Know of any "chlorine-free" pools?

Since this subject of pool chlorine has come up I would like to make an observation and suggestion. In Japan and Europe, many bathrooms are equipped with a personal hygiene device (known as a “bidet” or “washlet”) that is installed in place of a regular toilet seat. Basically, it works like a mini shower (with soap and warm water) to rinse off after using the restroom and it drastically reduces the amount of Recreational Water Bacteria (RWB). One non-profit facility here is considering remodeling their pool and they were asking our swim team for suggestions about the new amenities. In addition to having solar heating for the pool, I emphasized that installing bidets in the restroom would minimize the amount of RWB. As a long time swimmer and hot tub enthusiast, I always take precautions to eliminate RWB and I’ve installed a bidet at home. I’ve done tests on the water in my personal hot tub and the level of RWB is so low that I don’t have to use much chlorine. Of course, there is a legal limit on the amount of chlorine, bromine, or ozone that must be present in public pools or hot tubs, however equipping the restroom facilities with special hygiene devices would be a definite advantage in reducing the dependence on pool chemicals for controlling RWB. Happy Swimming Dolphin 2 :)

Good point, Dolphin 2. So, does anyone know of any public pools treated with ozone, uv, salt, or tarn-pure out there? Thanks. piscinasana.blogspot.com

Virtually all chemicals used in pools for disinfection contain chlorine. For example, the salt water pools you refer to create chlorine by electrolosis, breaking down the sodium chloride (salt). Also, all forms of bromine used in pools contain significant amounts of chlorine. Pools with ozone or that use medium pressure ultraviolet as a disinfectant also need chlorine to maintain a "residual" in the pool. The only totally non-chlorine disinfectant for pools allowed by the EPA and local regulators is polyhexamethylenl biguanide (PHMB) It is usually used in conjunction with hydrogen peroxide as an oxidzer. It is almost never seen in public or commercial pools and it is not compatible with any chlorine product aside from chlorine dioxide.

All branches of Extreme Fitness in Toronto, Canada are equipped with salt water LCM pools. They claim that as of currently, they are the only ones in Toronto to have them Hope this helps... (and don't ask me how I know that... :) ) Cheers Ted

Geez Rich- no wonder you swim so fast: you know exactly what you're swimming in & trying to minimize your exposure.

The YMCA of Jackson TN recently converted its SCM pool from chlorine to salt. This came after a fire at the YMCA caused the pool to close for about 2 months. It tastes like seawater.....but other than that, it seems o.k. Newmastersswimmer

thanks for posting those locations, porcupine and newmasterswimmer. as you probably already know, rich, even though pools with alternative treatments generally have chlorine, they are at much lower (and hence safer) levels. there are even a few pools out there with no chlorine at all. in many cases the chlorine is there, not because it is needed, but because government health requirements are too archaic to account for new treatments that often don't need chlorine at all. sometimes it's just the result of the person in charge of pool maintenance being distrustful of new-fangled science. incidentally, bromine, being in the same chemical family as chlorine, has just about as many undesirable health effects and i've read some very sketchy stuff about phmb. as peter jests: it's all about minimizing exposure; hence, the quotation marks around "chlorine-free." chlorine-lite might be more accurate, but certainly not the ultimate goal. anyone else know of some "chlorine-free"/chlorine-lite pools out there?