Water is a Critical Environment, Really?

As a kid, I loved to swim. After several hours in the pool though, my skin would look like a prune and my eyes were as red as Dracula’s.

Some experts believe pruning of skin is a result of the outer layer of skin absorbing more water than the inner layers. When the outside layer expands more than the inner layer, it causes the skin to wrinkle. No kidding? Well, that explains the wrinkled skin, but what about red and sore eyes?
Working on an expansion of an indoor swimming facility, I have learned new things about pool water treatment. My misconception was that red eyes and a strong chlorine smell to the water is the result of too much chlorine. Actually, the cause can be not enough chlorine! Really? But how can that be?

According to poolcenter.com, the combined chlorine compounds, called chloramines, are produced when a free chlorine molecule combines with a nitrogen or ammonia molecule. These compounds smell bad, irritate the eyes and skin, and get in the way of free chlorine trying to do its job.

There is a better way to treat pool water. The application of UV-C light waves to water reduces the need for chlorine by as much as 75%, and kills some bacteria that are resistant to chlorine. I’ve known about the positive effect of UV light in air filtration systems used in hospitals where very unfriendly bacteria and viruses pose an even bigger threat to the people using the facility.

Because UV disinfection is a physical process, it reduces the need to transport, store, and handle dangerous chemicals like chlorine. UV treatment adds no taste or smell to water. Although direct exposure to UV-C rays is as dangerous to humans as it is to bacteria, a UV disinfection system adds no known carcinogenic or toxic by-product to the water.
These systems require yearly replacement of light bulbs, and they do cost more to install. However, given the benefits I have discussed, UV treatment systems must be considered, especially in a critical environment such as an indoor pool used by so many athletes for swimming competition.

Keeping swimmers safe from bacteria while protecting their eyes from irritation. That’s Critical Environment Construction.

Matt Charvat
Project Manager