Indoor pools are increasingly experiencing problems with “bad air”. HVAC (Heating Ventilating & Air Conditioning) systems are designed to control air temperature. Some of them are designed to control humidity, and air flow with fresh air mix when necessary. They are not air scrubbers, therefore the air quality is directly affected by the water quality; bad water = bad air! Now days “bad air” seems to be coming from chloramines in the water – not chlorine – but chloramines. This is a chlorine compound that cannot burn off in the water. Chloramines are released during evaporation and when the water is agitated. They smell like ammonia and can cause serious respiratory problems both for swimmers, staff around the pool, and spectators in the stands. Many municipal water companies are artificially adding chloramines in excess of 1.5 ppm (parts per million) to the city drinking water supply. In these instances, we highly recommend that pools look into installing an activated carbon filter for their makeup water. This will drastically reduce the amount of chloramines being added to the pool on a daily basis when fresh water is added. Explanation: Many major municipalities and surrounding areas have switched their drinking water disinfection from chlorine to chloramine. Chloramine, a chlorine-ammonia compound, is more stable in the water system than chlorine, and only slowly breaks down into chlorine and ammonia. While both methods, common nationwide, may sound ominous, there's little to worry about, except in special cases. Chloraminated water in dialysis (medical) fish tanks, and in certain business uses (swimming pools) will need to be specially filtered and treated. Chloraminated water can also cause rubber parts in plumbing, pumps, filters, and water heaters to degrade more quickly. Chloramine-resistant replacement parts may be available. Chloramine disinfection, however, professes to be preferable to chlorine for almost all uses: drinking, cooking, bathing, gardening, and pets. Your water's taste may improve, the carcinogens called trihalomethanes formed by chlorine will be reduced, and more pathogens will be removed due to chloramines’ extra stability. As of January 1, the EPA has begun regulating chlorine, chloramines and byproduct levels in the drinking water of all communities, adding a nationwide level of oversight. Chlorine and chloramine levels are capped at 4 parts per million, but there is no cap set for ammonia. With some municipalities chloramine programs chloramine and chlorine levels are capped at 2 ppm and ammonia at 0.5 ppm. Others are well above this level. Chloramine and the small amount of ammonia produced in breakdown are neutralized in digestion, but chlorine can lead to eye and nose irritation, anemia, stomach discomfort, and damaged hair and skin. While the EPA's regulation, and chloramines’ stability, should minimize all these symptoms, there are solutions if you're still worried or if you're one of the special cases mentioned above. Standard water filtration may not really reduce and definitely not eliminate chloramine and chlorine. While chlorine can be eliminated through boiling water or by letting it stand for a few days, neither method will eliminate chloramines. To eliminate chloramines in swimming pools, you will need a high quality granular activated carbon filter for source water (make-up water) and a dechloraminating system like “medium pressure” Ultra Violet.

USA Swimming’s Facility Development Department opinions on UV water treatment for chloramine destruction: After attending the past 7 World Aquatic Health Conferences sponsored by NSPI and having a composite 80 plus years’ experience in the aquatic industry within the department, we are of the opinion that Medium Pressure UV may be the most effective system for broad spectrum chloramine destruction in indoor pools. We have reviewed well over 50 articles defining research and opinions comparing Low Pressure and Medium Pressure UV. There have been articles published in Aquatics International magazine, the NRPA newsletter, plus various other periodicals – a sampling attached. Until an unbiased independent research project is completed and we can review the protocols and conclusions, we can only strongly encourage you to do your own research as to which system fits your needs. Chloramines are eye irritants that form through chemical reactions in pool water. Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images

Chloramines are products formed by the reaction between certain organic compounds and free chlorine

in swimming pools. Since they are strong eye and respiratory irritants, it's desirable to keep levels of

these compounds as low (or non-existent) as possible. Chloramines are responsible for the familiar

"chlorine smell" many swimmers associate with pools. Peeing in the pool water, sweating in the water,

and people not taking showers before swimming are generally the culprits behind chloramine build-up.

