Swimming Pool Bromine

While owning a swimming pool can provide hours of fun and enjoyment every year, all pools require careful maintenance in order to keep the swimming environment safe and clean. The traditional way to achieve these goals is to chlorinate the water. However, using chlorine to maintain clean pool water has its downsides, especially with indoor swimming pools. Yet, chlorine is not the only substance that can be used to keep swimming water free from contaminants. Swimming pool bromine is an excellent alternative to chlorine and is becoming more and more popular among pool, spa and hot tub owners.

While opening a pool and maintaining it throughout the swimming season, it's extremely important to keep the water clean and sanitized by killing any algae and bacteria that may be present in the pool. If the pool is not sanitized properly and contaminants enter the water, swimmers will be at risk of contracting various infections and diseases. For example, contaminated swimming water can cause infections of the ears, nose and throat as well as more life-threatening conditions such as meningitis. Since the risks caused by unsanitary pool water are significant and serious, proper pool maintenance is not an issue to be overlooked or taken lightly.

However, using chlorine to keep your swimming pool safe and clean can present another set of problems. When combining with organic matter, chlorine forms chloramines. These chemical compounds build up in chlorinated swimming pools and, as their concentrations increase in the water, they produced a sharp characteristic chlorine smell and can also cause severe eye and skin irritation. While some people are more sensitive than others to the noxious quality of chloramines, most swimmers will experience some irritation as the concentration of chloramines increases.

While eye and skin irritation can be very troubling to swimming pool owners, so can the smell of chlorine. This is especially true for households with indoor swimming pools. When in an enclosed space, the acrid smell of chlorine can become almost unbearable to some people and it can also seep into other parts of the home. As a result, there are many pool owners out there who would prefer to be able to keep their swimming pools clean and safe without the use of chlorine.

Luckily, pool bromine provides an excellent alternative to chlorine. The chemistry of bromine is similar to that of chlorine and it sanitizes pool water powerfully by killing pathogens through oxidation, just as chlorine does. However, despite these similarities, there are some important differences between the two compounds. To begin with, when bromine combines with organic matter, it forms bromamines. In contrast to chloramines, bromamines do not produce such a strong smell. This is the major reason why pool bromine is becoming so popular for indoor locations. In addition, bromamines don't have the same noxious qualities as chloramines and, therefore, are far gentler on the eyes, hair and skin.

The most common available form of bromine for pools is the tablet form. Since this chemical dissolves very slowly, it's important to ensure that it's properly dispensed into the pool. In most cases, this will require purchasing a special bromine dispenser or feeder. While the dispenser is an extra piece of equipment to add to the pool system, it can be easily incorporated and will automatically feed the bromine into the water at the right rate, ultimately requiring less worry and hassles.

Since bromine can't be used to shock pool water at the beginning of the swimming season, a non-bromine shock will be necessary when opening a pool after the winter. However, unlike chloramines, bromamines break down naturally. This means that when using swimming pool bromine to keep water clean, there is no need for additional shock treatments during the swimming season as may be the case with chlorine pools.

If you already own a bromine pool or are considering the incorporation of a bromine pool system into your life, the products and supplies that you will need are readily available. Although bromine for swimming pools tends to be more expensive than chlorine, it's still possible to find great value. Intheswim.com is a leading direct source of a wide range of pool products and accessories, including those required for the opening and maintenance of bromine pools. Offering the tablet form of pool bromine as well as chemical value kits, Intheswim.com is a great source for excellent products at outstanding prices.

Moreover, Intheswim.com is dedicated to a high level of customer service and satisfaction. As such, the retailer offers 24 hour ordering, free shipping and fast delivery. So if you are setting up a new bromine pool system or just need some more pool bromine tablets, Intheswim.com will help you start enjoying your pool sooner.