What can we do about chlorine?

If you have ever even gotten near a public pool, let alone jumped in, you know that oh-so-familiar stench of chlorine. It's nearly impossible to avoid.

Although we are grateful for chlorine's ability to kill germs, algae, and other things in the water (you know it's not just the kiddies peeing in the pool...), it has the unfortunate side effect of clinging to your skin, hair, clothes, and really anything else it touches.

Without getting into too much nerdy detail, chlorine is a champ when it comes to keeping environments free from bacteria, including nasty things like E. coli. When it bumps into a human body, it reacts with the proteins in your hair and skin and becomes chemically bonded to you, making it very hard to simply scrub off.*

We may find ourselves wondering why in the world we would use this nasty stuff. There must be alternatives! 

What are the alternatives to chlorine?

Salt Water Pools

Unlike the ocean, we're not just talking about throwing a bunch of table salt in a pool and stirring it. What's really happening here is that there is still chlorine in the pool, which means there are still chemicals. In this system, "salt chlorinators" are used to produce constant low levels of chlorine onsite in the pool to combat bacteria. This is different from a typical chlorine-based pool in which pre-fabricated chlorine tablets are used.

Pros: main output is salt, and it's way less damaging to your skin and eyes

Cons: can be corrosive to the pool filter and other equipment.

SpectraLight Ultraviolet (UV) Pool Systems

This technology is so fancy, we don't even know how to explain it. Basically, there's a crazy machine they've developed that will use UV light to penetrate impurities in the water and chemically disentangle them. It's probably the "safest" way for your body to be in a pool of water free from bacteria AND gnarly chemicals.

Pros: literally no chlorine, no chemicals

Cons: it ain't cheap

Hydrogen Peroxide Pool

We've all used hydrogen peroxide to disinfect a cut, or clean a wound. Same idea applies to a swimming pool--with the right concentration, this is a powerful agent for keeping your pool clean.

Pros: not a skin/eye irritant like chlorine

Cons: takes a high concentration of hydrogen peroxide to be effective, and the compound itself has a short life, so you're gonna be making a lot of trips to the pool store

Ozone Pool

Nope, not that ozone you're used to thinking of! This system uses generators that inject ozone gas into the water as it recirculates, oxidizing bacteria and killing microorganisms along the way. This is generally used in combination with a low level of chlorine tabs in the pool. 

Pros: lower concentration of chlorine

Cons: it all comes down to the $$$

Our conclusion? If you ever swim laps, you'll likely encounter some chlorine...and Zealios is here to help!

Zealios Swim & Sport shampoo and conditioner are engineered with an ingredient called ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) that will bind to those chlorine particles and strip them away from your body. We know it sounds scary, but it's got a zero toxicity rating from the Environmental Working Group! 

Our advice? #justkeepswimming

*we used a combo of Wikipedia, this NYTimes article, and pool company websites like this and this to break this down for y'all. Hope it made sense!