article states it still requires some chlorine too. A lower pH is not good on the equipment, as acid is corrosive, and it makes the water more corrosive. If you have a copper core heater then expect to replace the copper coil sooner, which is basically 2\3 the cost of a new heater after it’s installed, plus it dries out the rubber seals and gaskets much quicker. No heater you say, you’ve got solar, good for you, but a low pH is still bad on your body, your plaster or grout of the tile.

Remember your swimming pool is full of chemicals, it’s just a chemical bath, water is life and it wants to live, and chemicals are the gas chamber to water’s life. The trick to proper balance is constant attention to the adjustment of the chemicals, think of your pool as a spoiled rotten brat that is never satisfied with all the attention it receives, you can never sate its desire to be attended to.

So in conclusion, Chlorine may cause asthma at high exposures, but if you are in the pool that long to aquire it, you might want to rethink your time usage of the pool. I think the host of drawbacks to using chlorine should be directed at the handling of the chemical, not the dilution of it in the pool. Too much chlorine in the pool is bad for the plaster, and too little leads to costly additives, but red eyes, hair and clothing discoloration, and skin irriatation is only due to unbalanced chemicals. Search online for the info about how to balance a pool properly or hire a professional.

Aloha and Mahalo to all, remember teach the people how to get along with one another, becasue we already know how not to!
RDM

Here’s the home page of Healthier Swimming: http://piscinasana.wikidot.com/

I think it’s great that people are really starting to think and discuss these issues. The reason why the Green and Sustainable community is thriving so vigorously is the open exchange of ideas and information. I came across a similar posting the other day at http://www.greeneutopia.com . I ran across the site the other day while I was blog surfing and was amazed at the quality of the information they had to offer on current green issues and trends. I haven’t tried it yet but they had a nice online shop as well that appears to only sell Green and Sustainable home products. I thought this might be a resource that other people may enjoy so I hope it helps you!

http://www.greeneutopia.com
God Bless,
Sabrina