The term biguanide refers to a sanitizer that uses a complex polymer as its base rather than traditional chlorine or bromine molecules. Use of a biguanide sanitizer elimiates the offensive ‘chemical smell in a pool/spa, puts a stop to the bleaching of hair and swimwear, reduces eye irritation and makes it possible for those with allergic reaction to chlorine or bromine to enjoy a dip in the pool/spa.
Mixing Biguanide With Chlorine/Bromine?
A definite no-no. The chlorine or bromine will destroy the biguanide polymer and in some cases cause insightly preciptates to fall out of solution. You will NOT enjoy cleaning up a pool or spa in which biguanides have met up with oxidizers such as chlorine or bromine.
Switching Between Biguanide and Chlorine/Bromine Sanitizers?
For those who seek to switch from a biguanide system to chlorine/bromine system, or vice versa, make certain you remove ALL of the former biguanide system’s chemicals before adding the new system’s chemicals.
In the case where a person wants to switch from a chlorine/bromine system over to a biguanide system, they should perform a test for Total Chlorine/Bromine before adding any of the biguanide chemicals. Test strips work well for this application and pool/spa owners can choose from a number of multi-parameter test strips to get the job done:
- Pool Check 6-in-1: free chlorine, total chlorine/bromine, pH, total alkalinity, total hardness, cyanuric acid
- Pool Check 5-in-1: free chlorine, total chlorine/bromine, pH, total alkalinity, total hardness
- Pool Check 4-in-1: free chlorine, total chlorine/bromine, pH, total alkalinity
- Pool Check Low Chlorine 3-in-1: free chlorine, pH, total alkalinity
And for those who REALLY want to make sure no chlorine resides in their water, try using the WaterWorksTM Ultra Low Total Chlorine Strips. Their lowest detection block starts at 0.005ppm total chlorine — an incredibly detection level for a dip and read test strip!
Products such as Chlorine & Bromine Neutralizers effectively remove the oxidizers in most cases but you should ALWAYS test to make sure.
For a lot of people the phrase Water Chemistry brings back memories of nightmarish chemistry exams in school. In this case, though, checking the chemistry means keeping track of certain parameters in the water and making sure they stay in the proper ranges.
Monitoring the water chemistry in a pool will not cause you the pain you suffered through earlier in life. For the average pool owner, simple dip-n-read Pool Check test strips will work just fine. They allow for easy monitoring of the basics: Chlorine Level, pH, Total Alkalinity, and Hardness. Additionally, a trip to the pool store with a sample of water works equally well. Plus the fine folks at the store will give excellent directions on how to correct any problems they may find.
For those who maintain commercial or public pools, use of dip-n-read test strips will typically NOT suffice.
Most local Health Departments prefer to see pool/spa professionals using EPA Compliant methods for the monitoring of certain things like Free & Total Chlorine. They also want to see a host of other parameters like Cyanuric Acid (chlorine stabilizer) monitored on a regular basis. Sound intimidating? Let us help you with that.
Prior to the introduction of portable, easy-to-use handheld meters like the eXact Micro 7+ Advanced Photometric System, EPA Compliant chlorine testing required messy wet kits, dropper bottles, titrants, tablets and/or irritating dusts. No other chlorine detection method involving DPD Chemistry existed.
Now, however, with affordable EPA Compliant (for chlorine monitoring) water quality testing meters such as the eXact Micro 7+ Advanced Photometric System which makes use of a new, more convenient DPD Delivery System known as DPD ReagentStrips available, chlorine testing has become a lot easier and pretty much anyone can obtain accurate, reliable water test results in minutes.
Whether your pool/spa sits outside or under the protective cover of a roof, it still collects dust, debris and other nasty things which can ruin the fun of an afternoon swim or late night soak. Those same nasty items can ruin your health.
In an effort to prevent either of those tragedies, pool and spas come equipped with inline filtration systems designed to remove unwanted items from the water. Several different types of systems are commonly used:
- Sand — Often found on aboveground pools and on commercial pools. Water passes through a body of sand and as it does so, larger particles get filtered out.
- Diatomaceous Earth — Often found on inground pools of all sizes. Cloth covered fins or ‘fingers’ coated in a silt-like, white, material which looks very much like finely ground chalk filter out unwanted solids.
- Cartridge — Often found in spas and on very small aboveground pools. Porous paper sheets filter out unwanted solids.
