Water bill costs for inground pool?? (Albuquerque, Rio Rancho: insurance, landscaping, job)

[Homewardbound66]

Any one in Rio Rancho own an inground pool and might be able to enlighten us as to the cost to maintain one, heating, water bill, electricity, ect.... We would really appreciate it as we are considering homes because of the pools and specifically would like a gunite or something because they're liner free and we have a black lab mix that I know would love the exercise. Also, does the homeowner's insurance really spike with a pool even if its properly fenced? I posted this on the Albuquerque thread because the water bill would be incurred in either Albuquerque or most likely, Rio Rancho. Thanks in advance. I love this bottomless pit of information here.

[rotorhead]

If you fall into the ABQ water authoritys areas, fill wisely. My folks have had an in-ground pool for almost 20 years here and they've found that at least one big water change per year makes it much easier to keep the chemical levels balanced. The key is to always make the big yearly fill-up BEFORE your summer average kicks in. The way the ABQ water bills work, you get penalized if your summer usage goes over your winter average by more than a factor of two (or is it three?). Anyway, by making the big water change and fillup during the months when your winter average is being calculated it helps you both ways: it increases your winter average and it pre-dates your summer usage which will always be higher due to landscaping needs. Rather than run all that water down the sewer, he pumps it out to the lawn and trees over a day or two for a really deep watering to start the hot season. If you end up with a vinyl liner pool instead of gunite it limits the amount you can drain down, so this technique might not work as well for you then.

Another critical piece of advise is to use a floating solar cover to keep evaporation at bay (a big, big factor here with the low humidity)and your heating cost to a minimum. My folks keep the cover on all the time when the pool's not in use and never have to heat it. In fact, they can't, as they sold the gas heater years ago since they weren't using it at all. Their water temp is in the 80's now, and they'te actually running the pump and filter at night to minimize heat gain. Using a solar cover will also minimize your chemical usage, which in turn makes it easier to keep your chemistry in balance. My dad also swears by a newer innovation called "phos-check" or similar, it basically eliminates all the phosphorus in the water via chemical reaction with a lanthanum compound. Without phosphorus, algae cannot grow. With the algae in check, they have to use a LOT less chlorine.

I don't know if he's ever actually calculated what it costs to run that pool. We used it almost every day growing up, but now only the grandkids typically ever get in. If he ever runs the numbers, he'd probably fill it up with dirt the next season and grow tomatoes instead.

[Homewardbound66]

Originally Posted by rotorhead

If you fall into the ABQ water authoritys areas, fill wisely. My folks have had an in-ground pool for almost 20 years here and they've found that at least one big water change per year makes it much easier to keep the chemical levels balanced. The key is to always make the big yearly fill-up BEFORE your summer average kicks in. The way the ABQ water bills work, you get penalized if your summer usage goes over your winter average by more than a factor of two (or is it three?). Anyway, by making the big water change and fillup during the months when your winter average is being calculated it helps you both ways: it increases your winter average and it pre-dates your summer usage which will always be higher due to landscaping needs. Rather than run all that water down the sewer, he pumps it out to the lawn and trees over a day or two for a really deep watering to start the hot season. If you end up with a vinyl liner pool instead of gunite it limits the amount you can drain down, so this technique might not work as well for you then.

Another critical piece of advise is to use a floating solar cover to keep evaporation at bay (a big, big factor here with the low humidity)and your heating cost to a minimum. My folks keep the cover on all the time when the pool's not in use and never have to heat it. In fact, they can't, as they sold the gas heater years ago since they weren't using it at all. Their water temp is in the 80's now, and they'te actually running the pump and filter at night to minimize heat gain. Using a solar cover will also minimize your chemical usage, which in turn makes it easier to keep your chemistry in balance. My dad also swears by a newer innovation called "phos-check" or similar, it basically eliminates all the phosphorus in the water via chemical reaction with a lanthanum compound. Without phosphorus, algae cannot grow. With the algae in check, they have to use a LOT less chlorine.

I don't know if he's ever actually calculated what it costs to run that pool. We used it almost every day growing up, but now only the grandkids typically ever get in. If he ever runs the numbers, he'd probably fill it up with dirt the next season and grow tomatoes instead.

Rotorhead - THANK YOU so much!!! That was really good information. The houses we see with pools are gunite and we would prefer one with out a lining because of our dog. I want her to be able to swim as well as the rest of the family. We were definitely concerned about the evaporation factor. I figure if we buy in Rio Rancho we really want a pool, but if we end up in the East Mountains forget about it!

We are so torn between the 2 areas. Every weekend we end up in the mountains looking at houses and then occassionally we'll see a house in Rio Rancho with a pool. Only God knows where we'll land, but I'd be happy with either option. We'll just wait and see after hubby gets job what's available in our price range and what be the lesser commute.

Thank you again Rotorhead. I didn't think anyone owned a pool that was on this forum.

[mortimer]

Homewardbound66 wondered:

> Water bill costs for inground pool??

According to the Albuquerque Bernalillo County
Water Utility Authority at
ABCWUA - Water Conservation - Save Water Outdoors
----------------------------------------------------
An average sized pool can use about 1,000 gallons of
water per month if left uncovered. A pool cover can
cut the loss by up to 90%.
----------------------------------------------------
Uncovered, that is far less than what it takes to
keep a lawn green.

I imagine that keeping the water covered reduces
mineral build-up that your equipment has to deal
with.

[Zoidberg]

Recommendations from another Abq metro pool owner:

*Pools are about the most expensive bell-and-whistle a home can have. If you're a fish and have to have water to survive, the cost is unimportant. Otherwise, locating near a municipal pool or one in a health club may be far more cost-effective. Many are virtually empty most of the time.

*Pools are very time-consuming. Unless you can afford a pool boy to skim the top, religiously maintain the chemicals, and take care of the cover, expect a weekly commitment of no less than 2 hours (though some of those may be spent in the pool).

*Skin cancer is a really big concern here, versus the northeast. As far as sunburns go, I find that midsummer swims are only safe from late afternoon to early morning. Indoor fixes that, but nixes the breeze.

*For goodness sake, get a solar pool heater (the ones at Leslie's are ok but don't use their cheapo mounting straps, which shred and fail after about a year). There is way too much sun to justify either not heating the pool or relying on a gas furnace to heat the water.

With regard to the first question, water bill costs are almost negligible, particularly if you have a lawn. May see a spike of perhaps $40 in a month with a complete water changeout, but compared to the electric bill for running the pump, and buying the chemicals, it's a mere blip.

On a different note, anybody here have any experience with a salt electrolyzer to replace buying chlorine shock? (you buy it, fill it with table salt, then as needed, it makes bleach and adds it to the pool water).

[rustach]

We have an in-ground pool with a salt-chlorine generator. It works great but you need to keep the pool covered. The UV rays quickly deplete the chlorine in the water. Keeping it covered keeps the UV rays out and the chlorine content up where it needs to be. We've only had to balance the PH every every few weeks and shock the pool when we have a large crowd for swimming.