Superchlorination is not the best solution. Ultraviolet light can break down chloramines as is the best

solution.

When a photon of ultraviolet light is absorbed by an electron in a molecule of chloramine, the electron jumps to a higher molecular orbital. It can only absorb photons of light that carry energy equivalent to the difference in energy between two molecular orbitals the electron can occupy. Since

Chloramines

bonds are formed by sharing electrons between atoms, this process can break a bond, causing the molecule to split up.

According to a 2009 study published in the journal "Environmental Science and Technology," the primary products of ultraviolet degradation of chloramines are nitrate, nitrite, nitrous oxide and ammonium. The reaction process that turns chloramines into these products involves multiple steps and is complex. Certain wavelengths break chloramines down to a greater extent than others, and dichloramine and trichloramine are more susceptible to medium pressure uv.

The most popular industry articles from the Medium Pressure contingent state that Low Pressure does not put out the wavelength to destroy di or trichloramines. According to the information, the Low Pressure system is only effective in eliminating monochlorimines and thus will control the other. Popular opinion from the industry believes this is not likely what will happen. Water in a pool (if balanced perfectly) will pass through the UV system approximately every 6 hours. That means that the water in the pool has plenty of time to develop monochloramines therefore creating the di's and tri's during the time in the pool with the bathers. This will happen - it's very natural. When this water passes through the UV, the mono's might be destroyed but it leaves behind the di's and tri's which get returned to the pool. Current best information states that the di's and tri's are the worst culprits of odor, corrosion, and irritation. Any time we see information about Low Pressure UV they make the case that their system cannot eliminate di's and tri's but rather will control them by reducing the monochloramines. Both Low Pressure and Medium Pressure are effective at killing bacteria – we just have not seen a comparison of effectiveness. Di's and Tri's will be created in the water in the pool when the chlorine bonds with organic material (hydrogen or nitrogen). The water in the pool will have many hours to form these compounds before ever seeing the UV system again. This is probably the best evidence why we think the Medium Pressure will be better. The presentations we reviewed gives the wavelengths required to destroy all 3 chloramines - and a Low Pressure lamp can only produce the wavelength to reduce the monochloramines. The Medium Pressure lamps produce all 3 wavelengths required. Our current position is - why take a chance on eliminating only the monos when we all know di's and tri's are present and cause issues for an indoor facility? It's also important to note that 3 of the 4 suppliers (Astral, Hanovia, and ETS) of UV systems have chosen Medium Pressure units. Medium pressure UV lamps emit every wavelength from 200nm to 300nm. l Important points:

1. The flow rate of the UV should be 100% of the filtration flow. 2. The dosage needs to be at least 60mj for Chloramine reduction. 3. The units should be validated by a 3

rd party.

We have to use our best judgment when advising our members who are considering UV. We stress that we are advising our members. We are open to reviewing any new information on this subject and are vigilant in our gathering of information. We do not recommend one manufacturer over another and even though we currently believe Medium Pressure may be the best solution to chloramine destruction, we encourage all of our clubs to do their own research on this controversial subject. Our preferred providers for Medium Pressure UV are: Our preferred providers for UV are: Tom Schaefer National Sales Manager ETS PO Box 392 W9654 Beaverland Parkway Beaver Dam, WI 53916 toll free: 877-885-4628 fax: 920-885-4386 cell: 920-210-0852 www.engineeredtreatmentsystems.com

and for smaller pools (e.g. Therapy pools) Jon T. Laliberte – President PureTech Pool Systems, LLC 219 Burnt Pine Dr. Naples, FL 34119 239-304-6996 www.HalcyonRx.com Jonla@puretechpoolsystems.com

For preferred providers for Carbon filters please contact: mnelson@usaswimming.org

Additional information about chloramines –

A growing number of municipalities in the US now add ammonia to the water supply to change chlorine to chloramine. One reason is studies that suggest chlorine is carcinogenic. The EPA told water suppliers to reduce the amount of trihalomethanes (chlorination byproducts) in the water supply, but did not mandate chloramines. Chloramines reduce, but do not eliminate trihalomethanes, and they generate other byproducts.

