Jasper pool uses less chlorine than bottled water

Have you ever accidently taken a big gulp of pool water while swimming laps? Most people would probably have to admit yes.

The thought running through your mind as the water flows down your throat might be “yuck!” However, the pool and hot tub water at the Jasper Aquatic Centre are not as yuck as you might think.

When I heard that the pool water has less chlorine, in parts per million, than a bottle of Evian, “natural spring water from the French Alps” according to the label, I had to know how.

Aquatic Centre manager Christopher Read was happy to take the Fitzhugh on tour of the facility to demonstrate how there is relatively less chlorine in the pool than in a bottle of Evian.

Chlorine is the “main sanitary agent” for every public pool in Canada, said Read and Jasper’s pool uses chlorine in a gaseous state, which “is by far the most cost effective, least chemistry[-based] and most directly oxidizing, so it’s the way to go” he added.

The current chlorine regulating system is computerized and was installed in 2004. “Our settings that the computerized controller is always working towards are well below Evian chlorine content,” said Read.

Before venturing over to meet Read for the tour, I stopped to pick up a bottle of Evian to confirm if the claims were true. Sure enough, the chlorine content (in parts per million) was 6.8 in the Evian bottle, well below the 1 to 1.5 p.p.m. of chlorine generally found in the Aquatic Centre pool. The hot tub has about 2 parts per million of chlorine because according to Read, “the effectiveness of chlorine decreases at higher temps.”

One of the main reasons why the pool can keep the chlorine content relatively low is due to high water circulation rates, said Read. In the hot tub, the total volume of water is circulated through every 14 minutes, he said. “Water is less stagnant... we don’t [get mold] and the reason for that is because we have the right balance of circulation, chlorine, filtration, pool chemistry all around,” Read said.

The system, which has been updated over the last decade, is not only safer, but more comfortable for swimmers. “Certainly my anecdotal evidence from the people who swim here is they are really pleased with it,” said Read, “I mean you look at the water and it’s crystal clear.”

When it comes to comfort, Read said “when you have a higher chlorine [level], that’s when your skin will dry out faster and when you have a higher chlorine [level], your pH goes down and if your pH goes down, that’s when your eyes get gritty and painful.”

“Every year we do a little bit more” to improve the Aquatic Centre, said Read. “The whole system is not only more environmentally friendly than the one prior to 2004, using high efficiency pumps and boilers, wasting hardly any natural gas, the whole system saves some money as well,” he said.