Dive shops take sustainability seriously — after all, global warming is endangering our ocean’s coral reefs and the fish that live there. Many dive shops educate their divers about human impact on the oceans, promote sustainable travel and adopt sustainable practices in their businesses, such as using solar energy to heat their pools.
Taking Sustainability to Your Pool
Using a sustainable pool treatment system that reduces chlorine use and water waste presents a new opportunity for dive shops to lessen their impact on our world, while offering a healthier environment for staff and students.
Ocean First, a dive shop and swim school in Boulder, Colorado, installed a new pool system as part of a 10-year ongoing commitment to sustainability. The new system enabled the shop to reduce chemical use by 50 percent, reduce water waste by 50 percent and lower energy consumption.
The Downside of Chlorine
Chlorine and bromine can have many negative effects for dive shops and swim schools, including:
- Poor air quality: Disinfection byproducts create the heavy pool smell that can lead to lung irritation, eye irritation, allergies and asthma.
- Eroding equipment: These same DBPs can erode equipment used to train divers and equipment sitting in the shop waiting to be rented to or sold.
- Impact on the environment: Chlorine pool sanitation not only introduces chemicals to our environment, it also can increase water waste.
A Better Option
So, what can dive shops do to minimize the effects of chlorine while keeping their pools clean and clear? In the past, schools have turned to alternatives, such as salt systems (which produce chlorine!) and UV (which use high amounts of energy).
Today, dive shops have a better option — one that enables them to offer a higher quality experience to their divers in training and introduce less chemicals to our environment. With Clear Comfort’s hydroxyl-based advanced oxidation system, Ocean First minimized disinfection byproducts in the water and air, reduced its chemical use and even saved water and energy. Today, divers, staff, swimmers and parents all comment on the improvement in the air and water.