The other reason is that chloramine lasts longer. However, by definition chloramine is harder to remove than chlorine, requiring more filter material.

Research published in 2007 by Dr. Michael Plewa indicated that the disinfection byproducts (DBPs) created from the use of chloramine are much more toxic than the DBPs of chlorine. These new nitrogen-containing DBPs are not regulated by the EPA. Yet, this chemical is now in the water in many US municipalities.

There are widespread reports of health problems from chloramines. It is suggested that anyone with chemical sensitivities will react badly to chloramines. The EPA says that there have been no studies done to determine the risks to epidermis, respiratory, digestive or epidemiologic systems of chloramine in water supplies, and that there are inadequate cancer studies on animals or humans. There also appear to be no allergy tests. But those individuals with extreme rashes, breathing and liver problems know the answer already. Health problems directly experienced by many chloramines: * Severe skin rashes * Dry and scaling skin * Erupting, oozing skin * Skin described as having chemical burns * Skin outbreak 'like hives' * Swollen ears * Extreme fatigue * Hacking coughs * Sneezing * Nasal congestion * Itchy, burning and swollen eyes * Raspy throat * Peeling fingernails * Stomach aches * Yeast infection * Ammonia toxicity from consumption, especially for those with liver, kidney or urea cycle diseases

People who keep aquariums know that they have to get the chloramine out - or the fish die. Many have reported that stopping exposure to chloramines led to dramatic health improvement within days. Kdf reduces chloramines, kdf 85 takes out more chloramines. Granulated carbon is known to remove organic byproducts like those formed by chloramine. Many report health issues from bathing or showering in water with chloramine. Unlike chlorine, however, chloramine is not significantly removed by shower or bath filters. You can effectively filter chloramine at the kitchen, but to significantly reduce it at the shower and bath, you need whole house filters.

Carbon is a very common filter media in both water and process systems. Water pretreatment processes use activated carbon – aka steam-activated carbon – for very specific purposes. Typical applications include removing chlorine, chloramines and naturally occurring organic contaminants upstream of reverse osmosis and demineralizer units.

Is activated carbon different from ordinary carbon? Activated carbon has a random structure with a high surface

area consisting of visible to molecular-sized cracks and crevices. For water treatment applications, the preferred carbon source is either bituminous or coconut shells – materials that provide proper pore structure and hardness. The manufacturing process is multistaged to control pore and particle size. Using carbon with the proper hardness will minimize fines generation, which can plug downstream equipment such as demineralizers or reverse osmosis units.

One pound of activated carbon contains more than 100 acres of surface area. After liquid or gas materials are physically adsorbed, a chemical reaction – chemisorption – will occur. Dechlorination is an example of chemisorption.

What are the limits of activated carbon? Activated carbon will remove low levels of organic contaminants, e.g., in

the parts-per-million (ppm) or parts-per-billion range. However, it is ineffective in removing very soluble, low-molecular-weight organic compounds such as ethanol, methanol and acetone. Activated carbon cannot soften water or remove nitrates, fluorides or most metals. Additionally, it should not be used to filter solids less than five microns or suspended solids in concentrations greater than 25 ppm.

What are the specifications for activated carbon? Typical measurements include carbon abrasion number, iodine

number, apparent density, carbon particle size and water-leachable ash. Table 1 describes these measurements and lists typical values for water pretreatment applications. The ash-leaching characteristics are specific to the geographic location of the source material. Some suppliers will conduct dechlorination efficiency tests to more specifically define the adsorption characteristics.

