Pool Ionization
When you have a large standing body of water, bacteria gather. For many years, the standard treatment process was to add enough chlorine to kill the bacteria, while keeping the level below harmful levels to human beings. This creates other issues like irritation to soft tissues and prevents people who are sensitive to the chemical from using most swimming pools. In enclosed buildings, you have damage to machinery and odors from the chlorine in the air. All of this may soon disappear as pool ionization, a new technology for bacteria control becomes more prevalent and continues to gain approval from public health departments. Pool ionization works by sending positively charged ions of silver and copper through the water. The positively charged ions attract negatively charged bacteria and binds the negatively charged particles to the ions. The now neutral particles are then filtered out of the water by the filtering systems of the pool. The filter releases any negatively charged ions back into the water to help keep the process going. Use of pool ionization systems lowers the use of chlorine by 80% or more, depending on the amount of usage the pool is subjected to. This makes the water gentler on the people using the pool and reduces the free chlorine in the air of enclosed pools. Pool ionization technology relies on low voltages being released through pure copper and silver electrodes into the pool. Testing will measure the levels of ions in the water and the amount of ionization can be adjusted accordingly to maintain levels that are both safe for consumption and yet still deadly to bacteria. The pool water is passed through an ionization chamber where the ions are released into the water and carried out into the pool. When the bacteria is bound to the ions, the metals attack the photosynthesis process of the cells causing reproduction to cease. The now dead matter is filtered out of the water to leave a purer water than chemical based systems do. This technology is available from several companies across the country and many have local installers of their products. The one-time price will cover years of pool maintenance at a lower cost than comparable chemical based systems and will need less maintenance than is required with chemical based systems. Weekly and monthly checks instead of the daily and weekly checks associated with chemical based systems. Pool ionization systems are not only better scientifically, but financially as well. Even the low initial investment is less than chemical based systems with small pool systems often costing less than a thousand dollars US. The technique is ancient dating back to Egyptian eras of history and used in simplistic methods throughout history. Modern systems are based off NASA systems used in the Spacelab and other longer term flights where water purification was an issue. This proven technology will rapidly replace chemical based systems as the benefits of pool ionization and its affects on human health become more known.
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