You want a home pool treatment solution that will protect our environment and your family from toxic chemicals, offer safe, effective water treatment and save you time and money. To help you narrow your options, we created a side-by-side comparison of five common pool treatment options.
Health: By lowering chlorine levels in your pool you are lowering your risk for developing allergies, asthma and other health issues. Many pool treatment systems claim to be free of traditional pool chemicals, when in fact, most require normal chlorine levels for effective sanitation.
For example, there is a common misconception that saltwater pool systems aren’t chlorine; however, a salt system adds chlorine to the pool in a different way. A salt sanitation system, also known as a salt chlorine generator, produces chlorine when sodium chloride (NaCl) dissolves in the water and separates into sodium ions and chloride ions. The system passes a low voltage electrical current through the water removing the sodium and transforming the chloride into chlorine in the form of hypochlorous acid (HClO) and sodium hypochlorite (NaClO).
Ozone pool systems are most effective when used with chlorine, so your chemical and disinfection byproduct exposure are comparable to that of a traditional chlorinated pool. UV pool treatment also requires additional chemicals, such as chlorine, to offer complete water disinfection. This means UV pools still produce disinfection byproducts that can cause respiratory health issues.
Clear Comfort’s hydroxyl-based advanced oxidation pool system enables home pools to use 80 to 100 percent less chlorine in the pool water than a traditional chlorinated pool. This advanced oxidation process is proven to eliminate harmful disinfection byproducts and quickly and effectively destroy contaminants.
Similar to UV, ozone, saltwater and traditional chlorinated pools, the Clear Comfort system may require occasional shock (chlorine or non-chlorinated) when needed. After shock, a Clear Comfort pool’s chlorine levels will recover back to the low levels found in tap water or to chlorine free.
Maintenance: Salt pools require the same level of maintenance as a traditional chlorinated pool, and they typically require adding cyanuric acid. In addition, salt can deteriorate the pool surfaces and equipment, while ozone pool systems can harm rubber-based pool equipment and seals. With a UV sanitation system, pool water is circulated past UV lamps in order to expose the microorganisms in the pool to ultraviolet radiation. These UV lamps require frequent cleaning and replacement.
The only maintenance required for the Clear Comfort system is an annual cartridge replacement. Much like replacing a battery, a cartridge replacement only takes a few minutes. With any pool treatment system, the pool water, including pH levels, alkalinity and hardness, needs to be balanced.
Eco-Friendly: Traditional chlorinated and saltwater pools can requiring frequent draining, especially when a chlorine stabilizer (cyanuric acid) is used. Ozone systems require more energy to run than a Clear Comfort system, while UV systems require a lot of energy to operate. A Clear Comfort residential system requires just 37W to power, which is three times less than the energy consumption of a typical toaster oven.
Reducing, or eliminating, chlorine use with Clear Comfort’s nature-inspired technology means reducing toxic chemical handling, storage and the inevitable distribution into our ecosystem. Clear Comfort helps you reduce your carbon footprint by decreasing the manufacturing, transport, delivery and dosing of toxic chemicals. In addition, Clear Comfort can enable you to drain and backwash your pool less often, so you conserve more water.
Water Feel: We all have experienced the red eyes, chemical odor and itchy, dry skin from a chlorinated pool. While water feels softer in saltwater systems, the high levels of chloramines, also known as disinfection byproducts, in salt pools irritate eyes and lungs. Similarly, UV and ozone pools require chlorine and produce chloramines that cause sensory and respiratory irritation.
Due to the decrease in chlorine and chloramines, Clear Comfort’s pool water is soft to the touch and doesn’t cause eye, skin or lung irritation. The same low levels in a Clear Comfort pool can be found in water supplies used for drinking and shower water.
You can download our complete Pool System Comparison and FAQ here.
