Actually the few times I've gotten more chlorine in the pool, my kids have complained about irritated eyes, etc.
Hmm. I'm curious on this statement. Can you elaborate a bit more? What FC and CYA level do you typically keep your pool at, and what did you increase the FC level too when your kids complained about irritated eyes? What was the CC level before and after the FC raising?
The reason I ask, as alluded to in a prior post, was that it sounds like you have a CC issue. CC issues are often (but not always) due to a lack of maintaining a sufficient FC level. What happens is if you don't have enough FC stuff builds up, and as soon as you add more FC, it generates lots of CC's temporarily as the FC goes to work clearing up the stuff that's built up. If the FC level is maintained at a high level, all the stuff gets eaten up and the CC level drops back down.
We call this process a SLAM here.
From another single datapoint, while I don't yet have a pool, in our spa we've gotten in the spa with a
FC level up to 12 ppm when the CYA was at 30 ppm. There was no smell of chlorine, no irritated skin or eyes.
I did ask what your CYA level was though because a high FC level that
doesn't match your CYA level will indeed become irritating.
When I do start getting a chlorine smell that starts also hinting at being bothersome to breath is when I get too much CC buildup due to lack of enough FC, and possibly lack of a little bit of UV/ventilation via open cover to help the CC's break down (this last part being mostly unique to spas which remain covered when not in use). Bringing the FC level up and leaving the cover open, hopefully with a little sunlight, clears this right up.
Ultimately you need measurements of FC, CC, and CYA to go along with the observation of eye irritation, as if you only know what the FC level is you only have 1/3 of the total picture. Actually only about a 1/4 of the picture, as pH being way out of whack can also cause eye irritation, but I was assuming that was within the 7's.
If anyone have or know someone with similar system, I would be greatly appreciated if can share tips and tricks need to know and how system been working generally.
Repe, while some of the comments here have unfortunately been snarky, from what I've read (and I've read for countless hours on this site) is that the science doesn't back up the usage of any sort of ionizer, UV, or ozone for an outdoor pool. Ultimately you need chlorine for an outdoor pool.
Maintaining proper levels of chlorine will result in the lowest overall chemical usage on your pool while maintaining it to a proper level of sanitation.
Its not Ozone system and system are not allowed add CYA, Copper levels are to be kept 0.2-0.5ppm that amount should not stain pool. Do you have first hand experience or know someone with chemical free pool? I'm askin here if someone can share experience with similar system.
There isn't such a thing as a chemical free pool. All things you add are chemicals. Copper is a chemical. Copper has known downsides, such as staining pools and turning hair green.
What I'm actually finding while browsing their site is a couple things that don't look good. First off, they claim their system produces no chlorine. This is an issue as chlorine, bromine, and baquacil are the only three types of sanitizers approved by the EPA due to sufficient bacterial killing power. The EPA
has approved certain other systems that work in conjunction with chlorine, such as the Spa Frog @ease system, but the key point is they still have some chlorine or bromine to act as the primary sanitizer and maintain sufficiently quick bacterial kill times to maintain sanitary water.
Another odd statement I saw on their site is that if you are filling your pool with pH controlled city tap water to never adjust your pH. While city water is pH controlled, once it is exposed to air carbonates start offgassing, which causes pH to climb.
The kicker, in my mind, is they recommend you shock new water with chlorine, after which their system will keep the water clean. This is a bit puzzling to me. It can keep the water clean, but it can't clean the water if it's dirty to begin with?
Ultimately, between the proven science of chlorine and CYA outlined on this site, and some puzzling statements on their website, I would avoid the usage of this system and recommend a salt water chlorine generator instead. That will maintain the lowest proven level of chlorine, along with a proven ability to maintain a sanitary pool, with the least amount of work.