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  Richard A. Falk October 21, 2010 at 2:33pm

  Juanita,
  
  Yes, metal ion products cannot be used by themselves in any commercial/public pool in the U.S. since all state/county regulations require the use of an EPA-approved disinfectant so that pretty much limits things to chlorine, bromine, Baquacil/biguanide/PHMB for pools and spas plus N2 with MPS for spas.
  
  There are no government regulations for disinfection of residential pools or spas. You can soak in raw sewage as far as the government is concerned. This is similar to the difference between restaurants and other commercial cooking facilities that are highly regulated for safety while you can pretty much do anything you want in your own kitchen. The government rules that do exist for pool/spa disinfection are FIFRA regulations that define what pesticide products can say on their labels, literature and websites. Metal ion products cannot say that they "kill bacteria" or are a "disinfectant" or "sanitizer", though they can say things like "controls bacteria to eliminate odors", etc. Unfortunately, some manufacturers have taken liberties, especially on websites, and claim more than is legal to do so (and I generally report such things to the EPA when I see them as I dislike dishonesty and deceit).
  
  As for safety, the risk of person-to-person transmission in a residential pool/spa is far lower since you don't have the commercial/public pool situation where one person can infect dozens if not hundreds or more people. However, it's a spectrum of risk where using metal ion systems is better than nothing at all, but not nearly as good as using one of the EPA-approved disinfectants. Personally, if I wanted a non-halogen (non-chlorine, non-bromine) system, I'd use N2 with MPS, but if I had to use copper ions, then I'd at least have something else in the water to kill fecal coliform bacteria such as a PolyQuat algaecide (which also kills bacteria, though slowly) which also happens to be a clarifier as well.
  
  As for the link, you can try doing a Control-Click on the link and opening it up in a new tab or window (there seems to be a problem on PGN right now directly clicking on links) or you can copy/paste the following into a new tab/window (without the quotes):
  
  "http://www.troublefreepool.com/converting-my-ecosmarte-system-to-chlorine-t24194.html#p205939"
  
  Richard
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  Juanita Gwinn October 21, 2010 at 1:34pm

  Richard,
  Thank you for your information. That was very helpful. I couldn't get your link 'more info here' to work however. I appreciate your time! If I'm understanding your points below correctly, if Pristine Blue may be ok for a personal hot tub/spa but would definitely not be the best for a "public" spa situation. Again, thank you.
  Juanita
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  Richard A. Falk October 20, 2010 at 11:55pm

  Like many other copper ion products such as Clearwater Blue, PristineBlue® is not a disinfectant in spite of some of their claims. Copper ions at pool/spa concentrations will not kill nor even control fecal coliform bacteria because such bacteria live in the body (G.I. tract, mostly) where the copper ion concentration is already around 0.8 to 1.1 ppm so these bacteria readily tolerate low levels of copper ions. Copper ions will kill other bacteria including Legionella, but except for that bacteria it generally kills much more slowly than chlorine (more details here). Basically, copper ions are a good for killing algae but not much else and are not very effective against viruses (again, at pool/spa concentrations -- don't be confused by the claims that refer to solid copper surfaces or high concentrations and long contact times used for washing crops, etc.).
  
  You'll need an oxidizer of some sort and usually these systems use a non-chlorine shock such as potassium monopersulfate (MPS).
  
  If someone wants a non-halogen (i.e. not chlorine or bromine) system for spas/hot tubs that is a disinfectant, then Nature2 with MPS fits that bill. The silver ions in Nature2 combined with MPS at hot spa temperatures kills pathogens quickly enough to pass EPA DIS/TSS-12. The only other disinfectants for spas (and also for pools) are chlorine, bromine and Baquacil/biguanide/PHMB.