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Put Your Body Into Something Healthy

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Contributed by: Wendy Stroud on 7/3/2007

As the weather heats up in Ventura County, many of us are cooling off by jumping into a nice refreshing swimming pool. There is nothing quite like a swim to beat the heat.

Yet many people who have pools don't use them as much as one would think. Why? No one likes the feeling of swimming in chemical soup...knowing you will have to take a shower after swimming to get all the chlorine off your body and out of your hair. And it's not just the feel and smell of chlorine that dissuades folks from enjoying their pools more, it's the plain fact that Chlorine is toxic. It can be absorbed through your skin quite easily and is a known carcinogen. The by-products of chlorine sanitization of a pool are called THMs, or trihalomethanes. They are indeed toxic and have been linked to asthma as well.

There is another choice - you don't have to settle for a chlorine pool. And a lot of you out there are thinking "salt-water pool" right about now. Well I have some news for you. The manufacturers of SCGs ( salt chlorine generators)somehow led people to believe they are chlorine-free, which couldn't be further from the truth. Salt is sodium chloride. In a salt pool, you don't add chlorine because it is being manufactured from the salt. An extremely well-run salt-water pool will have levels of chlorine 1/5-1/6 of a regular chlorine pool. Most people are not as attentive and detail-oriented as that requires, so their pools are more like 1/3 as much chlorine. So you are still talking chlorine - just less of it. There are also issues with salt corrosion of decorative stone-work, metal work inside pools and coping between tiles if you choose a salt-water pool. Here's a link about that: http://www.wfaa.com/video/wfaageneral-index.html?nvid=143354

There is indeed another choice besides chlorine and salt. You could choose a chlorine-free pool. Yes, I said chlorine-free. More and more people are discovering the joys of swimming in a truly chlorine/bromine/baquacil/salt-free pool! Speaking from personal experience - there is nothing like it. This new technology of copper ionization and electronic oxidation is beginning to spread through Ventura County, and definitely appeals to health-conscious individuals who love to swim in their pool, but don't love all the chemicals.

The latest pool that went chlorine-free is in Oak View, and the installation happened last week, just in time for the pool owner's family to come over and play endless games of volleyball over the weekend in chemical-free water. No red eyes, no dry skin or hair, and no stench of chlorine on their skin - they are certainly happy!

This technology is the healthiest choice for pools and the absolute wave of the future. Copper ionization was developed by NASA for the space program in the late 1960's. Copper ions in your pool water will kill harmful bacteria, germs, viruses and algae. Together with oxidation and proper filtration, you will be swimming in bottled-quality water for the rest of the summer...and who wouldn't like that?

Wendy Stroud is an authorized ECOsmarte dealer, and can be reached at (805)258-8441 or www.ecosmartewater.com

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