TABLE 1. Typical parameters of activated carbon

Parameter Description Typical value

Carbon abrasion number

Measures the resistance to abrasion and formation of fines ³ 78

Iodine number Measures pore volume 850 – 1,200

Carbon particle Average particle size; matched to the adsorber design 8 mesh – 40 mesh

Water-leachable ash Measures percentage of ash leaching at acidic conditions (worst case)

< 0.5%

How often should activated carbon be replaced or regenerated? Activated carbon service life is dependent on

contaminant loading. We recommend using an online analyzer on the effluent stream with an alarm for high limits. For dechlorination or removal of chloramines, an oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) meter is the proper analyzer. For organic removal, the appropriate meter is the total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer. A low-cost online conductivity meter is inappropriate because most organic compounds are weakly ionized.

The media must be periodically replaced or regenerated. When the activated carbon is removing chlorine compounds, the media life is between one and two years. Conversely, when removing naturally occurring organics, the media life might be as short as three months. Monitoring the effluent quality with an online analyzer is the only method to ensure efficient activated carbon filter operation and high-quality effluent.

What is the most significant operating problem with activated carbon filters? Frequently, activated carbon

filters experience microbiological (MB) growth that may compromise effluent quality and foul downstream units. Most

systems have one filter in service and another on standby; this enables uninterrupted flow during backwash, media replacement or cleaning. During standby, the activated carbon filter is most vulnerable to MB growth.

Frequent cycling of these units between service and standby will minimize MB growth. Attempts to control MB growth using chemicals online may compromise effluent quality. Alternatively, the plant may feed chemicals such as caustic, acid and sodium bisulfite offline, with extensive rinsing before returning the unit to service.

Offline steaming is the preferred method to control MB. Steam cleaning also partially regenerates the activated carbon by vaporizing some of the adsorbed organics. Lined carbon steel vessels may not tolerate in-situ steam cleaning due to different thermal expansions of the liner and carbon steel vessel. HP

Comment …. MP UV should be run continuously. If it is sized appropriately, you get the benefit of chloramine destruction and disinfection. As a side benefit you will see a reduction in TDS as well. I think the reason Bill Robertson recommended to only use the UV at night is to account for your day long bather load. Some manufacturers are telling Operators that since there are no bathers at night that they can turn the UV off and save energy. This is huge misconception that some folks fall for, night time is the best time to allow your pool to recover from the days bather load. The energy savings for turning the lamp off are negligible. For a typical YMCA or Rec pool, there are so many programs going on ie: water aerobics, masters swimming, learn to swim, etc. and then the swim team comes in to close it out, you need to have the UV on all of the time to account for that bather load. The laws of dilution will also dictate the length of time you should use the UV, if you have a 2 hour turnover rate, you will get a better result than a pool with a 6 hour turnover rate. As for the costs of LP vs MP, you get what you pay for. You can buy a Mercedes or you can buy a Yugo. Both are cars, but some require more maintenance than others. The other factor that is becoming more prevalent is the use of salt chlorine generators, they do NOT eliminate the need for UV. You still have FAC in the pool and therefore will have chloramines as well. The UV may need to be sized a little higher with salt systems due to the clarity or the water. I am not saying that UV will not work with salt, just beware, you may not get the best results.

Posted by John Psaroudis

Be careful with Potassium Monopersulphate or non-chlorine shock. What is advertised by the manufacturer is not always what happens. Have had an unusual amount of complaints from kids showing allergic reactions. Have had negative reactions also with some women. For these reasons we no longer suggest using it. For those using Lithium also be careful it is 100% and never use it with people around. Posted by Bill Robertson Article ….. March 13--Kinston-area resident Earl Oliver displays a series of items on his driveway: water filters that have

become black with residue after only a few months; new, clean water filters to compare them with, and sections of galvanized pipe that are so filled with rust that it comes out in chunks. Oliver suspects that the chemicals used to purify water at the Neuse Regional WASA plant are the culprits.

"It certainly is the water, it certainly is," Oliver exclaimed. "Rust was inside of the pipe; it wasn't on the outside. That pipe isn't any different from pipes they made 10 years ago." Oliver and other Kinston residents have noticed brown water coming out of their faucets, rusty pipes, and they have had to replace their hot water heaters much more frequently, during the past two to three years. The $95 million WASA plant went online in the early fall of 2008, providing treated drinking water drawn from the Neuse River to eight member communities in Lenoir and Pitt counties. The state required the shift to river water to allow the local aquifer time to replenish itself. The water was initially treated with chlorine, but officials with NRWASA began adding chloramines -- a combination of free chlorine and ammonia -- in March of 2009 to cut down on the levels of disinfection byproducts that can result when treatment chemicals in the water interact with organic matter.

