Ok according to my dh, I am taking this 'natural' thing too far... do any of you worry about the chlorine in pools? I keep thinking about the fact that when I take the girls swimming I am bathing them in bleach!!!!

I have a beautiful pool and this always crossed my mind but for some reason it is really bothering me lately.

It does indeed bother me, but we don't have a pool...
When we're at a water park, I satisfy myself with showering before going home.

It bothers me. I try not to go to indoor pools because of air quality.

If you have your own pool you don't need to use chlorine--there are lots of effective/less harmful options out there. Here's one http://www.pristineblue.com/

Wow thanks for this link... I'm going to look into it and try to convince (not so worried) dh! ;)

Yep, bugs me too... that's why when/if we build our dome home we're putting in a natural pool :love nothing filters better than aquatic plants :thumb

My dh is an aquatic toxicologist, an environmental scientist who specializes in water quality and water toxins. When we had a pond, with a stream to keep the water flowing and aquatic plants, we still had to put some stuff in it to kill the algae. Algae bloom can be toxic to humans. My point - there is no such thing as a completely natural pool or man-made pond because real ponds and pools have water circulating in and out of them - streams and rivers. Our pond had circulating water but it was still the same water. Any water that just sits is going to be susceptible to all sorts of potentially hazardous toxins. Now, that does not mean that chlorine is the answer. I do worry about chlorinated pools when we go swimming. I grew up with a chlorinated pool but my dad did not use as much as a rec center pool does. We just don't go often and only stay in a max of 45 minutes to avoid overexposure. If you have your own backyard pool, looking into the alternatives to chlorine is a great idea. But, you still need to have something in the pool that is going to prevent your family from being exposed to fecal matter, bacteria, viruses, not to mention the hazards that come from the occasional animal or bird that strays into the pool by accident and drowns.

But, you still need to have something in the pool that is going to prevent your family from being exposed to fecal matter, bacteria, viruses, not to mention the hazards that come from the occasional animal or bird that strays into the pool by accident and drowns.

Yuck.

I don't worry so much about the chlorine b/c of what the alternatives are. We don't have our own pool, but we LOVE to swim so we spend a lot of time in the summer at the community pools. If I've got to choose between chlorine and fecal matter, I'll take the former.

Yep, bugs me too... that's why when/if we build our dome home we're putting in a natural pool :love nothing filters better than aquatic plants :thumb

I read a article in Mother Earth News a few years ago on building a
natural pool. It's a goal to build on my land....haven't got to it yet.

I looked online and found the article for you. Here is the link.

Natural Pool (http://www.motherearthnews.com/top_articles/2002_August_September/Natural_Swimming_Pools)

Ok according to my dh, I am taking this 'natural' thing too far... do any of you worry about the chlorine in pools? I keep thinking about the fact that when I take the girls swimming I am bathing them in bleach!!!!

I have a beautiful pool and this always crossed my mind but for some reason it is really bothering me lately.

Which is why our pool is salt water, not chlorine.

Irishmommy how do you do a salt water pool? I've never heard of it.

Well, we don't have a backyard pool, but all 3 of my guys are competitive swimmers that swim on 2 different teams year-round. My oldest is also a lifeguard at our neighborhood pool. We spend A LOT of time in pools! I tend to worry more about pools that don't seem to have the appropriate levels (feel slimy, etc) than about those with the proper amount of chlorine. Too much chlorine is definitely bad and if the level seems high to me I do ask to have it checked by staff (they always comply or show me the record of the most recent levels test...ok with me if it's within the last 30 minutes or so). When we spend time at indoor pools, sometimes the chlorine fumes worry me - but I try to let it go since my guys are passionate about swimming, I am not willing to make them stop...the physical/mental benefits they get from the sport are just too great. Just one more thing to worry about I guess.

Irishmommy how do you do a salt water pool? I've never heard of it.

I've posted about it before, in MHM, I think.

We use a Floatron in our pool. http://www.floatron.com/. It has dramatically reduced the amount of chemicals we've had to use in our pool. We have to "shock" it with chemicals in the spring, but then, we just let it run for a while without swimming in it and the chlorine levels drop to almost nothing once it's clean.

I read a article in Mother Earth News a few years ago on building a
natural pool. It's a goal to build on my land....haven't got to it yet.

I looked online and found the article for you. Here is the link.

Natural Pool (http://www.motherearthnews.com/top_articles/2002_August_September/Natural_Swimming_Pools) Yup, that's where I first came across the idea and I've been stuck on it ever since!

Moved to Natural Home and Body Care

I read a article in Mother Earth News a few years ago on building a
natural pool. It's a goal to build on my land....haven't got to it yet.

I looked online and found the article for you. Here is the link.

Natural Pool (http://www.motherearthnews.com/top_articles/2002_August_September/Natural_Swimming_Pools)

Cool article. Seems a lot like our little pond we had before dd was born. (we took it out rather than fence it in.) I think the reason ours got kinda slimy was that it was very deep but small across, so plants had a hard time growing in it. They were always falling in the deep end!

Fertilizers and urine are the two major sources of this nutrient, so make sure your pool is free of nutrient-rich runoff and remind everyone to use the bathroom before swimming.



No matter what type of pool you have, peeing in the pool is always a problem! :lol :lol

Yea I don't think there's a pool in the world that doesn't have pee in it, especially when there are little kids around :lol

LOL we must have a lot of pee then with soon-to-be four girls!

Ewwwwwh

Ok according to my dh, I am taking this 'natural' thing too far... do any of you worry about the chlorine in pools? I keep thinking about the fact that when I take the girls swimming I am bathing them in bleach!!!!

I agree with you. I absolutely will not let my children swim in treated pools. I take them to the parks and swim in lakes that have been tested my the city and are considered healthy for swimming. 60% of what gets on our skin gets absorbed into our bodies so I won't take any chances with my children. I'm a natural nut too so I don't think your taking the natural thing too far. I make my own anti-bug juice also because of my paranoid feelings about what my kids are exposed to. I don't care when other people say I'm taking things too far, they are my children so I'll protect them the way I see fit :wink And the kids don't mind - they love the lake.

outdoor - do you have a bug juice recipe??? i really need something for camp coming soon - we are in lyme disease territory here....

I use either of these recipes. One I got online and the other I just took from the ingredients used in a natural bug repellent I purchased a few years ago. I played with the amounts since they gave the percentages and I came up with something that works very well. My daughter used it when she went to an environmental camp with her 4th grade class in May and she said she was the only one who didn't have ticks on her or mosquito bites.

This is the one I took from the ingredients list of a natural product I purchased years ago:

5% Citronella Oil
2% Cedar Oil
2% Lemongrass Oil
1% Rosemary Oil
1% Geranium Oil

Beeswax
Olive Oil

This is one I found online:

1.5 ounces beeswax
1.5 ounces shea butter
1 ounce cocoa butter
2 ounces neem seed oil
15 drops eucalyptus essential oil
30 drops lemon scented tea tree essential oil
30 drops citronella essential oil

When solid, both of these recipes become like deoderant sticks so you will need something to put it in. A jar will work if you make enough. Even an old deoderant stick. You can leave out the beeswax and use the oil instead but I found that my kids don't really like the oily feel.

I make my own because it is less expensive than the natural products they are selling since I already use the EO's and other supplies for making other product. If you don't have any use for the essential oils other than to make this bug juice then its probably better to buy the natural product. BADGER is the company that makes the first recipe and BURTS BEES makes a natural bug repellent too but his is an oil spray.

Oh, I forgot:

Melt the olive oil and beeswas in a double boiler
Once melted pour into jar. Set aside too cool. Once the oil and beeswax cools to a warm then mix in the EO's.

For the other recipe (shea butter is a skin softner and isn't necessary). Melt the solids and again, add the EO's when warm. You can add a vitamin E tab to these recipes for the added benefit to the skin if you want.