Do liquid blankets really work?
I am looking for someone with real life experience with the different brands of liquid pool blanket.
Do the work?
Which one works best ?
Which one is most cost beneficial?
Any experiences in the upper part of US would be appreciated.
My customers trust me to do what is best for them.
I want to live up that trust.
Please email your opinions and experiences to me at john@aldenpool.com
Thank you
Minnesota john
Comments
Patrick,
If you are interested in at least the historical ingredients to the Flexible Solutions liquid solar covers (see here, for example), you can read patent 6,303,103 (here or here) where you will see that the key ingredient is a long-chain hydrocarbon with an alcohol end where the preferred embodiment is cetyl alcohol and was probably originally used in Tropical Fish which was discontinued and improved to be in EcoSavr™ and HeatSavr™. I believe that WaterSavr™ has 4.6% each of stearyl alcohol and cetyl alcohol. The key for good dispersal is to add additional chemicals such as calcium hydroxide as described in the patent. The carrier is usually something like isopropyl alcohol that will evaporate.
A long-chained hydrocarbon is insoluble in water, but the alcohol end is soluble so this sort of chemical will form a one molecule thick layer on the surface of the water with the alcohol end sticking in the water and the long-chain hydrocarbon sticking out. The net effect when there is little wind is to form a barrier that inhibits evaporation of the water. The compound will come out somewhat on skin and swimsuits, etc. when you leave the water, but the amount is so small as to not be noticeable by most people (though some have said they notice it -- I somewhat doubt that given the quantities). One needs to replenish the product to maintain a complete surface layer.
Richard
Patrick,
I want to thank you for your honesty and I agree with you that all pool products should be thoroughly researched before any recommendations are made. I am sorry that you had unpleasant experiences in the past, and maybe I can help a bit.
Wind seems to be a concern for you, and I can understand that. Liquid pool covers will be blown to one side of the pool if there are strong winds, but they will also spread back out immediately after the wind dies down. Some of our clients in windy areas love using our cover because they don't have to worry about a plastic blanket blowing away, and they still get great coverage whenever it isn't really windy. There is a great story from a client in a windy area of NJk, if you would like to read it: Mandalay on the Hudson
We also have quite a few customers in Colorado - I would go so far as to say that is where a considerably large portion of our Commercial clients reside. That being said, a liquid cover isn't for everyone, just like any other product.
In regards to your question about the active ingredient, it is actually most commonly used in the cosmetics industry - in products like shampoo, conditioner, lotion and lipstick. You won't ever notice it on your skin or hair, but it certainly won't be anything new!
Again, thank you for your feedback, and if you have any other questions, you are welcome to contact me anytime.
I have sold this product to customers in Puerto Rico, and in the NYC tri state region. I have found that the product does live up to its expectations. In PR, customers have found that they never see the pool heater run, and to their astonishment, the pool actually increases in temp... I have seen this, and have had them reduce their dosage per day to ensure that the pool doesnt get too warm.
In NYC, Pools have had similar results, but overall, the customers have been very satisfied with the results.
if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
One of my customers asked me to look into one of these products over a year ago. I researched the product, which consists of an injection pump and gallons of this proprietary product. I got an MSDS sheet from the manufacturer that seemed to be a sheet for alcohol and didn't really mention what the active ingredient was. I contacted my supplier for info (probably one of the largest suppliers in the US, who will remain nameless), and my rep stated that after about one year most customers stop using the product. I was told that wind blows the "liquid cover to the far end of the pool, but it returns to cover it when the wind stops. My customer is at over 9,000 ft. above sea level in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where it is cold and windy. I reviewed all the testimonials in the manufacturer's brochures, many of which were for indoor pools, or warm weather pools. When I informed my customer that I recommended against using this product, I got a call from the manufacturer asking me why I didn't like the product. I responded with the information in this post. They didn't have a good response, and were baffled that my supplier (one of the major wholesalers of their product) would recommend against using their product.
My message is to thoroughly research this type of product before you recommend/ use it. If the pool is outdoors and in an area that has wind, it may not be a good choice. On the other hand, for an indoor pool, it may hold heat and cut down on evaporation/condensation significantly.
Also, the "active" ingredient seems to be a closely guarded secret, but I SUSPECT it is a light oil or wax that is in an alcohol carrier. Would you want the product in your hair or on you skin when you get out of the pool?
Research this product carefully before using/recommending it.
Just thought I would chime in with a pretty recent experience that we (Pool Services Technologies) had with the Flexible Solutions product. We were doing our R/O service on a 5 star resort in San Diego, on two large gutter pools. The rig works best when we shut down the pool pumps, as the pool water does not "blend" during cleaning this way. Obviously if the pumps are shut down, so are the heaters.
There were several celebrities and ball players at the resort this particular weekend, and heat loss was a very real concern for when the pools started back up. We purchased enough product to handle these pools while we filtered, and in 3 days of filtering (on each pool) we had a total heat loss of only 6 degree!
These pools are very close to the coast, and are kept at 84 degrees. For them to lose only six degrees, to me, is incredible. Needless to say, the resort management was very happy!
Do they work? I say yes!
-Bruce
John,
I work for Flexible Solutions, the original manufacturer of liquid pool covers. I will email you shortly and I hope I can answer all your questions. I know there are already a few discussions about liquid pool covers on the PGN, so I thought I would point you to those as well:
http://www.poolgeniusnetwork.com/forum/topics/liquid-pool-cover-iso...
http://www.poolgeniusnetwork.com/forum/topics/the-importance-of-poo...
http://www.poolgeniusnetwork.com/group/poolwaterconservation/forum/...
I hope these discussions help! The one thing that I would stress above all is that, if your customers trust you to do what is best for them, as you stated, you probably want to use a product that offers as much back up safety and efficiency data available.
Good luck!