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%.
Swimming
Pool and Hot Tub usage:
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: H2O2 should ALWAYS be stored in
TOTAL DARKNESS and a cool location. 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.
You can obtain a 5 gallon bulk container, with spigot (not included). For best storage, keep the H2O2 cool... either in a basement, frig, or empty the 5 gallon bottle into 1 gallon plastic containers and refrigerate or freeze the gallons for optimum storage.
Pure Health Systems 35% Pool & Spa H2O2 Bulk Containers
Environmental/Personal/Fitness
Health:
