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Issues Associated with Chlorine. Chlorine is a chemical used in swimming pools to sanitizes water. It clarifies the water and kills the unwanted microbes in the water. It oxidizes the pool to eliminate organic matter in the water. And also, effectively inhibits the growth of algae.
This organic matter can be anything from fallen leaves to bodily wastes, including sweat, oil, and even urine or feces that carries germs, bacteria, and viruses that can cause water-borne infection and illness. If untreated, the water in a pool collects this matter and can cause significant issues.
Chlorine effectively eliminates those contaminants. It attacks the disease-causing microorganisms that may be hanging out in the water. However, that is not all the chemical does, because chlorine is a strong chemical, which means that your skin can become itchy when you swim in a pool with high amounts of chlorine in it.
During the process of chlorination, chlorine forms hypochlorous acid, this acid breaks down the cellular components of pathogens. And if hypochlorous acid combines with organic matter such as urine and sweat, it forms what is known as chloramines.
Chloramines is not only smell awful, but it is also reducing the potency of the free chlorine remaining in the pool, which in turn, hinders the chlorines’ ability to further disinfect the water. This reaction makes it easier for pathogens to survive in the pool and contaminate any swimmers causing illness, harm and irritation to the skin.
Some of The Most Common Issues Associated with Chlorine
Dry Skin
The acid that chlorine formed when it contacts water is irritating to the skin, and the more time contact with it, the more irritating it can be. Hypochlorous acid also strips the natural oils from the skin, causing dry, itchy, and irritated skin.
Rash
The chloramines present in the pool attaching to the skin after long periods of exposure can cause rash. The risk is greater depending on the amount of chlorine as well as body waste present in the water; nonetheless, exposure may lead to a red, uncomfortable rash as well as inflammation that can progress to blister or hives.
Burns
Chlorine burns are also a potential hazard of exposure to a chlorinated pool. This concern is more an issue of poor ventilation that causes gas build up; however, if your skin does come into contact with off-gas of pool chlorine, you can sustain burns, blisters, and hives.
Exacerbated Conditions
If you have hypersensitive skin from a pre-existing condition such as psoriasis, eczema, or dermatitis, chlorine exposure will likely make it worse. The hypocaloric acid present in chlorinated water causes further inflammation of the skin, which can lead to an increase of pain, dryness, redness, itchiness, scaling, or rashing already present in the skin.
How to Measure The Amount of Chlorine in Your Pool
Measuring the amount of chlorine in your pool is essential if you want to keep your pool water clean and sanitized. Maintaining the proper levels of chlorine in your pool will also allow the water to be clear and sparkling.
It is recommended that you test your pool water every day, but your pool also should be fine if you only test the water every other day. Testing the pool water is particularly important if your pool is left uncovered, which exposes it to sunlight, rain, leaves, and wind.
There are three types of chlorine that you should be aware of, which include free chlorine, combined chlorine, and total chlorine.
Free chlorine involves the amount of chlorine that’s able to sanitize contaminants, while combined chlorine refers to chlorine that has combined directly with the contaminants, and total chlorine is basically the sum of free chlorine and combined chlorine.
There are three methods that you can use to test for free, combined, and total chlorine in your pool, which include chlorine test strips, chlorine test kits, and an electronic/digital chlorine tester.
Chlorine test strips are made from plastic with a chemical pad attached to a stick. The chemical pad can react with the water and will change color in order to provide you with a rough estimate of how much free chlorine, combined chlorine, and total chlorine are in your pool.
Free Chlorine
If you don’t have enough free chlorine in the water, you won’t be able to get rid of the bacteria and other contaminants that have built up, and if you put too much chlorine in the water it causes harm to your skin.
So, you’re measuring for the amount of free chlorine in your pool, make sure that the readings are between 2-4 PPM.
Combined Chlorine
During this process, the chlorine will bind to any contaminants in the water, which creates combined chlorine. When you measure the water in your swimming pool, the amount of combined chlorine in the water should be less than 0.5 PPM.
Total Chlorine
The formula of chlorine is free chlorine + combined chlorine = total chlorine.
Total chlorine is very easy to test for in water when compared to free chlorine or combined chlorine, which is why many of chlorine measurement tests will specifically test for total chlorine.
In clean water, the amount of total chlorine can be used to determine the amount of free chlorine in the water since combined chlorine should be at zero.
There Are Several Ways to Limit Chlorine Irritation
- You can apply vitamin C to your skin after exposure to chlorinated water to neutralize chlorine and chloramines on the skin.
- Showering immediately after swimming is also better way to remove any chlorine residue.
- You can also try to moisturizing your skin after you rinse to prevent irritation.
- Monitoring chemical balance regularly and adjusting pool chemicals as needed to reduce chloramines and other irritants.
How Prevent & Get Rid of Chloramines in The Water
- Post signs or posters in the locker room that encourage swimmers to:
- NOT enter the water when they have diarrhea,
- Use the toilet before getting into the water,
- Wear a bathing cap while in the water, and
- NOT to pee or poop in the water.
- Require swimmers at least take a rinse shower before getting into the water. In other words, swimmers should be wet before they get into the water. Even a quick rinse shower removes much of the body waste that helps form chloramines.
- Be on alert for poop in the water; the distinctive chloramine odor in the swimming area; and respiratory, eye, or skin irritation in swimmers in the swimming area.
- Ensure that airflow in the swimming area is set up to minimize the buildup of chloramines in the air.
Monitor combined chlorine (chloramines are a type of combined chlorine) levels in the water and treat the water, especially when levels are too high.
- Calculate the level of combined chlorine.
- Measure the amount of total chlorine in the water.
- Measure the amount of free chlorine in the water.
- Subtract the free chlorine number from the total chlorine number: combined chlorine = total chlorine – free chlorine
- Get rid of chloramines in the water, especially when the combined chlorine level is too high (for example, more than 0.4 ppm).