What Our Friends at Bio-Active Products Have Learned From Introducing Cyanuric Acid Reducer To The Pool Industry
Cyanuric Acid Reducer safely reduces high levels of Cyanuric Acid in your pool
Cyanuric acid accumulation is a decades old issue in water quality management for residential and commercial pools since the introduction of cyanuric acid as a chlorine stabilizer in the 1950’s. Stabilized chlorine products have proven safe for consumer use, convenient and efficacious. Unlike chlorine, which is consumed during the sanitization process, cyanuric acid does not readily degrade and accumulates overtime in pools.
Excess levels of cyanuric acid cause several key issues with pool cleanliness and stability:
- Over-stabilization of chlorine reduces chlorine’s efficacy as a sanitizer, therefore the effectiveness of chlorine to sanitize your pool is diminished. In these conditions, pool water chemistry is hard to balance and pools are subject to algae growth.
- High levels of cyanuric acid renders chlorine ineffective in killing the most dangerous microorganisms in your pool water such as Cryptosporidium parvum (a chlorine resistant microorganism which is known to cause gastrointestinal illness).
- It is a health and safety issue, which is why there are regulated limits for cyanuric acid levels in public pools that range from 40-100ppm depending on the jurisdiction.
- As an acid, cyanuric acid will etch and damage pool plaster surfaces making them porous and abrasive overtime.
Water is a precious resource
Despite many prior attempts, the industry has never had a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to remove cyanuric acid from swimming pool water. Unfortunately, the solution has been to either ignore the issue and battle increasing water quality issues with other chemicals or to drain and refill the pool, wasting gallons and gallons of water.
The drain and refill solution is coming under increasing pressure due to drought conditions in many states and the general need to improve use of our limited water resources. Specifically, states such as California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Georgia, and even Maryland face water shortages at times based on a variety of environmental factors.
The introduction of Cyanuric Acid Reducer
In 2015, Bio-Active Products Inc., in partnership with BiOWiSH Technologies, launched a revolutionary new product for the pool industry called Cyanuric Acid Reducer. Bio-Active introduced the Cyanuric Acid Reducer to great excitement in the industry, which has long needed a solution that does not involve draining the pool.
Designed specifically to reduce cyanuric acid in pools where the cyanuric acid reading has gone above 100ppm, the product is meant to eliminate the need to drain pools and waste water. Bio-Active Cyanuric Acid Reducer is a microbial product based on a patented discovery that allows nitrogen containing molecules to be broken down effectively in swimming pool like conditions. It consists of 100% natural material that accelerates the natural pathways of decomposition of cyanuric acid in the pool.
The benefits of using Bio-Active Cyanuric Acid Reducer in your pool include
- There are no other impacts on water chemistry and the pool can continue to be used during treatment.
- The full reaction is completed in 7 days and both the cyanuric acid and the product itself are 100% biodegradable and leave the pool in the form of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and as water.
- The product is compatible with all outdoor pool, filter and sanitizer systems commonly in use.
What we’ve learned from the pool market and our customers
Tools to measure cyanuric acid in pools are limited and insufficient. Due to the lack of a convenient and cost-effective way to reduce cyanuric acid, there are many pools, particularly in the sunbelt states, with very high cyanuric acid levels. We have found that these pools can measure above 300ppm, with some measuring up to 800ppm.
Former industry test methods for cyanuric acid levels were limited in range, with most able to read up to a maximum of 100 or 150ppm. In the past, a reading beyond the test limits resulted in a recommendation to do a partial drain of the pool, refill and then re-test the levels.
Pools with very high starting levels, particularly plaster pools where significant cyanuric acid bound with plaster can leach back into the water, would often show significant reductions of cyanuric acid when treated with the Bio-Active Cyanuric Acid Reducer but would still read above the maximum test assay limit.
Due to a high reading after using Bio-Active Cyanuric Acid Reducer some pool professionals and consumers would then wrongly conclude the product had not worked in that pool. For example, if current testing methods shows your pool’s cyanuric acid to be 100 or higher, because that is the highest level the testing can show; the reality could be your pool’s cyanuric acid levels are 200, 250 or 300. This means the Bio-Active Cyanuric Acid Reducer could have reduced your cyanuric acid in half from 200 to 100 but the test strip still shows 100. Therefore, we concluded we needed to produce and provide test strips that could measure cyanuric acid levels above 100 or 150.
How Bio-Active Cyanuric Acid is applied to the pool is important
Swimming pool water has been maintained with chemicals to date, so introducing a biological product into the industry requires greater attention to usage instructions to ensure correct compatibility with water chemistry. Bio-Active Cyanuric Acid Reducer is innovative and proven to work in our recommended conditions, which we have made into an easy, 6 step process.
Steps to success with Bio-Active Cyanuric Acid Reducer
- Based on extensive research and testing with our customers, Bio-Active is introducing a high-range test strip manufactured by Hach that will accurately read cyanuric acid up to 300ppm. The test strips will be used by key retail partners and made available to purchasers of the product in retail channels.
- Simplified usage instructions are available and very specific. We have created a set of instructions with 6 steps to follow that ensure Bio-Active Cyanuric Acid Reducer will work or you in your pool. The 6 steps are available on our website: bioactivenow.com.
- We have set up a toll-free phone number providing continuous tech support. Please call 866-765-2704 for assistance.
- We attend as many industry tradeshows as possible so you can come talk to us. We will be happy to discuss Bio-Active Cyanuric Acid Reducer with you and make sure you understand how to use the product correctly.
- Bio-Active fully backs our product with warranty support and in-field tech support. If you have a problem or need help with usage instructions, please let us know.
Our big learnings – what we have changed
We learned that as a company, we needed to ensure that appropriate test systems exist with sufficient user knowledge and education before introducing a revolutionary product into the market. The new test strips have been created specifically for measuring cyanuric acid levels up to 300ppm, which will provide accurate readings, both before and after product use.
In the beginning, we did not invest enough time training pool industry professionals on how the product works and how to use the product effectively. We have changed that and we are now investing the time to train and educate pool industry professionals properly. These pool industry professionals can then support others in understanding how to properly use the product.
Our continuing research and outreach efforts show that market interest for the Bio-Active Cyanuric Acid Reducer remains unbelievably high. The pool industry wants to solve the high cyanuric acid issue in a cost effective and sustainable way that saves water. As a company, we are committed to providing a great product that reduces cyanuric acid in swimming pools without the need to drain pools.
For more information on Bio Active Products, or for details on purchasing Bio-Active Cyanuric Acid Reducer, please visit Bio Active HERE