Swimming Pool water

kamkazmoto

kamkazmoto

Joined
Sep 14, 2002
Messages
4,135
What kind of filter would it take to make swimming pool water potable in quantities sufficient for a family of four?
 
easier to get a distiller system instead of filtering
have a main sediment filter then a uv filter then a charcoal filter then the distiller and then a fine charcoal filter and you should be good
 
Cool but in a situation without electricity how would you would get a uv filter to work?
 
It might not be possible.

It's not the chlorinates that are the problem with drinking pool water, it is that most pools are "shocked" with acids. I don't know of a filter that is going to remove acidity from water. With its pH altered, pool water is probably unhealthier to drink over time than finding reasonably clear fresh water from almost any other non-sewer source and removing microbes and suspended solids from it with a decent ceramic filter.

If it is your own pool and you use traditional chlorine/acid treatments, it may be possible to install and use a less chemically oriented method for maintaining the pool in a state closer to being potable water. Even if I had a pool in sunny California, were an earthquake to occur nearby, I'd shut off the feed and the gas to my 75 gallon water heaters and filter that water as I drained it off long before I'd resort to the pool.

A common still used for condensing alcohol would probably evap pool water into drinkability.
 
well i havent seen any but someone probably makes a solar one or battery powered
mine is 110v and sized for the whole house thats the filters and distiller so i need power but a small generator would do it
 
Having worked in the pool industry pretty much my whole life, I can tell you that pool water with the right kind of chemical treatment is probably not going to make you sick. Now, if you have a salt system that generates your chlorine. That's obviously out. Furthermore, if you are one of the "savvy" consumers that chlorinates the water with house hold bleach and the "finest" walmart chemicals...I probably wouldn't drink it.
A lot of chemicals set ups from swimming pool professionals will keep the chlorine content at or below .05ppm. Not exactly what i would call "healthy" drinking water, but I could handle that if need be in an emergency situation.
Also, most pools require some sort of stabilizer to keep the chlorine in the water less the UV from the sun breaks it down. It replenishes itself by the chlorine tablets added to keep the the water clean. If you deny the water these tablets and stay with a shock that does not contain stabilizer, then the chlorine will burn itself out every couple of days if left uncovered and in full sunlight.
Now if you factor in ionizers and other "chemical free" systems, anticipating an event that could leave you without water COULD make a pool potable, or potable enough. The one thing that I would watch is the salinity of the water. Most chlorine tablets as basically salt based as are many other chemicals. While it won't be salt water, it might not be as quinching as one would hope. Pool water is also pretty hard. I don't know what that might do to you in a long term survival situation.
Granted, my knowledge of the subject is pretty narrow. What we install and suggest in the midwest is night and day difference from what people in Florida or California do. Personally, given the choice of dehydration and boiling/charcoal filtering pool water...i would take the pool water. Of course, it would be way down the list of available water.

Jake
 
Hey Guys...

I'm not sure here acids would come from in a pool...Unless you are talking about Acid rain...

If it's only chlorine you need to contend with. The Chlorine will evaporate on it's own and a simple MSR hand pump will do the trick, and filter out any nastys in the water.

Now with alot of pools going salt water these days thats a different story altogether..

This would entail a desalination process, which is Very easy to construct, either working solar or being cooked with heat.

In small quantities a simple pressure cooker can be rigged up with copper tubing,, much like a Whiskey still, but instead of cooking mash, you cook salt water and distill fresh water from it..

ttyle

Eric
O/ST
 
Our pool also had to be treated with algicides. Not sure what filters would remove them.

Pool water cold probably be filtered and drank for short term survival, think about it, how many kids swallow the stuff daily.
 
Could this be something one could use, if you have a source of water that was contaminated in some way?
I`m not 100% sure that you wouldn`t get unwanted chemicals into your distilled water, (in respect to chlorine or other suchlikes) but it shouldn`t be worse than what went into the still in the first place.
 
Chlorine naturally evaporates from pool water.

Pools also refill from rainwater. It'd amazing how quickly a rain shower can fill a pool. After several rains the amount of chemicals in the swimming pool will be very small amounts.

It all depends on what chemicals are used.

if you strictly use chlorine, it will dissipate. As the Last Confed said, kids do gulp pool water without dying.

I would think that a quick boil coundn't hurt it, neither would a Charcoal filtering. Activated Charcoal can scrub chemicals from water.

I think swimming pool water "could" be viable source, but you would need to know:
A. what chemicals are in there, B. in what concetrations, and C. what their rate of disipation or evaporation are.

They use chlorine and salts at municipal water treatment plants.

Get thirsty enough and we'd all drink it.
 
Acids are not used to shock pools. Theyare used to adjust the PH. Most properly maintained pools have a near neutral PH of 7.0 or slightly above. A good pool test kit will tell you the chemical concentrations of stabilizer (isocyanuric acid), which is usually quite low. It will not show what polymers (clarifyers), algaecides (some are copper based), and heavy metals are in the water. There are reagent kits which do, however the average homeowner does not have one. Pool water for drinking? Yeah. I'd still use a filter and maybe boil it. Remember, if the power is off, the water will be stagnant and get turbid in a few days if left uncovered. I install a lot of salt based chlorine generators in pools, but I always advise against them. That's just because stabilized chlorine works and has few complications.

Codger :thumbup:

"35 years - building the best and servicing the rest" :D
 
Sorry if any of the misinformation is mine. It's been about two decades since I owned a pool.

Not much call for one in Oregon when my backyard is a wetland without digging.:D
 
SkunkWerX said:
I think swimming pool water "could" be viable source,
Click to expand...

The state of California via the CERN training says no, don't ever use pool water for drinking.

At a minimum, I would distill it before trying it. And at that, I'd have to be pretty darn desperate for water.
 
Ummm...I should have said "except if you live in California". I understand you can't eat spinich and onions there either.:D

Codgerrrrrr!:p
 
Give it a couple of days for the chlorine to evaporate out then tent a sheet of polyethylene over the pool and collect the condensate as it drips down the sides. You'll have plenty of potable water. Move the poly when it rains to replenish.
 
Codger_64 said:
Ummm...I should have said "except if you live in California". I understand you can't eat spinich and onions there either.:D

Codgerrrrrr!:p
Click to expand...

Look, all I'm saying is that I used to swim over 10,000 yards a day in swimming pools. And during those years I swallowed more than my fair share of chlorinated pool water. And it messed me up. And ain't no way anyone is getting me to drink pool water unless I'm at death's door from thirst.

Even then, I'm distilling the stuff because after the earthquake, with all the houses knocked down to the ground, there'll be plenty of wood to use as fuel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top