Keeping pool water clean and free of bacteria is the best thing a pool owner can do for their family’s health and safety. However, the chemicals used to keep the water looking its best can also cause health problems on their own if they are not used correctly. Many people have found all of the water chemistry involved with pool maintenance to be a little too much to risk harming family members or the pool equipment itself.To remedy this problem, there are many automatic pool cleaners available that take the guess work out of pool chemicals. Systems like the pool frog automatically dose the necessary chemicals, keeping their levels at the right spot to keep the water clean without irritating skin or eyes. There are also automatic pool cleaners that do not utilize chemicals and clean the water with alternate methods.

Dosed Chemicals

When using chemical sanitizers like chlorine or bromine in a pool, there is a real risk of harm to swimmers and pool equipment if the water’s chemistry is not correct. Concepts like pH can be difficult to master; a low pH will lead to corrosion of the pool’s water pump and any metal parts, which a high pH will cause scale buildup. It is a fine line between maintaining the water to kill bacteria without harming anyone in the process. Most chemicals are irritants at the very least, so any excess amount will ultimately be detrimental.

Certain types automatic pool cleaners handle chemical dosing on its own. The chemicals are loaded into “pacs” that dispense the chemicals as needed. This goes a long way to alleviating the stress and worry over what is in the water. Homeowners should still check up on the water with a test kit, but it will be rare that any action will need to be taken to correct the chemical balance.

Alternative Treatment Methods

Many pool owners choose to forgo using chemicals completely. In this case, some look to using salt to keep the water clean. Normally, just adding salt is not enough for a truly clean pool. Many salt systems are supplemented by a powered cell that converts the salt into a more effective, natural sanitizer. After time, the sanitizer reverts back to salt for the safety of the swimmers.

Other automatic pool cleaners utilize electronic water purification. This occurs by using an electrical current to ionize water, destroying bacteria and algae. This safely occurs in an enclosed system, no electricity is introduced to the pool itself. This technology is similar to drinking water purification and has been utilized by local governments and even NASA for use to purify water on the space station. These systems can even pay for themselves over time by saving money on chemicals and testing kits.

For those homeowners who do not feel comfortable with turning their swimming pools into chemistry experiments, the many alternative automatic pool cleaners offer safe methods for maintaining a pool.