POOLSAFE

POOLSAFE is a novel swimming pool water treatment for the detection and elimination of excess cyanuric acid.
The continuous growth of microorganisms represents the main danger in pool water. There are continuous risks due to the growth of both bacteria and viruses that can lead to a number of different diseases. The most common disinfectant is chlorine, which is always found in its active form, hypochlorous acid (HOCl), in pool water. HOCl is rapidly decomposed by UV light, losing its bactericide effect, and a continuous supply is needed to maintain safe levels of microorganisms in pool water. Cyanuric acid (CYA) stabilises HOCl and is added to pool water to slow down the degradation of HOCl. CYA does not degrade directly by sun light however, and the CYA concentration therefore rises steadily over time. At high CYA levels, chlorine is overstablished, rendering it ineffective as a disinfectant. This increases the risk of recreational water illnesses and acceptable levels of CYA are therefore regulated by law. Up to now, the only viable solution to this problem was to replace some of the pool water with fresh water, which poses environmental concerns due to the large consumption of water this implies.
POOLSAFE involves an efficient solution for CYA problem by developing a soft sensor to monitor the levels of CYA and other pool water quality parameters, as well as a simple, cost-effective method for degrading excess CYA, using photocatalysis. With its both methods develpoped in Poolsafe that ensures that CYA never reach a hazardous level, POOLSAFE has reduced the environmental impact of swimming pool maintenance by eliminating the need to periodically replace the pool water, provide improved safety to bathers by ensuring that chlorine lock and the subsequent lack of sanitation is prevented, and ensure compliance with health and safety regulations for pool water. Degradation of CYA by photocatalysis has been based on the results of some research articles developed previously.
POOLSAFE Project has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme managed by REA Research Executive Agency, FP7-SME-2011-BSG, under Grant Agreement n° .
POOLSAFE has come out in some media:
* La voz de Najerilla
* HYDREOS
Concept and project objectives
Around the world there are close to 13 million of swimming pools, approximately 4.4 million (29%) of which are found in Europe and the 59% are located in North America, while the rest of the world has only 1.65 million of swimming pools (12%). The use of cyanuric acid in many of these swimming pools, involve a problem that Poolsafe project has solved by developing a treatment method that reduce the need of periodically replace swimming pool water with fresh water.
Poolwater quality control
Bathers and other agents are continually introducing microorganisms into the pool water that can have a detrimental effect on the health of bathers leading to a number of diseases. Therefore, the health and safety of bathers is an important matter that is decribed in some reports or directives published by different organizations. Chemical pool water disinfection is therefore mandatory by law throughout Europe and strictly regulated on a national level by the health authorities, with the most common disinfectant being chlorine. Organizations such as WHO (World Health Organization) and EEA (European Environmental Agency) also regularly publish guidelines and studies on safe recreational water environments and bathing water quality, and a European Bathing Water Quality Directive (2006/7/EC) exists to monitor and manage bathing water quality and public awareness of it. This directive is complementary to the main European directive on water protection and management, the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC).
Pool water chemestry
Chlorine is the most common disinfectant used in the swimming pools due to its efficiency as a bacteriocide. It can be added to pool water in various forms, including chlorine gas (Cl2), hypochlorite salts (e.g NaOCl), dichlor (C3Cl3N3O3) or trichlor (). However, regardless of what chlorine compound is added to the water, all of them form hypochlorous acid in water that destroys impurities not removed by filtration. The amount of free chlorine in the pool water that is available to sanitize or disinfect the water, otherwise known as free chlorine, is the most important parameter to be considered in the disinfection of the water, and the recommended level in most countries is 1-4ppm. Since chlorine undergoes various reactions in pool water it is used up, and the free chlorine levels need to be constantly replenished. Chlorine consumption is influenced by external environmental factors, which determine the amount that needs to be added to the pool water.
Probably the most important reaction of HOCl in pool water is its rapid decomposition in the presence of sun light, which makes it is extremely difficult to maintain a residual amount of chlorine in outdoor pools. The solution to this problem is to add cyanuric acid (CYA), commercially known as conditioner, to the water, which reacts with HOCl and stabilizes it against photochemical decomposition by sunlight. This reduces the consumption of the disinfectant and increasing the duration of the disinfectant effect.
Although the addition of CYA is necessary to stabilise free chlorine in outside swimming pools, CYA has an inherent drawback. In contrast to chlorine, CYA is resistant to degradation, so that the concentration of CYA in the pool rises steady over time.
Poolsafe system
CYA soft sensor. The soft sensor is based on a software with which several measurements or signals are processed together. The interaction of these easy to measure signals have been used to calculate directly the CYA concentration by creating an intermediate algorithm from which CYA concentration has been calculated. The soft sensor can therefore provide a continuous on-line prediction of CYA as well as other easy to measure signals.
Photocatalytic reactor. A mixture of Titanium dioxide (TiO2) with other photocatalysts has been used in Poolsafe project. TiO2 is one of the most used material in the industry to destroy organic or inorganic compounds by photocatalysis. The degradation of organic molecules using photocatalysts is usually performed under ideal laboratory conditions using both batch systems and lab scale photoreactors. The developed experimental process has been transferred to an industrial one by the design and construction of a photocatalytic reactor in which the photocatalyst has been immobilised on a fixed support material in a continuous-flow configuration.
