Pool filtration has changed. Crystar® ceramic membranes provide a new industry benchmark for water quality and cost efficiency. Conventional pool filtration systems such as sand filters fail to provide an effective barrier against various pathogenic organisms and bacteria owing to their large pore size structures. As a consequence, the efficiency of disinfection must rely only on chlorine or other chemical treatments, which can lead to the generation harmful by-products. Crystar membranes work in conjunction with chlorination and other water treatment technologies to provide safe and pleasant pool water with significant operational cost savings.
A Compact and Environmentally Friendly Filtration Technology
Crystar® ceramic membranes filter pool water through a unique honeycomb dead-end architecture of parallel channels with stable and well-engineered porous microstructure. This specific geometry features a very high filtration area in compact filtration membrane elements (11 m2 in a filtration membrane element of 149 x 149 x 1000 mm). Combined with the modular design of filtration systems, Crystar filtration technology is the perfect solution for filtration systems installation or upgrading in limited spaces or with difficult access.
The honeycomb geometry also allows for fast backwash cycles with low water consumption. Only 30-80 liters are needed during a backflush of 3 to 5 seconds to clean a Crystar® membrane. Frequent backwashing of the filtration membranes contributes to the reduction of chloramines and trihalomethanes, reducing skin and eye irritation as well as the risk of diseases such as asthma and allergy due to the long-term exposure to these chlorinated compounds.
Finally, the high permeability of recrystallized silicon carbide allows for low pressure operation, typically in the range of 0.1 to 0.5 bars (1 to 5 meters of water column). The filtration membrane elements can be built into vacuum or pressure housings depending upon the application requirements.
A Physical Barrier Against Micro-Organisms
Crystar® ceramic membranes feature 40% of open porosity with membranes as small as 0.25 micrometers (µm) in pore size. As a consequence, it offers a unique combination of water permeability with micro-organism retention efficiency that is vastly improved over standard pool filtration systems. The stability of the ceramic silicon carbide microstructure provides a reliable filtration barrier, contrary to granular media filters, which can be subject to gradual degradation and loss of efficiency.
Crystar® HiFlo
The Crystar® HiFlo membrane (4 µm pore size), for example, can retain chlorine-resistant Cryptosporidium and Giardia protozoa with an efficiency of 99.996%. Outbreaks of these dangerous micro-organisms have caused multiple pool closures all over the world. Crystar® HiFlo shows an outstanding trade-off between water filtration capacity and filtration efficiency.
Crystar® HiPur
The Crystar® HiPur membrane (0.25 µm) can filter Legionella and Pseudomonas Aeruginosa with a measured efficiency above 99.999% and viruses with efficiencies above 98%. This product is suitable for therapy pools and spa filtration, providing sanitary and excellent water, with a low need for chemicals, for the comfort and enjoyment of swimmers.
