Swimming Pool Blog
by Rob Cox January 31, 2013
Swimming Pool Ozonators Save the Planet!
Did you know that the hole in the Ozone layer has been shrinking? Yes! At the end of the last century, scientists feared the worst as they watched a steady and ever increasing depletion of our planet's atmosphere.
Since 2000, the Ozone layer has been slowly filling back in. There is still a sizable hole in the Ozone layer, but it's getting smaller every year. The ozone layer above Antarctica likely will not return to its early 1980s state until about 2060, according to NASA scientist Paul Newman.
The ozone layer, which helps protect the Earth from potentially dangerous ultraviolet rays that can cause skin cancer and cataracts, began developing holes on an annual basis in the 1980s.
The reason that the ozone layer has been shrinking shocked me. Would you believe chlorine? A product that has been such an integral part of my life, really. It was heartbreaking to learn. "The ozone hole mainly is caused by chlorine from human-produced chemicals, and these chlorine levels are still sizable in the Antarctic stratosphere." said NASA scientiest Paul Newman.
The reactive chlorine atom reacts with ozone in the stratosphere to produce oxygen gas molecules and chlorine oxide (ClO).
Cl(g) + O3(g) --> O2(g) + ClO(g)
This is the reaction that destroys the ozone layer. If things stopped here, the problems would actually be minimal. The chlorine oxide (ClO) can then react with another oxygen atom in the stratosphere to produce an oxygen molecule and a chlorine atom; which is available to start the whole ozone-destroying process all over again.
Chlorine use in swimming pools is on the decrease, and has been since the rapid rise in ozone use in swimming pools. I wondered, "Could this be the missing link, and why has no one else thought of this before?!?"
My theory, which I am now announcing to the world, is that the increased use of ozonators on swimming pools and spas during the last 20 years, has directly contributed to the ozone layer's amazing recovery.
Think about it - pool and spa ozonators, all over the world, pumping in the tiny ozone molecule into the water, where it quickly rises to the surface and gasses off. Then, it slowly rises, up and up, until it rejoins it's other ozone brothers in the heavens.
We have more work to do to help fill in the ozone layer. Each pool ozonator that is sold is one more square mile of ozone hole that is filled (based on my calculations). More ozonators need to be installed in 2013!
It got me thinking about how we could get the idea out to the world, so I contacted Jennifer Jones, with Acme Industries, the market leader in ozone systems for pools and spas.
I asked Jennifer, of Acme - what she thought about my ideas, and she said that she hadn't heard about ozonators fixing the ozone layer. So, I told her all about it, and we began to strategize on how to bring the message to the masses.
"Well, you could offer a deal with an ozonator and a salt generator" she offered. "Or how about coloring the ozone molecules, so you could see them as they float up?" I asked, thinking it was a great idea until she mentioned that we may end up being responsible for a large, soft pink halo over the earth, sort of a permanent, northern sunset.
"You could offer a free ozonator with every pool you guys sell" she said. I told her that we don't sell pools, but for a pool builder, yeah, that was a great idea.
"What about giving each purchaser of an Acme ozonator, some "Ozone Credits" I said, "Like a stock certificate to every pool and spa owner who uses ozone". She said her bosses would get nervous thinking about people laying claim to their "square mile" of ozone layer real estate some time in the future.
I don't think Jennifer really got my point, but her first idea stuck with me. I suppose it's a small sacrifice for us to help get more ozonators into the hands of pool and spa owners. So, starting today, Buy any Acme Ozonator and any of our Salt Generators together, and save $49.
Help put the ozone layer back together by installing an ozone system on your pool! You'll reduce your chlorine usage by about half, and your leftovers can stitch back together the fabric of our atmosphere, molecule by molecule! ;-)
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