CyprusLiving

My husband has developed a skin condition (been to dermatologist and she says allergic contact dermatitis) over most of his body - arms, legs, torso. We have narrowed it down to the pool water at home. The condition started last October when we started using different tabs - were using Astral and changed to Sogechlor. He stopped swimming in our pool in November and swam at the Alexander the Great throughout the winter and the rash pretty much went. He cleaned our pool in Jan and put his arm in the water and it came out in a rash. The chlorine levels were quite high due to the rain and lack of sun to burn it off. I then made a mistake of adding a couple more tabs as the pool was going a bit milky. The chlorine them shot through the roof (orange) and it has taken me ages to get rid of it. I have now changed back to Astral and we have been taking water off gradually. He was put on a course of steroids by the dr and finished them last week. The pool levels all looked good - ph, alkalinity, chlorine. His rash had cleared as well. He then put his arm in one day and next day - still fine. He then went swiming for about 20 mins and showered straight after - next day fine. He then did the same the next day - couple of patches on his back. He did the same the next day and loads more rash has appeared on his back. I am now at a loss as to what to do - installing a non chemical based sanitisation system is expensive and would we be sure it would help? Should we empty the pool or part of the pool and start again? What would a detailed water analyisis tell us?

Has anyone heard of this problem or know of any solutions please? My husband absolutely loves his swimming and is so depressed having to travel down to the sea every day when there is a beautiful pool outside! By the way, it is tiled infinity pool, nearly 3 years old.

Many thanks, Julie

I'm only sort of talking out loud... I wonder if a salt water pool would help. ??

Trev..

Hi Jools.
There are many things that can cause problems in swimming pool water, and some tests you should do. The first thing i would do is test your Cyanuric acid levels, most pool owners really do not understand what problems this can cause. Most test strips come with this test, the best ones are Aqua check. Your Cyanuric level should not be more than 50ppm, if higher this
will give you false readings on your PH levels. Also your water will become more Corrosive and dose also cause damage to stainless steel heat exchangers and pumps etc. If your Cyanuric levels are high and above 50ppm then you will have to dump some water this is the only way to reduce levels down. Then make sure PH levels are 7.2 and Alk 120 keep Chlorine to 1.5 try this first if this dose not work,then look up Aligator Systems .com on your the Internet, Very good
as Chlorine can be kept to a Minimum.

Hope this helps Steve.

Hi Steve, I have checked the cyuranic acid with the aquacheck sticks and it is a bit high so I have dumped some water. There are no tabs in the pool now so I will retest the water tomorrow and try to get it to the levels you suggest. Then hubby can try again! Would rather not spend a shed load of money on another system but if it is necessary we will. Regards, Jools

Hi I'm not 100% sure it is the chlorine; I've never heard of someone having that level of reaction after simply putting an arm in to a pool! we have one pool that when we arrived a few weeks back, the pool was full of the dreaded "pine processional caterpillars", and the surface was covered, and i mean covered in their fine hairs! I've come across them a few times, and had some bad reactions myself, after laying down on my bare stomach to change pool lights, at pools where i'd never ever seen them! They seem to stay on the water's surface for some time, but we cleared them eventually by switching off the bottom drain, and running the pool on skimmers only. if you want to know what the surface looks like, get your husband to shave over a sink of water, or in the bath and then look at how the hairs form a "film"...

one option far cheaper than going for an automated chlorinator, may be to sanitise with bromine. I know I've seen tubs in Shipshape, so I assume all stockists can get them for you. there are a number of differences in the way you use the product, so please, wherever you go, ask for the info, but don't assume that the person selling it has ever used it themselves!

Steve, can you give us some more specific info regarding Cyanuric acid affecting ph readings please? for instance, if a sample reads 100ppm Cyanuric, how much will the ph reading be out? and bearing in mind we're only aiming for an accuracy of 7.2-7.6, is it worth worrying about?
where do you get this info from?
(I totally understand the problems associated with over stabilised pools, and reduced Redox potential, etc;I just want to bookmark the info!)

Hi Steve,
I have had our pool water chemically analysed at the Path Lab in Paphos and the results show the following - Alkalinity 110 ppm, Chlorine Total - 1.08 ppm, Free chlorine - 0.92 ppm, ph - 7.75 ppm, Cyanuric acid - 156 ppm. The lab say the cyanuric acid is ok - should be less than 200. What you are saying is that this is high and the other readings could be off - the lab says the pool is absolutely fine. Also there is zero bacterial contamination meaning the chlorine is doing it's job. Do you still think we should dump more water? The other problem is if I put stabilised chlorine in or 3 in 1 tabs, it will increase the cyanuric acid whic i don't want to do - if I let the chlorine get too low i run the risk of the pool going cloudy or getting bacteria - any thoughts please??? Thank you.

Hi Jools.
I would get your levels to 50 ppm when they are try and use Shock Chlorine Calcium Hypochlorite. Because you have correct Cyanuric acid levels this will stop it rising, this is what i do with my pool in Cyprus. Cyanuric is a nasty product when levels are high very aggressive and corrosive on Stainless Steel Pump seals Heaters Grout in Pools and mainly our Body's. Here in the U K i have know school Pools to be closed with high levels of Cyanuric acid.
Please try this and let me Know. I can tell all owners that if your levels are correct you will use
less Chemicals.
Regards Steve.

Hi Jools.
Sorry i meant to say that if your total Chlorine is higher than your free Chlorine you need to shock your water and bring up to 1.5 free Chlorine.
Regards Steve.

Hi Golden Hi Lux.
I will come back to you on that.
Regards Steve.

Jools: are you still having problems, or has the situation rectified itself?

Steve; have you forgotten me?

Hi Golden Hi Lux, Yes we are still having problems although not as bad. I have stopped using tabs and now use shock chlorine every day - test and then add a little so that I am keeping the chlorine as low as possible. The cyanuric acid is still 150ppm so I am going to dump more water to try and dilute it. We have had visitors so I couldn't do it. No one else has a problem with the water - just my OH!

Hi Golden Hi Lux.
Sorry i did not get back to you, But like your self its a busy time in this industry for us.
But have just done a post regarding high Cyanuric levels and Alk readings.
Regards Steve.

Update on water and skin condition - my OH's skin is a lot better so it is not the Cyanuric acid causing the problem. I think is was the 3 in 1 tabs. Anyway, I have stopped using them and now use chlorine without stabaliser as the cyunaric acid levels are still way too high. I have dumped tons of water but no change at all. I put a little chlorine in every day but that's it. The water is crystal clear but it still worries me so I may look at emptying it and refilling it at some point as i don't want the filter/fittings corroded. At least we can swim in it at the moment! Thank you for all your posts and i will keep you updated on developments.