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Offline RichardFalk

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Review of chemistry work
« on: August 19, 2009, 10:24:40 PM »
I am a new member here, but am unsure as to where to post if I would like someone very competent in chemistry (mostly inorganic chemistry) to review work that I have done in the areas of swimming pool water chemistry.  I am a pool owner with no PhD and do not work in the industry nor do anything with chemistry or physics in my work (it's S/W engineering and management).  So I'd like someone to double-check my work, give feedback and suggestions, etc.  The following are some examples of posts/threads I've written/started:

Derivation of the Free Chlorine / Cyanuric Acid ratio as a proxy
Chloramines and Free Chlorine / Cyanuric Acid
Degradation of Cyanuric Acid
Water Absorption and Heating from Sunlight
Solar Panel Technology Comparisons

I'm trying to bring some level of factual science to the pool/spa industry but I have zero credibility.  I've written spreadsheets on Pool Equations, Breakpoint Chlorination modeling, Absorption of chlorine in water of sunlight, among others.  I know that what I have done is very basic and not much more than what would be done in 1st year college chemistry (though the PoolEquations spreadsheet was quite tedious).  I figure that if I can at least say that some things have been validated by someone with more credibility, then I might have a better chance at getting some things changed/improved.  What I would like to see in the pool/spa industry is the following:

  • Full disclosure of the effects of adding chemicals, especially different forms of chlorine and their effect on Cyanuric Acid (CYA), Calcium Hardness (CH) and salt levels.  I'd like to at least see basic rules of thumb such as "For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm" or "Using Trichlor at a rate of 1 ppm FC per day for 6 months increases CYA by over 100 ppm".
  • Full disclosure of the chlorine/CYA relationship that has been known for at least 35 years as described in this paper including using the FC/CYA ratio as a proportional proxy for active chlorine (hypochlorous acid) concentration.
  • Correct training and information regarding the dual role of Total Alkalinity (TA) with regards to carbonates that are not only a pH buffer but contribute to rising pH from carbon dioxide outgassing.
  • Changing the EPA rule of 4 ppm FC maximum for pools and 5 ppm for spas to increase these allowed levels (which are based on drinking water) when there is CYA in the water and updating the EPA DIS/TSS-12 laboratory tests to account for normal CYA levels in pools.
  • No longer discouraging the use of low levels (20 ppm) of CYA in indoor pools (currently not used because there is no sunlight in indoor pools) or in spas so that irritating nitrogen trichloride production rates can be reduced and the oxidation rates of skin, hair and swimsuits can be reduced.
  • Fund research to determine the reactions and rates for oxidation of urea by chlorine (urea is by far the largest nitrogenous component of sweat/urine, followed by ammonia) including temperature dependence (also, determine temperature dependence for Jafvert & Valentine model of oxidation of ammonia by chlorine).
  • Many other items from chemistry and physics that can be applied to swimming pool and spa products, services and standards rather than just having claims or rules without scientific basis.

Thanks,
Richard
« Last Edit: August 19, 2009, 10:54:53 PM by RichardFalk »

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