Chlorine Free Sun shock pool ionizer/purifier - Real or gimmick?

[andyth]

During my research as a newb, I came across this product which supposedly reduces your chlorine intake for any pools upto 80%. Has anyone used it? Is this for real? Granted it maybe on the expensive side if the anodes last only for a year/season (at $60). But is it worth exploring if it truly allows you to reduce chlorine that much. Wifey hates chlorine as it messes up with hair a lot.

Any opinions? Anyone used this before? Good results? Reviews seem to be really positive, but could be "fake reviews."

Sun Shock Chlorine-Free Sun Shock Pool Ionizer and Purifier-RSI-1000 - The Home Depot

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum! :handshake:

Alternative sanitizers and pools--The Truth!!

Or as one of our esteemed moderators says "All magic and no rabbit"

Chlorine is what sanitizes pools the easiest, most effective way. And is required even if you have that device in your pool.

Take care.

 

[Jhsparky82]

Yeah, it'll kill algae. Read the description tho. It's a solar panel running a copper anode, dumping copper ions into your pool. And probably nothing to stop it until the pool turns green, stains everything, and you pull it out. So yeah, copper ions kill algae, but nothing else really, you still need chlorine, and you'll eventually have an emerald green pool and stained hair. That's a hard pass for me.

 

[Donldson]

It introduces copper in to the pool, something we are very much not a fan of here. Copper kills algae but offers no sanitation. If also stains pools, fingernails, and hair. Green hair does not come from chlorine...

On top of that, it is a very expensive and slow way to introduce copper. If someone wants copper in their pool (which again, we strongly advise against) it is much faster and way cheaper to just add some copper sulfate. This thing and it's dinky solar panel will add virtually none. It is barely anything more than an expensive placebo for your pool.

Get your pool up and running to TFPC specs and report back about your wife's opinion of it. I think you are going to find she is placing the blame for her hair on the wrong thing. It is amusing that chlorine gets blamed for every pool discomfort, yet we run higher chorine levels than anyone else and have none of those problems. No smell, no stinging eyes, no brittle hair, no green hair, etc. As if an entire industry has to convince people that running lower chlorine is good so they can sell a bunch of products to keep algae out of an inadequately chlorinated pool...

EDIT: Just want to add a comment about the reviews. I'm sure many or most of them are legitimate. People know so little about water chemistry that they dump this and that in and whatever the last thing they put in is the miracle product that worked when nothing else would, at least according to the review they will leave. Best to take all reviews of pool products with a few grains of salt.