spa solar blanket

spa solar blanket

Ultraviolet (UV) rays affect your pool in different and very contradictory ways. On one hand UV rays can be used to sanitize your pool. By exposing pool water to concentrated UV rays, bacteria is almost completely destroyed. The problem is that it does not have a long term sustainability, so you will still need to add some chlorine in order to maintain a long term residual chlorine level. But, you will love this, UV rays are the major cause of rapid chlorine burn off. In order to maintain proper residual chlorine levels you will need to add a buffer that will help retain adequate chlorine levels. Cyanuric acid will act as a stabilizer for chlorine and help reduce burn off. You will need to closely monitor Ph levels when using a stabilizer, that can cause variances in Ph. Because UV use greatly reduces the chloramines levels in your pool, the strong chlorine smell is greatly reduced. Reducing chloramines also saves your pool equipment , the corrosive effect of chlorine is reduced, so maintenance on equipment, and costs for maintenance is reduced. The irritation that is usually associated with chlorine sanitation, e.g. skin, eye and mucus membrane irritation is practically eliminated by removing the chloramines from the pool water.

UV rays are also a great source for heating your pool. Solar heating is the least expensive and most ecologically friendly heat source. That is right, but it is the least maintainable. It takes much longer to heat water using solar energy and heating can only occur when the sun is out. Your pool will not receive the heating energy that is required for comfortable swimming on a cloudy day. You can increase the effectiveness of solar heating by using a pool blanket. A pool blanket works much like an insulator that will help retain heat, thus reducing the amount of time and energy needed to maintain acceptable pool temperatures.

Some larger commercial swimming pools are experimenting with using UV sanitation in order to reduce the need for the many chemicals that are required by law to maintain a clean and healthy swimming environment. UV chlorination will immediately deal with the "accidents" that are common in community swimming pools where children are the majority. Whenever the vast amounts of chemicals needed to maintain a pool can be cut down, operation of a large swimming pool becomes much more economical. This will also make swimming in public pools more comfortable without the chemical effects that are generally suffered by bathers. This will benefit everyone who uses public swimming pools for their summer fun.

Harnessing the sun's solar energy can have numerous benefits, but there disadvantages as well. Do plenty of research and consult with a pool specialist. He can guide you in protecting your pool from the negative effects of UV rays and help you use those same rays to care for your pool in a more earth friendly way.

Nicholas Ayres is swimming pool designer based in Western Australia and builds concrete swimming pools in Perth.

Pool Spa Contractor Palm Beach County