The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday May 18, 2007 - 29 Spring HOME & GARDEN A salt-water pool for a fun swimming experience Choosing the best pool-water treatment can be a daunting task. There are a lot of questions surrounding salt-water pools. However, the benefits of this process are undeniable. A salt-water pool is simply a pool that uses a chlorine generator. Based on technology dating back over 200 years, this type of chlorinator has been on the market for dozens of years (1968 in Australia, 1975 in the United States). Its use in Canada was curbed because the technology was not well understood and the design of the equipment existing at the time was rudimentary. Furthermore, this system was not adapted to meet Canadian standards and costs were very high in relation to other disinfection technologies. As the technology evolved, the equipment became more efficient. The Canadian market is finally opening up following Health Canada's approval of various system components. With costs still quite high, the first systems were installed primarily in commercial pools. The democratization of the technology and massive distribution by Hayward have made salt-water chlorine generators financially accessible to individuals with an above-ground or in-ground pool. Salt-water pools were rare in the past, but are now quite common. Today, many retailers commonly install salt-water chlorine generators with the pools sold. Salt Water? Most people believe they are "sensitive" or "allergic" to chlorine, when in fact it is not the chlorine they are reacting to. The problem comes from by-products generated by chlorine and the chemical imbalance of the water (formation of chloramines). Swimmers who believe they are allergic to chlorine usually do not have any problem in salt-water pools. This original system, which automatically treats pool water, is now available on the market. You will enjoy its simplicity, and the peace of mind and safety it offers. Swimming in conventional pools makes skin dry and irritated. In a salt-water pool, water appears to be softer, skin is more elastic and many people feel more refreshed. Swimming in a pool with a mild saline solution makes the human body one with the pool water. Salt-water pools are often more relaxing than pools with standard treatments. Seawater has a saline concentration of about 35,000 parts per million ("ppm"). The salinity of the human body varies between 5,000 and 7,500 ppm. Chlorine generators maintain the pool's saline level between 1,000 and 4,000 ppm. A more pleasant swim By not using aggressive chemical products, you eliminate the formation of chloramines, which cause the irritations that most pool swimmers experience. The simplicity of the salt-water chlorine generator is its main attraction. One electrolytic cell is installed in the filtration mechanism. When the filtered water passes through it, a small amount of electrical current releases pure chlorine from the salt in gas form. This chlorine gas is immediately dissolved, thereby disinfecting the water, and returns to its initial salt form without forming any irritating byproducts (such as chloramines). The process is repeated as often as necessary. Practically no salt is used during the process. Salt is only added to top up the quantity lost when the reverse jet filter is washed. Pool water treated with this technology is crystalline and stable. With the purchase of a chlorine generator, you not only save money, but you also enjoy hours of fun in the pool. www.poolheaven.ca 10 tips to help your family go green With politicians and celebrities alike focusing on the environment, more and more teenagers are expressing interest in making a difference in the world around them. Besides encouraging your kids to reduce, reuse and recycle, here are 10 ways to help get your teens to think green. 1. Set an example: You won't have any credibility with your teen if you talk the talk without walking the walk. Make sure you're doing your part before you insist they do theirs. 2. Discuss the issues: Talk to your teens about what politicians are saying and doing when it comes to the environment. Ask them who they would support in an election and why. 3. Get the facts: Watch documentaries together and share magazine articles about environmental problems such as global warming, overpopulation, acid rain and species extinction. Talk about changes your family can make to positively affect the environment in your home and your community. 4. Encourage environmental efforts: Help your teen find time in his or her schedule to join environmental clubs or efforts such as the Otesha Project (www.otesha.ca), a youth movement towards sustainable consumption or the Canon Envirothon (www.envirothon.org), North America's largest high school environmental education competition where teens solve real environmental issues through in-class projects and to actually use the mug, let him or her choose it and hands-on field experiences. don't expect your style-conscious high schooler to use 5. Go gadget green: If your teen is a gadget fiend, the freebie you got at the gas station. make sure you've got enough rechargeable batteries on 9. Serve locally grown food: If you do the cooking in hand to keep them running. And when they've out- your family, make the conscious effort to serve locally grown or upgraded their cell phone, MP3 player, hand- grown produce. Explain that the average food item held videogame console or digital camera, make sure travels 2,000 km to reach your kitchen, which affects it's not thrown away, but either recycled or passed on to freshness, taste, nutrition, greenhouse gas emissions, someone else. Organizations like ThINK Food / Phones- high energy costs and local economic health. By servfor-Food (www.think-food.com) accept cell phones and ing locally grown food, you help reduce these effects. printer cartridges for recycling, which in turn raises 10. Listen: Find out what your teenager is thinking funds for local food banks about, angry about and worried about when it comes to 6. Paper or plastic? Neither: Outfit your family with the environment, and then help channel those feelings reusable bags--the funkier the better--and get your into actions that can have lasting, positive effects. teen into the habit of refusing the disposable kind when shopping. - News Canada 7. Green is gorgeous: Encourage your fashionista teenager to buy from eco-friendly companies when it comes to clothing and makeup. Help your teen along by buying green products as gifts. 8. Coffee to go: If your teen has discovered the joys of chatting with FLOWERS & PLANTS · DIRECT FROM THE GROWER friends over a cup of java, offer to buy a reusable travel mug to cut down on 4" Geranium Pot waste. Note that if you want your teen Now $1.99 each GREWAL GREENHOUSE Victoria Day Weekend Special Reg. $ 2.69 each Spikes 4" Pot Now $1.99 Reg. $ 2.75 each Impatients Now .99 ¢ each cell pack $ 11.80 flat 1 Gal. Patio Tomatoes Now $ 5.99 Pansy Cell Pack each Now 99 ¢ $ each Wave Petunia 10" Hanging Basket 7.00 flat Now 10.99 Open Monday to Saturday 9 am - 7 pm · Sunday to 6 pm Under New Management · Sale Ends May 22th, 2007. 6626 Trafalgar Road Hornby (between Britannia & Derry) · 905-878-7107