Aqualite™
Aqualite™ is one of many zeolites found across the world. Zeolities emerge from volcanic eruptions, the lava the is cooled by sea water or other natural elements turns into zeolite. Zeolites are salts with a molecular structure, which is responsible for a purifying and filtering effect at a very small organizational level.
The figure below shows a zeolite that, thanks to its molecular structure, contains pores, which allows it to work like a very fine filter.
In many pools, sand is used to filter the water. Sand filters up to 25 micron (1 micron = 1 millionth of a meter). Zeolites can filter up to 3 micron. Aqualite™ filters up to 1 micron. All bacteria ( 1- 5 micron ) including the bacteria that are resistant to chlorine are filtered from the water. Another thing that’s very important for the filtering process, is the ion exchange, which determines in what order the heavy metals and other polluting substances are removed.
After many years of investigation throughout the world, Aqualite™ has shown to possess the unique characteristic which starts the ion exchange with the NH4 (ammonium). The NH4 forms a process in Aqualite™ that takes one to two hours. Everything that’s filtered afterwards attaches to the NH4 in the Aqualite™ which means that it will stick to the Aqualite™, like in a honeycomb.
NH4-ions are quite reactive which means that they can react with the chlorine used to disinfect the pool. The chlorine loses its effect because of this. In pools, this is compensated by adding additional chlorine. Of course, the excess chlorine causes unpleasant odors in the pool as well as skin and eye irritation for the swimmers. Therefore, if you would like to make efficient use of the chlorine, it is essential for pool water that you make sure that the NH4 ions are present in small amounts or not present at all. The ion exchange priority order of this zeolite makes sure that these zeolites form a suitable solution for cleaning pools, since, due to its ion-exchanging order it first removes all NH4 ions and collects them.
Equally important is the Active area. With regard to Aqualite™ this is 50-200m2/g, with regard to other zeolites this is 39 m2/g maximum. This means that Aqualite™ is able to filter out the pollution 1-5 times faster, because the pores at the molecular level of organization in the Aqualite™ are 0.1-1.0 Nano big (the thickness of a hair is 200.000 Nano). This in turn has the advantage that the filter time can be decreased (less electricity) and that less backwashing is required (less water consumption).
In addition Aqualite™ zeolite distinguishes itself from other zeolites due to its filtering effect, since, just like other zeolites, it consists of a grid of intricate pores, however, as opposed to other zeolites it has a better stretch so that a greater surface can be covered with a smaller amount. This explains the better Active Area with regard to other zeolites.
All above-mentioned factors allow for a reduction in chemical costs of at least 40% for public pools and 60% for smaller, private pools.
Plus points
- No irritation to eyes and respiratory system. (recommendable to people who are sensitive to chlorine)
- The pool water feels more pleasant due to the absence of chlorine.
- The pool water contains less solutes, which leads to a osmotic value. This makes the water feel lighter when you’re in it.
- No wrinkled hands after a long time in the water, degradation of sebum layer is reduced by the lower amount of chlorine.
- Environmentally friendly by disposing clean waste water.
- Backwashing water may be reused for watering plants, vegetables and fruit. This leads to a healthy and accelerated growth since the backwashing water is enriched with oxygen.
- All in all, Aqualite™ is a filter system that deals with power and water in a more efficient manner than the conventional filter system based on sand and chlorine, currently available on the market.