Water project – “Drinking Water”
Lately I have had the pleasure of starting a water project at a Monastery & school in Chantebury a couple of hours south of Pattaya. At the same time I inspected 4 schools in the area with the intention of doing the same. This is being funded by Rotary Clubs with what is called “Matching Grants”. It is interesting that in all cases the current water supplies are in a sad state. The kids & the monks are drinking water from unsafe sources. The supplies are mostly ground water by wells or from a river near by. The pipes that are being used are old and full of algae.
water project – What I will be doing is to clean out the original pipes and then install filters with automatic backwashing facilities so as to minimize the chance of someone stuffing up the system. The storage tanks will be sealed with a latex/chemical compound and an Electromagnetic Pulsing Device System will be installed to sanitize the water as it passes through the filters. Leaking taps will be fixed and water coolers will be installed. If you wish to help with donations (Much needed) towards these projects you can email me and I will organize the correct contact for this.
General pool maintenance.
I have recently come across a few swimming pools that have salt chlorination in place. And they are having problems with algae in the grout and on the sand wash. What I have uncovered is that people believe that the pool becomes totally maintenance free. Yes, you don’t in most case need to add chlorine on a regular basis. However in the cases I came across a shock dosing of chlorine was needed. The issue with salt pools is that the pH is high due to the salt. And this means that the chlorine that is made by the system is weaker. Acid is needed on a regular basis to bring the pH down to the correct range of between 7.4 – 7.6. And this then gives the chlorine more strength in its killing power. What I do when I come across a salt pool with an algae problem is to shock with 90% Tri-chlor and the next day vacuum the dead algae. It is also a good idea to sprinkle a little of the chlorine around the sand wash where black algae grows.
Recommendations
I recommend that the pool be scrubbed with a brush once a week as well. Most people tend to forget about brushing the pool. This should be done weekly to un-lodge any algae that are starting to grow and then this is picked up with the normal filtration process. Even though a lot of the salt chlorinators now are self cleaning, this doesn’t take out body fats and oils. The self cleaning process only stops calcium scale build up. Depending on how much the pool is used will determine how often the salt chlorinator cell needs to be cleaned. This is done by pulling the cell of the system and then soaking it in a 10 to 1 solution of hydrochloric acid and water. Then it is rinsed with fresh water and then cleaned with dish-washing detergent. If this is not done then the cell becomes inefficient and doesn’t produce the required amount of chlorine. Thereby causing sanitation problems. Another cause of algae blooms is inadequate filtration. Either by undersized filters, pumps or the medium is old and broken down.
We have been recommending and replacing with “Eco Clear” recycled glass. Although quite expensive it last for over 15 years and it is also a lot more effective with removal of iron & magnesium which is a problem here in Thailand.
“WET” Water Engineered Technologies (Thailand) offer a broad range of water filtration solutions. Potable water, plus swimming pool design, construction, equipment and consultation. Steve can be contacted on # 08484 28317 or info@poolsasean.com
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