From Guest Blogger Lillian Connors: How to Make Your Swimming Pool More Eco-Friendly

If you’re among those lucky ones who can take a dip in their own swimming pool during hot summer days, you are quite aware of all the maintenance work you need to do in order to keep it fully functional. This often costs a lot of money and involves some actions that waste both energy and resources.

So, if you’re interested in what you can do to make your pool as eco-friendly as possible, thus saving both the environment and your money, have a look at some suggestions that are a result of rich experience that millions of pool-owners all over the world have shared.

Cover

If you’re not using it, make sure you cover the pool in order to significantly reduce water evaporation. Another benefit of having a cover is that you’ll lose much less heat during the night, which means you’ll have to spend less time and energy heating the water in the morning. Finally, if your water is protected from getting dirty, you won’t have to use as many chemicals to make the water clean.

In terms of the kind of cover, there’s a wide range of products to choose from and their price depends on many factors, such as the size and material. The most popular options nowadays include solar covers or solar blankets and you should definitely go for a cover that is easy to roll on and off the water.

Filter

It’s important to use the right type of filter both in terms of its performance and environmental impact. Many people are choosing sand filters over cartridge ones without realizing that sand filters need backwashing to clean them, thus wasting hundreds or even thousands of liters of water annually.

The filter should not work more than 12 hours a day and you might install a timer to help you manage the operation. Also, if you don’t empty the pool during the winter, make sure your filter is not working for more than two hours a day.

Heating

Luckily, you can now use a solar heater to heat the pool and if you combine it with a solar cover, you’ll definitely be making the most of this green, renewable energy source. You’ll be both saving money and extending the swimming season.  And here are some reviews on swimming pool heaters.

Use rainwater

There is a cheap and eco-friendly way of topping up your pool coming straight from the sky. If you use rainwater that you’ve collected, properly filter it and use in your pool, you’ll be getting some very good water without having to pay for it.

Reduce chemical usage

This is one of the vital things you can do to have a “green” pool. Ideally, you’d be able to have a saltwater pool, since it requires less chemicals than a freshwater one. Another option is to have an ionizer and a cover, which both reduce the need for chlorine.
Pump

No matter whether you can actually swim in your regular-sized pool or have one of those small yet water-efficient plunge swimming pools, you need to have a reliable pump. If you buy a solar one, you’ll be saving a lot of money, but if you can’t find one that is right for the size of your pool, you have to use an electrical pump. This kind of pump should be operated during off-peak hours and you can also use a timer to help you manage it.

Cleaning

The more you do manually, the better. There are skimmers and vacuum cleaners for pools that help you keep your pool clean and also save the pump from working too hard. Another piece of equipment you need to clean regularly is the heating system.

Final tips

If possible, you could grow a windbreak with various native shrubs and plants, which don’t require so much water and maintenance. This would reduce evaporation, but make sure you don’t plant them too close to the pool, since you’ll end up with all sorts of debris in the water.

Finally, some neighborhoods and local communities are building pools to be shared among the people living in such communities. Communal pools might be a very affordable and eco-friendly option, provided local residents can reach an agreement.