AOP System Reviews
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AOP systems, or advanced oxidation process for swimming pools and hot tubs, is the newest technology available to residential pool owners to help keep their swimming water clean and safe. The process involves using an oxidizer to kill bacteria and organic debris in the water...which is something that swimming pools and hot tubs have always done via chemical dosing and peripheral equipment such as electronic salt chlorinators, UV lights and ozone generators. Each of these methods of oxidizing has benefits and disadvantages. AOP systems, while similar to traditional oxidizing systems, have much greater potential for oxidizing contaminants in your pool water than any other system has been able to achieve. It does this though the creation of hydroxyl radicals, which are the most reactive oxidizers (high oxidizing potential) that are safe for human contact in water.
Hydroxyl radicals are not uncommon at all in the world around us as they are an integral component in atmospheric chemistry. Hydroxyl radicals are considered the detergent of the atmosphere as they react with pollutants as the initial stage of removing them, as well as also helping to reduce greenhouse gasses like ozone and methane. As it applies to swimming pool water chemistry, hydroxyl radicals can be generated via a synergistic pairing of ozone generation combined with germicidal UV light (Germicidal wavelength 254nm). What is most significant about this process that combines two systems already used in swimming pool water quality management, ozone and UV, is that the oxidizing potential of the hydroxyl radicals created by the ozone and UV combined is far greater than the individual values of oxidizing potential from the UV light and ozone generator individually. Hydroxyl radicals have the potential to oxidize up many times faster than ozone alone under similar testing conditions. This specific feature is the reason why hydroxyl radical based AOP systems are better than UV or ozone alone, and will continue grow in popularity in the residential (and commercial) pool market.
Faster Oxidizing Potential
If you had to describe the advantage of AOP and hydroxyl radicals in a single word, it would be "fast". The speed at which hydroxyl radicals work is the definitive advantage of AOP systems, or more so, the limitation of systems like UV lights and ozone generators. Ozone is a great example of this, since contact time with the water is one of the most important factors for how effective (or not effective) an ozone system is. This is why you will often see pools with a floor return in the deep end which would allow the tiny ozone bubbles the maximum amount of contact time with the water. UV light is slightly different than ozone in that it does not destroy pathogens, but instead alters their DNA structure which renders them unable to reproduce in a process called inactivation. Still, in order for UV to function, it requires contact time with the water and the contaminants.
In a very simplified sense, to give you a feeling for just how much faster hydroxyl radicals work than UV or ozone, imagine a room full of bacteria. If you turned on an ozone system to clean the room, imagine it will take take 10 seconds to kill over 99% of the bacteria. Now by comparison, if you turn on a germicidal UV light in the room, after less than only one second the bacteria is over 99% inactivated. Less than one second is obviously much better than 10 seconds. Using this comparison and applying hydroxyl radicals to kill the bacteria in the room instead, in the span of one second the hydroxyl radicals could oxidize all of the bacteria in the room 100,000 times over. Sure contact time with the water is not everything, and there are a ton of variables to actually consider in a real world setting, however the speed at which hydroxyl radicals work makes the AOP technology more appealing, and more promising, than any other current swimming pool water treatment system on the market.
By reducing the contact time required with the water to kill or inactivate bacteria, viruses and organic debris, you remove many of the traditional limitations of ozone and UV based systems. Now you don't need to worry about moving the water slowly past the UV light, or keeping the ozone bubbles in the water for as long as possible.
Clear Comfort Pool Reviews
Clear Comfort advertises that they are a manufacturer of chlorine free and low chlorine pool systems. Their AOP based systems were brought onto the pool market in 2014 and they are now active in both commercial and residential water treatment across the USA. These products are manufactured in Colorado and were voted by Pool & Spa News Magazine as one of the top 50 products of 2017, as well as being voted one of the best 25 new products in 2017 by Aquatics International Magazine. If you are looking for a way to reduce the amount of chlorine that your pool uses, then Clear Comfort and their AOP based systems are one of the very best options currently available.
Clear Comfort CCW100
Part Number: CCW100
Pool Size: Up to 40,000 gallons
Voltage: 120 / 240 Volts
Flow Rate: 90 GPM Maximum
Product Status: Available
Clear Comfort also makes the commercial pool CCW300, CCW300A and CCW500 AOP units. The CCW100 is also rated for commercial pool use however I strongly encourage any pool owners using these systems to still maintain a minimum of 1ppm of free chlorine at all times in the water. Even though Clear Comfort advertises low and zero chlorine pools using these systems, there is a great deal of protection afforded to bathers by chlorine. If you want more information about why you want to maintain a chlorine residual in your pool water at all times then you should read this article about chlorine free pools. If you want to reduce your chlorine demand as much as possible then the CCW100 system is a fantastic choice, and hard to beat with their manufacturer 5 year warranty as well as 90 day full satisfaction refund guarantee. Yes these systems are expensive, but if you want the latest technology to reduce your exposure to chlorine or other chemical sanitizers, then AOP is the technology you want, and Clear Comfort has one of the best AOP system on the market right now.
Chlorine Alternatives For Pools
Pool owners the world over are asking about chlorine free pools or alternatives to chlorine or other chemical sanitizers. The reality of chlorine free pools is that there is no perfect solution to this problem...but AOP is getting close. The concern with any system that does not maintain a residual value in the water is that any bacteria or contaminants will sit, untreated, until they eventually are drawn through the filtration system and pass through the peripheral device whether it be a UV lamp, ozone generator or AOP system. Yes AOP is incredibly effective at oxidizing and killing bacteria and pathogens in pool water, and there is a short lived hydrogen peroxide residual from these systems, but without a free chlorine residual in the water there is an increased risk for illness to bathers.
I do not condone operating any swimming pool without chlorine or another approved chemical sanitizer that can hold a residual value in the water. If I was forced into operating a pool without chlorine, then I would absolutely look to AOP to help keep the water as safe as possible without chlorine. If you would like to learn more about why chlorine is so important you can read this article on chlorine free pools. If you would like to know more about how advanced oxidation process works, as well as the limitations of AOP, then read this article on AOP in swimming pools.
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Swimming Pool Steve is an award winning, second generation swimming pool specialist from Ontario Canada and one of the most trusted voices in the swimming pool industry. With over 20,000,000 views on the Swimming Pool Steve YouTube Channel, winner of the Pleatco Pool & Spa Industry Leadership award and author of hundreds of pool and spa articles both online and in print. Steve is committed to helping pool and spa owners as well as pool and spa industry workers learn more about the technical side of building, renovating, repairing and maintaining all types of swimming pools and spas. Follow Swimming Pool Steve on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
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