"The purpose of going to the chloramines is because we have these disinfection byproducts that are regulated by the federal government," said Harold Herring, executive director of NRWASA. Chloramines cut down on the levels of disinfection byproducts regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, byproducts that, if high enough, can cause cancer. They also last longer than chlorine, making them a more effective "secondary disinfectant" as water travels from the plant to the customer. "More than one in five Americans uses drinking water treated with chloramines. Water that contains chloramines and meets EPA regulatory standards is safe to use for drinking, cooking, bathing and other household uses."

Chloramines are also more affordable for utilities to implement. "So far in my system, and I think I can speak for most of the systems that are on WASA, it lowered them substantially." Timmy Kennedy, public works director for Pink Hill, said of disinfection byproducts. According to Pink Hill's 2009 Drinking Water Quality Report, the two groups of disinfection byproducts regulated by the EPA -- Total Trihalomethanes and Total Haloacetic Acid -- were at a respective average level of 2 parts per billion and 1 ppb. The Maximum Contaminant Level for those byproducts is 80 and 60 ppb, respectively. All local utilities must publish an annual water quality report, and they are available upon customer request. Chloramines are known to have corrosive effects on water infrastructure, though, according to the EPA. "The addition of monochloramine can make water more corrosive, which may lead to pipe corrosion and increased levels of lead or other contaminants in the water," the agency report stated. "However, utilities can test water for corrosiveness and make changes to the water treatment process to address this problem."

Corrosive effects ….. Oliver owns a number of rental properties in Kinston and Lenoir County, and has had to replace up to 25 water heaters in his different rental units during the past two years. "We replaced between 20 and 25 hot water heaters," he said. "Now I'm going to tell you, that's expensive." Oliver said he has replaced more hot water heaters in one year than he has in 30 years of managing properties. Oliver has also installed a water filter in his garage, connected to the municipal water pipes, to clean the water coming from the street to the Yardly Lane house he and his wife share. He has kept a used filter cartridge that is nearly black after two to three months of use. While the packaging indicates the cartridges should be changed every three months, Oliver stressed that there is not usually such degradation during that period. "I try not to look at that water filter," Oliver said. "When I go inside I'd rather not see it."

Local plumber Ricky Stroud, owner of Ed Phillips Heating, AC & Plumbing of Kinston, said he has seen many more issues with water heaters since the WASA plant went online. "The biggest problem we run into is the water heater itself because you very rarely have problem with the cold water side," said Stroud, who has been with his company for nearly 40 years. Stroud explained that rust is expected to build up and settle in a hot water heater tank, but the treatment chemicals cause rust to dissolve and move throughout the tank, causing it to corrode. "We've got to them and flushed them and it didn't seem to matter, two weeks later it's back," Stroud said. "It doesn't have to be a real old water heater either. We've changed water heaters that are less than 10 years old because of this."

Kinston resident Ginger Dixon said she has also had to replace her water heater in recent weeks after seeing discolored water. "My hot water was dark brown, so that indicated to me that the inside of my hot water heater was rusty," Dixon said. Experts state water heaters should be changed every 10 to 15 years, and Dixon acknowledged that the heater that was in the house she moved into three years ago was aging and "it was probably around the time for it to be replaced anyway." Stroud said discolored water can be seen most often in homes occupied by one or two people who do not use the water as often, leading to more rust and sediment buildup in the pipes. "The longer you run the heater the less obvious it is, because you're diluting it with cold water," he said. During the process of replacing her heater, Dixon said she heard from about 10 other people who had to replace their units because of rust, which in some cases caused leaks. She said some residents who had their heaters in the attic told her they had to have their ceiling replaced because of leaks. "It's cheaper for WASA to add chloramines, but the cost to the consumer has got to be a lot more," Dixon said.

She also noted that she frequently sees fire hydrants around the city being flushed to remove buildup, and wondered about the extra cost to the city, purchasing water that ends up being wasted. "WASA using chloramines is a bad decision for Kinston, and they save money, but all the residents and taxpayers in Kinston have to spend more money because of it and that's the kind of problem we look to our City Council to solve," Dixon said. City weighs in Councilmen Joe Tyson and Robbie Swinson said during a recent council meeting that they had heard from a number of residents who had to replace their water heaters and have brown water. Many of those residents live in older structures, such as public housing units that are 40 to 50 years old. "With everything going up you don't want people to keep spending money, but some of them probably need to be replaced, are outdated," Swinson said of hot water heaters. WASA will temporarily switch back to chlorine starting Tuesday, for a period of about four weeks. The change is recommended by state agencies for utilities that use chloramines to ensure water mains are clean and free from bacteria. "Hopefully going back to the old process, that will hopefully alleviate some of the problems (with corrosion)," Swinson said.

Kinston Water Resources Manager Steve Miller said the free chlorine is used to clear out any bacterial buildup that was not attacked by the chloramines. The system will be flushed starting Tuesday when the chlorine is added, and again in mid-April when the chloramines are reinstated. "All members will be doing aggressive flushing during this process because you're got to get the chlorine through the whole system," WASA Director Harold Herring said. Swinson said the current situation with chloramines is not good for either residents or the city. Hopefully WASA can get everything straightened out and we can

work with them to alleviate the problems consistently happening back and forth to the residents," he said. Public Services Director Rhonda Barwick told the City Council recently that "now that we are using chemicals to treat the water . . . those chemicals will eat at the (water heater) tank more so and the tanks won't last as long." Anyone who has a problem with their water should contact their local provider, and staffers will come out to flush the water lines. Miller said city staffers have done more flushing recently than in the past, but "I'm not sure how much of it we can attribute to chloramines and how much we attribute to using surface water, rather than well water." One Public Services employee has been reassigned to flush hydrants in about 140 parts of the city where there is low water usage and older cast-iron pipes. "We do more flushing than we used to; in some areas we've seen iron levels increase a little bit and other areas we're just seeing dirty water, and we're trying to get that cleared up," Miller explained. The staffer rotates through the flushing locations about every two weeks; Miller said an average of 2 million gallons is released during that period, about 5 percent of the city's daily water usage. A few automatic flushing units have even been purchased for the hydrants, to save the employee some time. "We don't have to pay additional money to (WASA) for the water that we're flushing," Miller said. "We're covering that by additional water from our well system." Kennedy, public works director for Pink Hill, said he has not heard complaints about corrosion from customers. "On a general basis, we flush pretty much all the lines at least once a month anyways," he said. "I hadn't had any feedback from any customers about their water heaters. I tried to flush at least once a month even before WASA." Miller said Kinston officials are looking into capital improvement funds to replace older pipes. PVC plastic pipes react less to the chloramines, and in areas where metal pipes have been replaced with PVC, there is a difference.

WASA response

Herring said staffers at the treatment plant monitor the pH of the water and add a "corrosion inhibitor" to help cut down on corrosion. "You have to keep in mind, too that the city of Kinston has over 200 miles of water mains and a lot of their system has been built since the 1920s on up," he explained. "The way to correct this problem is just by doing the flushing that the city of Kinston has been doing for the last two years." Herring said chloramines are used by water utilities throughout the state, including in Greenville, Goldsboro, Raleigh, Jacksonville and elsewhere. "The state doesn't have a position on chloramines so public water systems are free to make the decision if they want to use it or another means to treat," said Laura Leonard, public information officer with the N.C. Division of Environmental Health, part of the state's Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Leonard said 62 public water systems in North Carolina use chloramines. She also said the NRWASA plant has not "had any violations for anything," during its two-and-a-half year existence. "The city's constantly flushing their mains to help alleviate the problem, but it's just something that you're going to have to deal with," Stroud said. "The state's the one that mandated that you can't pump (water) out of the ground anymore so you're just going to have to deal with it until it's gone."

