A green technique for cleaning up your pool

Here in chilly Washington, I don't know many people with pools, so I'm not an absolute authority on this topic. From what I understand, pools can be a joy, but can also be an enormous drain on the environment. The energy required to maintain and heat a pool is enormous. Chemical processing of the water can cause hazardous chemicals like chlorine to leak out and pollute local ecosystems.

Luckily, companies are sprouting up to address the need for a greener pool. Ecosmartepool.com is one of them. Not only have they invented an eco-friendlier alternative for cleaning your pool, but they also donate 5% of their profits to environmental charities. You even get to choose which one!

At the core of their offering is a way to keep your pool chemical free through use of a pool ionizer. This technique adds copper ions to the pool's water, which are lethal to bacteria and algae, but safe for humans (according to the EPA).  From their website:

"Copper ionization was developed in 1967 for the Apollo Space Program to insure safe drinking water and to control scale in cooling systems during space missions. The ECOsmarte System incorporates this same technology. The copper ions created by the ECOsmarte System are safe and essential for humans, plants and animals, but are lethal to bacteria, algae and some viruses. By adding these ions to your pool or spa water, the ECOsmarte System basically kills bacteria, algae and certain viruses and prevents them from growing in the water.

Copper ions are only added to the water for a few hours each week in swimming pools and only a few minutes each week or month in spas. The residual sanitizer in the water, produced by the ionization process, is recognized by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Because both copper ionization and oxidation is natural, there will never be any chemical backwash. Making it safe for the environment to drain and backwash your pool."

This technique also saves a a significant amount of energy over traditional filtration systems.

They also claim that their techniques are superior over the benefits of salt water pools because the water quality is better, the water is less corrosive, and the energy needs are significantly lower.

I'm not sure cost-wise how their systems compare to traditional filtration systems, but if you are thinking about putting in a pool, they seem worth checking out.