Eva Adcock
Best Pools of Brevard

The other day a potential customer called me and asked if I have constructed a natural pool. When I told her that I had never heard of it, she asked me to research it and if we were interested, we could “practice” on her. So onto the internet I went.

So what is a natural pool? A natural pool is a system consisted of a constructed body of water that has a separate zone which utilizes biological features for water purification. Although a natural pool does have a filtration system, to be “true” in nature, there would be no chemicals. Instead, the regeneration (separate) zone would have ecological plants which would provide the biological process for water clarification.

Typically, the swimming zone is separated from the regeneration zone. This actually serves two purposes. As mentioned earlier, the plants are taking the place of traditional chemicals we use in the pool industry. Secondly, the plants also provide aesthetically pleasing results as well. The natural pools I saw were spectacular!

I have never constructed a natural swimming pool but it would seem that the cost would be increased due to the regeneration zone that is required. Typically, the square footage of the regeneration zones can be an amount equal (or close) to the swimming zone. This may double the cost of construction. Additionally, a specialist may need to be contacted to procure and maintain the proper plants in the regeneration zone. Frogs, snakes, and other creatures have always been interested in our swimming pools. I wonder if this takes on an extra level of “interesting” with a natural pool?

In an era where we are concerned about environmental issues, it is exciting to explore the opportunity of providing an alternative pool to my customers. Not only can they be safe for swimming without harsh chemicals but they are scenic and beautiful works of art.

Al Mendoza
CES

Chemistry control systems have been in daily use on thousands of Florida pools since the late 1970’s. They have been installed on pools of all sizes from the largest 9 million gallon water park to the smallest 500-gallon condo spa.

While control of pH was pretty straightforward, easy to explain, and quite reliable, the control of the oxidant (normally chlorine) was quite the opposite. Over the years there have been many thousands of very successful installations that performed reliably for years, but there have also been a significant number that failed miserably.

What went wrong?
While there is such a thing as a bad controller, a major part of the problem has been a lack of understanding of Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP).

Some operators could just not understand that as pH went up, the ORP would drop. Even if the pH rise was from the addition of bleach. Add bleach to a spa and the ORP drops.

Others couldn’t understand that at stabilizer levels above 70 PPM any increase in the chlorine would not result in an incremental increase in ORP. So adding more chlorine to an over-stabilized pool did not increase ORP or improve water quality.

Why not PPM sensing?
While PPM sensing, or reading the actual amount of chlorine PPM in the pool instead of the “kill power” of that chlorine, was developed years ago, it never gained traction. Why? Quite frankly, the technology was relatively expensive and required annual changes of membranes and gels. Also the readings were very flow and pressure sensitive, and sometimes not very accurate.

Why is PPM better now?
Direct reading PPM sensing deserves another look. Why? The sensors have totally changed in design. They cost much less, don’t require annual changes of tips or gel, and they provide more accurate readings at a wider range of flows and pressures. Why, you can even take the sample water back to the suction side of a pump to simplify controller installation. Finally, the actual controllers that work with PPM sensors have come way down in price and complexity from the models available 10 years ago.

Why PPM sensing works better for some applications:
First, controlling by actual PPM can sometimes beach much easier for owners, operators, and support pool companies to understand and operate. Next, knowing both the ORP and the PPM at the same time can give you an instant indication of the “health” of the pool water (low ORP with high PPM is indicative of sick water; high ORP with low PPM is indicative of healthy water.)

Finally, some pool applications have mechanical issues that don’t allow ORP to work very well. While these are actually very few in number, they do include some salt systems (many ORP probes struggle with saline processes), pool systems with terrible earth grounds (older pools or those that don’t have proper equipotential bonding circuits), or those systems with operators who can’t grasp the ORP concept and are too stubborn to learn something new.

In any event, PPM sensing done right works great and can provide years of accurate PPM readings. Check into it and you might be pleasantly surprised. But then again, you could also learn a lot more about ORP and make 95% of all treatment applications work great.

Either way, affordable and accurate PPM sensing and control is here to stay.

Entry forms and information for the 2018 Design Awards competition are now posted at FloridaPoolPro.com/programs-design.

The annual Florida Swimming Pool Association Design Awards program gives members an opportunity to enter their pools, spas and water features for judging on workmanship, soundness of design, beauty, practicality and safety. Categories customized for Florida pool construction divide the entries by size, type of construction and features.

Pools are awarded a Gold, Silver, Bronze or Award of Merit based on a panel of industry judges’ review. Each award winner receives a plaque with a mounted photo of the pool or spa so they may display their accomplishment to prospective customers.

Award winning pools are submitted to national industry magazines for publication and also distributed to the winners’ local media.

A special logo is available for the winners to use in ads, business cards and on company letterhead.

You can view a full gallery of the 2017 FSPA Design Award Winners on FSPA’s Pinterest profile.

All entrants must be current members of the Florida Swimming Pool Association. Entries must arrive at the FSPA Sarasota office by 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 31, 2017.

*FSPA membership must be paid in full to participate in Design Awards.