What is Chlorine Leak and How to Handle It
The recent chlorine leak at a hotel swimming pool on the Thai resort island of Phuket sparked a lot of questions about pool chemical handling.he reported cause of the swimming pool explosion was the wrong mixture of chlorine and other cleaning chemicals inside a tank beside the swimming pool.
So, what exactly causes chlorine leak?
Chlorine is a very reactive chemical. It will react with almost all kinds of chemicals and can cause explosion that's why mixing it with other common household cleaners like bleach, detergents and even vinegar is very risky.
Rule of thumb: Do not mix chlorine with acid.
At high temperatures, chlorine reaction can cause metals to catch fire or melt that's why in Water Treatment facilities, carbon steel is used to contain chlorine separated from other chemicals.
In the case of Phuket Orchid Resort and Spa, the pool technician apparently added the chlorine directly into the tank without the process of dilution wherein chlorine is first mixed with water before adding it to the feeder. However, there's also a possibility that chlorine was mixed with acid.The pressure cracked the tank which possibly created chlorine reaction with moisture in the air to create highly corrosive, and hazardous acid mist which caused sore eyes, breathing difficulty and skin irritation to people around the pool.
This is very dangerous and could have caused death if proper actions were not implemented immediately.
What to do in case of chlorine leak?
Before help arrives perform the following actions as your first aid during a chlorine leak.
Do not panic. This is very important - panic causes disorientation.
Keep yourself away from the pool. Forget those pool toys and pool floats, chlorine "attacks" plastics and rubber, get out of the pool area and look for areas where you can catch fresh air.
In case of exposure:
- Look for a well-ventilated area.
- Flush the skin with water for 2-3 minutes then wash with mild soap twice.
- Flush eyes with water or saline for 15-3o minutes.
In case of inhalation:
- Place the victim in sitting or lying position while keeping the head and upper body in an upright position.
- Prevent the victim from coughing.
- Let the victim perform slow and regular breaths.
- Perform artificial respiration in case the victim is not breathing.
In case of fire:
- Don't use fire extinguisher; chlorine supports combustion that's why using fire extinguishers are useless and can only worsen the situation.
Chlorine leak can be prevented with the use of leak detection kits and with constant equipment monitoring.
Accidents do happen unexpectedly and prevention is the best thing a pool operator can do to avoid greater catastrophe in the event that such accidents occurs.Special thanks to: Epi.PublicHealth.nc.gov, WorkSafeBC.com, StateFundCA.com, and OSHA.gov
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