To start off, no, we’re not talking about skinny dipping. We’re talking about the Naked Pool System, a system which promises to change your pool experience forever. The naked pool system is built around space technology which uses silver and copper to sanitise and purify your water without the excessive use of chemicals. (They use the same technology and principles to recycle waste water for drinking in space stations! what sort of "waste" water, we'll leave to your imagination)

So for those who are tired of dealing with chemicals, get comfortable and we may have the solution to your chemical handling problems. It’s now time to lay bare (pun intended) everything you wanted to know about the Naked Pool System.

A naked pool is the name used by the creator of the system to describe a freshwater pool. A pool that’s as close to nature as possible, meaning very low levels of chlorine and/or salt as well as other chemicals. Not only is the system gentle on the skin and the users, but it’s even gentle for the environment, a point which we will discuss later.

The Naked pool system hinges upon its control system and the electrode assembly. At first glance it might look like a saltwater chlorinator but that’s only skin deep. Traditional saltwater chlorinators have titanium plates that are coated with ruthenium or iridium to release the chlorine from salt. The naked pool system uses silver and copper anodes to oxidize and ionize the water.

Let’s break it down even further into what the system includes so we can understand exactly how the naked pool system works.

The Ioniser rod contains silver and copper anodes which have a specific role to play in the system, let's dive deeper shall we?

Silver, when ionized, releases silver ions into the pool water. It has been known for hundreds, even thousands of years that silver destroys bacteria and this is one of the pillars that the Naked Pool System stands on. The silver ions circulate around your pool, destroying any microorganisms that it comes into contact with while at the same time being safe and gentle to the pool users. Silver ions are not affected by UV or heat like traditional chlorine so you don’t have to worry about adding stabilisers to your pool like cyanuric acid.

Even since ancient times, copper has been used as storage vessels for water to prevent algae growth. This is the same principle that the Naked pool system utilizes. By releasing copper ions into the pool, algae growth is effectively controlled without the use for algaecides! The control box of the Naked system regulates everything so that only the right amount of copper ions is released into the pool.

As water passes through the oxidizing plates, small untraceable amounts of chlorine is also released into the water ensuring that whatever isn’t killed off by the silver and copper ions (like body oils and other organic matter) are effectively eliminated from your pool water. Before you react and say “But that’s chlorine!” we’d like to point out that even our tap water has tiny amounts of chlorine in it for that exact same reason so that’s not something to worry about.

There are many advantages to having your pool system converted to a Naked pool system and we’re going to lay them out in an easy to absorb way so that we can stay away from all of the technical jargon.

• Lower Chlorine Levels – The Silver and Copper ions released the system eliminates the need for high levels of chlorine making the system gentle on the skin. This is great for those with skin conditions like psoriasis, eczema, and skin asthma who are susceptible to chlorine irritation.
• Lower running costs – Since the ions released by the system are not affected by UV and pool temperature, this eliminates the use of cyanuric acid and other chemicals, as well as reducing the run time of the system saving you money from chemical and electricity costs.
• Environmentally friendly – Due to the extremely low chemical levels, you can actually recycle the waste water from the pool to water your plants! In traditional chlorine pools and saltwater pools, the water from backwashes will go directly to the sewer system due to their chemical content, water from Naked Pool systems can actually be used in your garden.
• Just like tap water – This is one of the best features of the Naked Pool system in our opinion. After taking a dip in a pool with the Naked Pool System, it feels like we just got out from the shower. No sticky feeling, no strong “pool smell” in our hair. All of our bathing gear smells like they just came out from the wash instead of smelling like a wet chemical rag!
• Less corrosion – Because of the low levels of chemicals, every other bit of pool equipment will last longer. From pool fittings, poolside furniture, and even your robotic pool cleaner, they’ll all suffer less corrosion damage because of the extremely low chemical levels. And yes, your bathing gear won’t fade as fast as there is no bleaching effect from chlorine!

There is only one disadvantage of getting a naked pool system that we can think of at this point and that is the price of entry. A Naked Freshwater System will cost you close to $4,000 to install. This is a pretty large investment especially if you already have a saltwater chlorinator in place. But if you’re just planning on building a pool or you’re still manually balancing your pool with chlorine and chemicals then this is something that should be considered. Add to the fact that you’ll pretty much spend that much on pool chemicals in maintenance over the years, the Naked pool system is a very attractive option.

The system can be installed just like a regular saltwater chlorination system so if you’re handy with tools, it’s very easy to do it yourself or if not, your local pool expert can do it for you with no problems. The Naked Pool system can work with your existing cartridge filters or sand filters so you don’t have to worry about replacing any of your existing pool equipment just to accommodate the new Naked pool Systems.

There are a number of things to take note of when you have a Naked pool system installed. These things may damage your system and are unnecessary so you can just take them off of your shopping list.

• Zeolite Filter Media – If your current sand filter uses Zeolite media then replace it with traditional pool sand or glass sand media as zeolite can trap the copper ions released by the system. On the plus side, traditional and glass sand media is much cheaper than Zeolite so that’s a bit of savings down the line.
• Stabilized Chlorine and Stabilizers – You don’t need cyanuric acid for your pool and it will interfere with the proper functioning of the system. That’s another thing to scratch off of your shopping list.
• Flocculants – Yes, no need to floc your pool anymore as the system will naturally bind with tiny particles, allowing them to be trapped by your filtration system without the need for flocculants. Plus the aluminum in flocculants will interfere with the normal operation of the system as well. Another thing to scratch off of your pool chemical list.
• Bromine Compounds – Yep! No more need to add bromine if you use it. Scratch off!
• Granular Chlorine – No more need to add granular chlorine as well (plus it might set off some sort of reaction with the oxidizing plates so avoid adding it as well!)

With a chemical-free or freshwater pool system like the Naked pool system, you’re still going to need to balance your pool chemicals, but only minimal balancing is required. You only need to test and check for three components and they are:

• pH
• Alkalinity
• Calcium Hardness

We’ve gone over how to balance your pool’s chemical levels extensively in our pool chemical 101 guide. If you plan on getting a Naked pool system, you can check out the guide and basically ignore 75% of what’s written there and just focus on the pH, Alkalinity and calcium hardness levels. Actually, pH and Alkalinity is so closely tied together that you’re basically just checking and balancing for pH and Calcium hardness! If that isn’t minimal, then I don’t know what is.

Aside from the initial cost, there isn’t really anything else holding back people from getting a Naked Pool System installed. The advantages off getting one vastly outweighs the initial cost of the system. Plus, the savings from chemicals purchases and the amount of time and effort expended to maintain the pool is cut dramatically. Reach out to us below on the contact form if you need any more information on the Naked pool system and our easy payment plans to see if we can work out a plan to spread payments on a new Naked pool system. You’ll never know, a chemical-free freshwater pool may be closer than you think!