Both devices have been installed in a swimming pool located in AQUALAR Sport Center, Lardero (La Rioja, Spain) and they are working under real conditions since 11 June 2016.
Consortium of the project
The POOLSAFE consortium includes research and industrial partners:
Project Coordinator and SME partner - Diasa Industrial S.A, Spain.
DIASA is a technological SME devoted to innovation, investigation and development in the chemical field. Diasa works directly in Spain and Portugal markets and also with several distributors in Europe and other parts of the world.
Diasa group has a company in Peru called DIASA PERU SAC, located in Lima in order to commercialize its products in South America, a commercial office in Shanghai and a company located in Hong-Kong to import - export its products "IMPORT & EXPORT LIMITED". It also has a laboratory in Spain "Laboratorios LAC", and other companies like DIASA EXPORTA -2.
Their steady economic growth during the last few years has taken DIASA from a national to an international company, and they now have over 3000 customers in a lot of different countries. They collaborate actively in R&D projects with official organizations and private companies, allowing the company to constantly bring new products and services onto the market. The swimming pool water treatment division is the department of DIASA has shown the most growth in recent years. With more than 20 years’ experience in the world of swimming pools, DIASA manufactures and distributes chemical products and machinery for the treatment of swimming pool water, as well as analysing water quality and providing a consultancy service to its clients.
(SME) T.E. Laboratories Ltd., (TelLab), Ireland.
T.E. Laboratories (TelLab) is a multidivisional environmental monitoring company. T.E. Laboratories was established in 1991. Divisions include an environmental testing laboratory accredited to ISO 17025 standard, R&D, oil testing and chemical manufacturing and distribution. T.E. Laboratories employ highly qualified technical staff and their facilities include specialist laboratory equipment and workspaces. They are currently involved in several funded projects as both partner and coordinator. These projects include several FP7 projects and nationally funded projects.
(SME): Euro Filtr'eaux (FILT), France.
FILT is an SME which sells a patented process for the treatment of domestic hot water called the CACF. It is an environmentally friendly multi-action water treatment method which does not change the chemical composition of the water. The innovative process prevents limestone deposits and de-scales encrusted water circuits. It also prevents corrosion and algae and fights against legionella.In addition, FILT makes its own de-scaling products and sells them to heating fitters and to the maintenance services of various industries. They have a team of designers and technicians who participate in R&D activities to create new products adapted to the needs of the target industry.
(LE): Ociosport (OCIO), Spain.
OCIO is an SME founded in 1993 and dedicated to provision of management services to public and private entities. The company originated in response to the growing need for public administrations to outsource the management of their sports facilities, and they have grown steady to become a company with a national reputation. Since then have expanded their services to include other areas and the services they currently provide include general management of sports facilities, building and facilities maintenance, management of sports activities and food services, and technical assistance and consultancy. In this role, the maintenance and management of swimming pools forms an integral part of their business. In addition to managing other sports centres, OCIO manages 8 municipal sports centres in 4 Spanish autonomous communities.
(RTD): Instituto de Biologia Experimental Tecnológica (IBET), Portugal.
IBET is a private non-profit research institute which provides cutting-edge applied research and collaborative support to the industry in the specialist fields of Life Sciences, Biotechnology and Engineering. It is engaged in a wide range of research activities, as well as providing laboratory, technical and consultancy services to many industries including biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical, food and chemical. IBET’s mission is to create, implement and transfer scientific knowledge for the benefit of society by translating knowledge created by Research Institutes and into a focused and efficient industrial process.
Over the years, IBET has established a worldwide network of knowledge with industry and academia through participation in R&D projects, research contracts and other partnerships. IBET has a long experience in the development of on-line monitoring systems in real-scale applications and has been involved in R&D projects for implementation of these advanced monitoring devices, data acquisition and development of algorithms for process control. IBET uses multivariate statistical analysis to develop robust systems that allow for process monitoring, decision and control. IBET scientific excellence is demonstrated by its collaboration with big names such as Bayer and Merck and the large number of patents and spin-off companies originating from its research, as well as its extensive list of scientific publications.
(RTD): Tecnologías Avanzadas Inspiralia (INSP), Spain.
Tecnologías Avanzadas Inspiralia (INSP) is a private research center located in Madrid and La Rioja regions (Spain). From the beginning of its business activity, INSP’s objective has been to serve as a strategic ally in helping European SMEs to identify and develop innovative new products and services. INSP plays an active part in the complete development cycle, from the validation of ideas, to the search for industrial and technological partners on a European level and the basic research required to bring the new technologies onto the market. Their areas of expertise in the research field are Advanced Materials,
Computational Engineering, Electronics and Communications, Industrial Control, and Intelligent Systems, and they complement this expertise through collaboration with research partners throughout Europe. In particular, Inspiralia’s Advanced Materials Group is a multi-disciplinary team with more than 35 years of combined experience in delivering R&D to the industry in the technological fields of, among others, the synthesis of photo catalytic TiO2 nanoparticles, micro and nanoencapsulation of organic and inorganic particles. In the last 5 years, INSP has participated in more than 30 research project on a European level and been instrumental in and helped to bringing a number of new products onto the market.

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