We would like to switch to the SpaBalancer. Now our question: Is it still possible to measure the disinfection content with the Blue Connect Pool Analyzer? This measures the redox value.
Answer:
I looked at the Blue Connect Pool Analyzer. It is a very good device. You can still use it to monitor the pH value. Monitoring the redox value is not effective with SpaBalancer system care. The SpaBalancer system care consists of SpaBalancer Basic and SpaBalancer Ultrashock. The SpaBalancer Basic encapsulates pollutants. This prevents bacteria from finding food and dividing. The encapsulated substances are filtered out. This whole process has no effect on the redox voltage. As this part is responsible for up to 80% of the total cleaning, the measurement of the redox voltage would be too little for most of the time. SpaBalancer Ultrashock is an oxidizing agent. When this agent is added, the redox voltage of the water is increased. However, very little of SpaBalancer Ultrashock is dosed during normal operation. And since it is more effective than chlorine, the Blue Connect Pool Analyzer would permanently display a too low value. For explanation. Oxidizing agents such as chlorine or bromine increase the electrical voltage in the water. This is the so-called redox potential. This is measured. With chlorine and bromine this is a very sensible method. Chlorine and bromine form chloramine or bromine as waste products. These two substances are also measured by other measuring methods. They therefore measure the free chlorine or bromine and the bound bromine. The result is that there is enough chlorine or bromine in the water. In reality it can be that a high percentage of the measured chlorine and bromine consists of chloramine or bromine. Neither chloramine nor bromine is able to kill bacteria or keep the water clean.
Therefore one can get wrong measuring results and the water can be dirty despite correct chlorine/bromine values and contain many bacteria. Neither chloramine nor bromine increase the redox potential of the water. Thus the measurement of the redox potential provides very good results. With the SpaBalancer method, very little Ultrashock is added to the water. It can also be for days without Ultrashock. The Ultrashock used does not produce chloramines. So you can measure it very well with the test strips. The redox voltage would only increase slightly after the weekly addition of Ultrashock. If added after bathing (10 ml Ultrashock), this amount would be too small to significantly increase the redox voltage. It must also be taken into consideration that the chlorine content must be kept relatively high (at least 2.0 mg/l) in order to prevent the formation of deposits and biofilm in the water. This can be measured very well with the redox voltage. Since Ultrashock not only kills free bacteria effectively but can also penetrate biofilms and kill the bacteria in the biofilms (up to 99% of the bacteria live in the biofilm) and the Ultrashock 5 to 30 times more effective than chlorine kills the bacteria can keep the whirlpool bacteria-free with much smaller amounts. Conclusion: SpaBalancer Basic works by encapsulation and keeps the water clean. It cannot be measured with the redox voltage. SpaBalancer Ultrashock can be measured with the redox voltage. Because it kills 5 to 30 times more effective bacteria than chlorine or bromine it can be dosed much lower and therefore the Blue Connect Pool Analyzer would indicate a too low redox voltage.