HVAC (Heating Ventilating & Air Conditioning) for indoor pools is important and must not only be

designed and sized properly but also maintained to run at 100% efficiency. However – air handling is not a solution to the chloramine problem. It does not matter whether you have large air handlers in the pool room or air venting capacity through the deck or gutter system, you are simply treating the symptom not the problem. You must destroy the chloramines in the water and Medium Pressure UV is currently the only way to do that.

Dennis Ashworth President at SP&S Swimming Pool & Spa Equipment My belief is that the industry needs to share the in field information regarding UV. We know that laboratory documentation is useless. Commercial swimming pool water slides spas leisure centres are not 50 gallon Aquariums sitting in a lab. Millions of your tax dollars are being wasted on " I think this will work " and the lowest bidder wins. So far in a percentage calculation we sell more failures than successes. The industry knows one thing - if you can make a cheap UV system you will get the order. There are no requirements that it work or validity to show it is working. The industry has a bunch of people guessing. It is sad to watch a city spend $50000.00 on something expecting result that will never come. What does come is further expense and mfg that don't know. Let us all put our check list together to make a minimal check list. (1) The UV unit has to be installed in such a manner that the bulbs can be replaced. (2) there must be flow indicators showing at what speed the water is flowing through the UV unit. (3) there must be a particle counter showing the quality of the water (4) The strength of the transmission must be readable (5) calcium and iron fouling must be readable on the interior walls of the

reaction chamber (6') if the flow rate is exceeded a visible alarm must indicate that the unit is not operating I hope those who have a lot of experience with successes and failures will come forward and share their failures. It took almost 40 years to stop people shocking with chlorine once the documentation showing the toxic by products formed ( a 1975 study ) was proven over and over operators finally discovered the problem was being created by shocking with chlorine. …………………………………………… Shawn Levy President & Owner at ECO Pools & Hot Tubs UV can actually improve water clarity and reduce the consumption of sanitizers. However, I feel that the GPM and size of the UV canister plays a huge role in how successful the equipment is. Not too fast going through the canister, and not too much water to bulb SA is the secret to success with UV. Right now I feel that pool builders are over sizing due to what the manufacturer is stating. We use DeltaUV, we are happy amongst the other options, but there is room for improvement. A machine that works efficiently to the water SA that goes through the canister goes against the principle of what sells, unfortunately R&D is limited. Someone needs to make a product where they can use economies of scale as a primary goal; expensive for 3 years, a reasonable priced item thereafter. ………………………………………. Terry Arko - Water Specialist Recreational Water Any chemical used is only going to be as good as the equipment system. I find in our industry particularly the U.S. we tend to rely more on chemical treatment and not on properly sized and efficient systems. Also, many of our facilities are outdated and not designed to deal with today's aquatic programs where the pool is inundated with bodies from sunrise to sunset. That being said in my line of work I am always focusing on water clarity. No product on the market can replace efficient water movement and properly sized and maintained filters. UV and Ozone efficiency are based on this as well. Clarity standards of 0.5 NTU are set for a reason and that standard comes from drinking water. In my travels I see hundreds of pools that come nowhere near that standard, mostly hotels where I am staying. Clarifiers and oxidizers are really designed to deal with contaminants and aid the filter in more efficient removal. UV systems are not efficient when there is high turbidity so enhancing filtration can help! For indoor pools proper air handling is another issue that I see leads to poor water quality as well. For the most part operators face challenges because of budget restraints, outdated or improperly sized systems and overcrowding at the facilities.

Mick Nelson Facilities Development Director USA Swimming 1 Olympic Plaza Colorado Springs, CO 80909 Office Phone 719-866-3522 Office Fax 719-866-4669 (attn: Mick) mnelson@usaswimming.org