HOW TO USE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE IN YOUR POOL
OR SPA Hydrogen Peroxide Pool
and Spa discussion.
For a spa, we do recommend you drain it to get rid of all
chemicals. However, H2O2 will not adversely interact with current
pool chemicals and some will transition to H2O2 usage. If your
pool is highly organically fouled, you may want to use a much
higher initial level of H2O2 to kill the organics, drain this,
and then go to the same maintenance levels as for a pool.
For a pool, it is not necessary to drain the pool if you do not
want to until when you would regularly drain the pool while using
pool chemicals. Or you may want to transition to H2O2 at that
time. Hydrogen peroxide will not have any adverse reaction or
interaction with pool chemicals. The level of H2O2 suggested
below will vary by the amount of organic material that comes into
the water (leaves, dust) and by pool usage that then also brings
contaminating organics into the water. Within the context of the
water volume in a swimming pool, increasing concentration to
address high pool usage or high organic content can not reach a
harmful level no matter how high a concentration you decide to
use.
Below are the recommended levels. You may then adjust this
later as you feel necessary.
NOTE - There are no hard and
fast rules for pool and spa maintenance. Each pool or spa is
unique and depends on the following factors:
- Area of the country... heat levels, organic material
entering pool or spa.
- Type of water... hard, soft, etc.
- Ultraviolet radiation levels... is pool or spa covered
when not in use?
- Level of use... how many times a day or week is it
used.
All the above will affect maintenance programs. You will
need to customize your own program to each pool or spa. Keep in
mind that there is no danger of health problems even if you use
H2O2 at too high a level for what is actually needed. Store
bought H2O2 is at 3%. To get pool or spa levels to a 3% solution
would be extremely expensive. You are looking at 100-200 parts
per million for proper dosing, and even if you got to 1000 parts
per million, you'd be nowhere close to 3%.
Getting started:
Many recommend shocking your pool or tub to
start using hydrogen peroxide. Either Food Grade or Technical
Grade can be used.
To “SHOCK” your pool or hot tub, a
relatively high level is used at a ratio of 1 cup of 35%
concentration for every 250 gallons. DO NOT RUN your pump
continuously. Rather, run it only long enough to circulate the
water and then turn off the pump. Ideally, you should add the
H2O2 at sunset and allow the water to sit 24 hours before turning
the pump back on. The tub or pool may be used
afterwards.
It is NOT necessary to shock your pool or hot tub if you are
starting with fresh water. H2O2 will not adversely interact with
other pool chemicals.
POOL AND HOT TUB MAINTENANCE:
This depends quite a bit on the water source and the amount of
organic materials that enter the water (dust, leaves, number of
people using the pool etc.) If you are
starting with new water, a good starting point is 1 cup of 35%
H2O2 for every 500 gallons of water.
H2O2 interacts with and oxidizes organic materials and
decomposes with UV light. This is a reason
that H2O2 must be added time to time to maintain its level in the
water. There is no danger of H2O2 levels increasing or forming
dangerous residual chemicals.
H2O2 TEST STRIPS:
Peroxide test strips are a plastic strip with a reactive pad
on one end. They are used to test the concentration of hydrogen
peroxide in a solution. You can obtain these strips by doing a
search on Google for "Hydrogen Peroxide Test Strips."
Ideally, you would keep the concentration level measuring between
50 and 100 ppm. For areas with high levels of organic
contamination potential, this can be safely increased to as high
as 1000 ppm. You can find test strips doing a Google search for
"hydrogen peroxide test strips."
NOTE: Be sure to check with your pool
or spa manufacturer regarding H2O2 use on their equipment. Some
systems have natural rubber which will be degraded by H2O2. More
modern systems use a synthetic rubber which is not affected by
H2O2.
CHECK YOUR FILTERS OFTEN: As with any
pool or hot tub with a filtration system, you should regularly
check your filter(s) as clogged filters will damage some pumping
systems.
STORAGE: For best results, keep the H2O2 in a cool and dark place...
either in a basement or frig. You can empty the gallon or 5 gallon bottles into 1
gallon or quart plastic containers and refrigerate or freeze them
for optimum storage. UV light causes H2O2 to decompose.
CAUTION:wear plastic gloves and safety goggles when adding
H2O2 to the water as it can splash or spill. You simply add the
hydrogen peroxide to the water and no special injection system is
necessary.
HYBRID USAGE OF HYDROGEN
PEROXIDE?
Some people will use a mix of the pool chemicals they have been
using with hydrogen peroxide - and then reducing the amount of
pool chemicals used. This is particularly true of commercial or
public swimming pools (such as hotels, apartment complexes etc.)
where the fear of the spread of disease is a major liability
issue. Legal liability is not always about doing the right thing,
but rather about doing the typical thing. For this reason, they
want to be able to say honestly that they used the typical pool
chemicals. This is a valid option. While a person should eat
healthy meals 100% of the time, if not then why not eat healthy
50% of the time? Hydrogen peroxide will not have any reaction with
pool chemicals. If in doubt or wanting to transition from
chemicals to hydrogen peroxide, it is reasonable to reduce pool
chemical usage by 1/3 and then use 1/3 the level of hydrogen
peroxide treatment. If you like the results, go to 50/50 and so
forth.
Another hybrid usage is that some people will blast their
pool with chemicals the day (or night) before draining it, or
almost completely drain it and add chemicals at that point, just
in case the H2O2 was missing some contaminating factor. There is
no reason not to do this if you wish. While a hybrid usage of
hydrogen peroxide in a pool is a valid decision, it makes little
sense in a spa - given how easily and inexpensively a spa can be
drained. For a spa, we suggest trying 100% H2O2 treatment.
However, you also can do a hybrid treatment if you wish. Maybe the
most amazing part of using hydrogen peroxide for pool and spa
treatment is the simplicity of it. It can not chemically build up
in your pool. You do not have to continually be balancing
chemicals against more chemicals to make it work. It does not
require complex filters or machinery. It does not require exact
levels of concentration to work. It bio-degrades completely to
only healthy substances of water and oxygen - good for you and
your pool/spa. It contains no toxins. You do not have to fear how
it interacts with other chemicals. Nothing in hydrogen peroxide
causes cancer, sterility, birth defects, brain damage, tumors,
nervous system damage. It does not smell bad. Hydrogen peroxide
for pool and spa usage does not produce toxic vapors. There is no
complex transition to change to H2O2 for pool and spa
treatment.
Environmental/Personal/Fitness
Health:
