Turning Your Swimming Pool Green!

No, this isn’t about waking up to find your pool literally green with algae or moss. Rather, it is about observing these simple ways to keep your pool eco-friendly.

Keep your pool covered. Outdoor pools are under direct sunlight making losing water due to evaporation inevitable. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, water loss in pools leads to about 70% energy loss, as evaporated water also carries heat out of the pool. Likewise, losing water to evaporation means constant refilling, which increases water consumption and causes pool pumps to work overtime.

To keep evaporation levels low, cover your pool when not being used. This can lead to up to 97 percent in energy savings. Likewise, planting trees or erecting a fence around the pool can lower evaporation levels without blocking off sunlight.

Invest on solar heating.

While electric pool heaters are relatively inexpensive, solar alternatives operate at a much cheaper cost. These run on solar panels that transform heat into energy, reducing the use of fossil fuel and emission of nitrogen dioxide into the air. Unlike their electric counterparts, solar panels can last 10 to 15 years longer, and require minimum maintenance.

Go for variable speed pump.

Starting last 2011, all new residential pools in the US were required to use variable speed pumping system to cut down on energy consumption. While objections had been raised over the new law, the $1,000 yearly savings that variable speed pumps generate make up for their higher initial costs.