Patent ID: 8753520

Claim:
A method for controlling microbiological properties of a portion of water within a water body, comprising: a. identifying a portion of water intended for recreational purposes within the water body, the portion of water comprising one or more zones wherein: at least one zone is designated a sanitary compliance zone, at least one zone is designated a delimiting zone, and one zone is designated a most unfavorable zone, the most unfavorable zone corresponding to the zone that exhibits the lowest ORP value within the identified portion of water; b. maintaining at least a minimum ORP level in the portion of water for at least a minimum period of time, wherein the minimum ORP level and the minimum period of time cannot be lower than the values calculated by: i. determining salinity of the water at the most unfavorable zone; and ii. determining the minimum ORP value based on the salinity of the water where: for salinities in the water between 0% and up to 1.5% the minimum ORP level is 550 mV; for salinities in the water higher than 1.5%, and up to 2.5%, the minimum ORP level is calculated by the following equation: [Minimum ORP,mV]=625−50*[Salinity of the Water,%(Weight Percent)]; and for salinities in the water higher than 2.5%, the minimum ORP level is 500 mV; iii. determining the temperature of the water in the most unfavorable zone; and iv. determining the minimum period of time based on the water temperature, wherein: for water temperatures from 5° C. to 35° C., the minimum period of time is calculated by the following equation: [Minimum period of time,min]=80−2*[Temperature of the water,° C.]; and for water temperatures between 35° C. and up to 45° C., the minimum period of time is calculated by the following equation: [Minimum period of time,min]=5*[Temperature of the water,° C.]−165; c. dispensing an effective amount of chemical agent into the identified portion of water in order to maintain at least the minimum ORP level during at least the minimum period of time at the most unfavorable zone, and d. repeating step c as needed to prevent the ORP in the most unfavorable zone from decreasing by more than 20% of the minimum ORP value.