ABSTRACT

Bentorite is a swimming pool’s water purifier with 3 in 1 function that acts as an antibacterial, anti algae,
and coagulant agent in a product. The idea came up from using kaporite as a pool’s disinfectant agent caused
many health issues due to excessive chlorine levels. This problem is supported by data that has been
obtained from 178 of swimming pool users, 73% of them experienced eyes irritation, hair problem, and
alergic reaction. Besides having chlorine levels within safe limits, the product also provides an ease of use
which is more effective and efficient than kaporite. Bentorite contains of calcium hypochlorite as an
antibacterial, and anti algae, bentonite clay as coagulant, and sodium carbonate to increase solubility in
water while adjusting the pH value of the pool. Grinding and mixing are the main processes of making the
product from raw material into fine powder. Manufacturing is profitable to be done by looking from the
demand. Based on economic analysis, ROI of the company is 33.24%, the payback period is about 4.35
years which is appropriate for the plant that have 10 years of total lifetime. IRR of the company is 24.40%
which is greater than MARR as equal as 9.31%.
Keywords: antibacterial; anti algae; coagulant; bentonite clay; calcium hypochlorite.
 INTRODUCTION

A. Backgorund

Health is one of the most important aspects in life. Most of people decided to swim because the main
goal is to maintain and even improve their health body. But when swimming in a pool that does not pay
attention to the concentration of chlorine in it then it becomes the main trigger that actually endangers
health, then it certainly becomes a problem. The main cause of the danger of swimming in swimming
pools is not swimming itself, but the chlorine content in it when exposed to water and nitrogen in free
air will form trichloramine gas (NCl3). Where NCl3 is a dangerous chemical compound which proved
to be related to a number of respiratory diseases, including asthma. Then besides trichloramine gas, the
mixture between chlorine with urine or acidic sweat will also produce cyanogen chloride (CNCl). CNCl
is a toxic compound that can harm organs such as the lungs, heart, and central nervous system. Based
on Journal of the National Cancer Institute, there are many kinds of diseases that may occur due to
exposure of chlorine or trichloramine gas in swimming pool, among others:

 If exposed to the skin directly, it can cause a rash or burning sensation on the skin, skin infections,
and even trigger allergies. It also causes damage to the hair follicles so that effecting the hair loss
problem.
 If inhaled directly through the nose or respiratory system, it can cause shortness of breath,
constriction of bronchitis, swelling of the lungs, and even causing asthma. This often happens to
swimmers that swim in indoor pool, because a closed room causes bad air circulation. So, this
phenomenon often called as the "Swimmer's Asthma".
 If exposed directly to the eyes, it can cause eye irritation, red eyes, even cataracts.
 If exposed directly to the teeth frequently, it can cause discoloration of the teeth to become
yellowish or usually as known as “Swimmer’s Calculus”.
 If swallowed directly by mouth (ingestion), it can cause diarrhea or stomach ache, and indigestion.

B. Problem Formulation

A total of 178 consumers who have filled the online form, 73% of them have been proven to have health
problems after swimming with the most problems, namely hair problem and eyes irritation. So, their
needs is to get an alternative product that soft on the scalp and free of eye irritating effects as an
alternative product. The specifications should be related to the needs that interpreted, and one of them
is when product with certain doses exposed to pool water, it must produce a pH scale ranges from 7.2
to 7.6 so it does not cause eye and skin irritation. Because the result of benchmarking conducted on the
weaknesses of existing product is not stating clear doses or usage on the packaging for various pool
water volume. Therefore, the wrong use of kaporit by the operator usually does exceed the safe dose
threshold and affects the pH value. This kind of occasion will have some harmful effects on health.
Because when the pH is below the value of 7 or acidic, the skin will start to feel burn until the rash
appears and even the eyes feel sore. It can be prevented by writing a clear dose on the packaging of the
product.
 LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Antibacteria

An antibacterial is an agent that kills bacteria or suppresses their growth or their ability to reproduce.
Heat, chemicals such as chlorine, and antibiotic drugs all have antibacterial properties. Many
antibacterial products for cleaning and handwashing are sold today. Such products do not reduce the
risk for symptoms of viral infectious diseases in otherwise healthy persons.

Bacteria have a rigid outer layer, which is the cell wall that completely surrounds the cell membrane
cytoplasm. The basil cell wall includes a complex polymer mucopeptide (peptidoglycan) consisting of
derivatives of sugars namely N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylmuramic acid and amino acids L-
alanine, D-alanine, D-glutamate and lysine.

B. Anti-algae

Algae have and probably always will one of the most common problems encountered among pool and
tank owners alike; most of whom employs algaecides to counter the problem. Algae have known to
cause skin irritation and change in the physical appearance of water. Regardless of the appearance,
algaecides work on the one principle, namely to destroy the algae. This is either accomplished by
destroying the algae directly or by “suffocating” it.

C. Coagullant

In water treatment, coagulation and flocculation are treatments that aim to optimize the removal of
suspended particles by decantation and filtration processes. These treatments favor the aggregation of
the colloidal particles into broad and dense aggregates. They take place in two main stages, namely the
destabilization of the particles and the collision of the destabilized particles to form bulky aggregates.
Destabilization and aggregation are physicochemical phenomena. Separation by decantation and
filtration involves essentially physical phenomena. Destabilization is the process by which the
suspended stable particles are modified to give them the possibility of joining together or to attach to a
support such as sand grains of a filter bed.

D. Calcium Hypochlorite

Calcium hypochlorite is a chemical compound with formula Ca(ClO)2 and also known as chlorine. It
is widely used for water treatment and as a bleaching agent or disinfectant. Chlorine is a disinfectant
that is commonly used in all forms both dry / crystalline and wet / solution. In dry form, usually chlorine
in the form of powder or granules, tablets or pills. In the wet form, usually the crystal is dissolved with
distilled water according to the needs of disinfection. Based on the chlorine test in the laboratory, it was
stated that calcium hypochlorite consisted of more than 70% form of chlorine.

E. Bentonite Clay

Bentonite clay is an absorbent kind of clay that typically forms after volcanic ash ages. Clay-based
flocculants are sodium bentonite clays or calcium bentonite clays that are premixed with various
polymers and chemical coagulants. Calcium bentonite clay is also a popular ingredient in skincare
products to cleanse impurities for the human skin.

F. Sodium Carbonate

Sodium carbonate used as a solvent mixture which increases the rate of solubilization in water, to adjust
the pH value of the pool, and soften the water. The general pool treatment products that sold in the
market is not contain this ingredient, so it takes a long time to dissolve. With this additional ingredient,
Bentorite only takes 1 to 2 hours to dissolve evenly in the pool.