Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A lawn in Mesa (or Phoenix) is one of the most asinine things I've seen.
It is a.....desert.
Why have lawns anywhere for that matter? They seem to be bad for the environment everywhere, even if they can grow without supplemental watering as they require here and a lot of other places. I was surprised to hear even in Florida lawn requires supplemental water.
A lawn in Mesa (or Phoenix) is one of the most asinine things I've seen.
It is a.....desert.
You have a right to your opinion, and calling grass lawns asinine is strictly an opinion. If you dislike grass and prefer desert/xeriscape yards, then that's your choice. At the same time, nobody should be forcing their opinions & personal choices into mandates on property owners. If I prefer grass & shade trees, that's my business, and nobody else's.
What people may not realize is you use very little water for grass and most plants. A pool is a must for me. I use it 4-5 times a week throughout the summer months until the end of Sept.
Regarding AZ and water concerns here's an interesting video:
A pool is a must for me. I use it 4-5 times a week throughout the summer months until the end of Sept.
Isn't that a lot of water to use only intermittently for 5-6 months? It seems like a cold shower would serve the same purpose (cooling off. I'm thinking of the person who justified their pool after commuting on a bike.). I recall hearing that an average backyard diving pool is around 20,000 gallons. The article I referred to earlier said half the water evaporates (if I read the article correctly) annually, and 25% is intentionally drained. That's 15,000 gallons of water.
The average shower (actual bathing) lasts 8 minutes, and uses 17 gallons. I suppose it would be fair to say that a cold shower just for refreshing would last 4 minutes and use 8.5 gallons. 5 times a week = 42.5 gals. Times 26 weeks = 1,105 gallons.
I know people don't like me talking like this. But, the worse the water shortage becomes, someone's going to be talking like this. It's inevitable. I suppose the price of water could rise so much that people could choose to stop pouring money into a pool (and lawn, Tempe town swamp). But, that assumes all water usage is the same. I don't think most people would agree with that. Wasting water just because one can afford to (driving up the cost of water for drinking, cooking, flushing, bathing) doesn't seem persuasive.
To me, this leads to another topic. Someone else said 80% of pools in their neighborhood have pools. The Phoenix page I linked to said 30%. I'd say my neighborhood is closer to 70%. The difference could be due to affluent/newer neighborhoods vs poorer/older? If that's true, that would add to the perception of this water use being decadent/privileged/unnecessary. I mean, _a lot_ of people are apparently able to live in Phx without a pool. It's not "essential?"
That also leads to, maybe Phx isn't for everyone? I don't like cold weather. I wouldn't move to Buffalo and insist that it be warmer, or setup 100 propane heaters in my backyard (running 24x7 because it's "essential" to living in Buffalo). I'd migrate somewhere warmer. Maybe that should be on the table.
If someone really used their pool, I wouldn't have so much concern about this. But, in my neighborhood, of the 7 pools I could reasonably hear splashing or sounds of use, there's only 1 that gets used weekly. They others are just 15,000 gallons of waste for no reason other than eye candy, status "I have a pool." By my accounting, they're paying $600 per swim (water, electricity, maintenence). It's their money to spend how they wish. But, if the water shortage gets worse (as I think it will), I think this is going to become a topic.
Isn't that a lot of water to use only intermittently for 5-6 months? It seems like a cold shower would serve the same purpose (cooling off. I'm thinking of the person who justified their pool after commuting on a bike.). I recall hearing that an average backyard diving pool is around 20,000 gallons. The article I referred to earlier said half the water evaporates (if I read the article correctly) annually, and 25% is intentionally drained. That's 15,000 gallons of water.
The average shower (actual bathing) lasts 8 minutes, and uses 17 gallons. I suppose it would be fair to say that a cold shower just for refreshing would last 4 minutes and use 8.5 gallons. 5 times a week = 42.5 gals. Times 26 weeks = 1,105 gallons.
I know people don't like me talking like this. But, the worse the water shortage becomes, someone's going to be talking like this. It's inevitable. I suppose the price of water could rise so much that people could choose to stop pouring money into a pool (and lawn, Tempe town swamp). But, that assumes all water usage is the same. I don't think most people would agree with that. Wasting water just because one can afford to (driving up the cost of water for drinking, cooking, flushing, bathing) doesn't seem persuasive.
To me, this leads to another topic. Someone else said 80% of pools in their neighborhood have pools. The Phoenix page I linked to said 30%. I'd say my neighborhood is closer to 70%. The difference could be due to affluent/newer neighborhoods vs poorer/older? If that's true, that would add to the perception of this water use being decadent/privileged/unnecessary. I mean, _a lot_ of people are apparently able to live in Phx without a pool. It's not "essential?"
That also leads to, maybe Phx isn't for everyone? I don't like cold weather. I wouldn't move to Buffalo and insist that it be warmer, or setup 100 propane heaters in my backyard (running 24x7 because it's "essential" to living in Buffalo). I'd migrate somewhere warmer. Maybe that should be on the table.
If someone really used their pool, I wouldn't have so much concern about this. But, in my neighborhood, of the 7 pools I could reasonably hear splashing or sounds of use, there's only 1 that gets used weekly. They others are just 15,000 gallons of waste for no reason other than eye candy, status "I have a pool." By my accounting, they're paying $600 per swim (water, electricity, maintenence). It's their money to spend how they wish. But, if the water shortage gets worse (as I think it will), I think this is going to become a topic.
Get rid of the pools, people wouldn't want to live here. That's never going to become a topic. I can't imagine living here in the Summer without a pool to float around in.
Isn't that a lot of water to use only intermittently for 5-6 months? It seems like a cold shower would serve the same purpose (cooling off. I'm thinking of the person who justified their pool after commuting on a bike.). I recall hearing that an average backyard diving pool is around 20,000 gallons. The article I referred to earlier said half the water evaporates (if I read the article correctly) annually, and 25% is intentionally drained. That's 15,000 gallons of water.
The average shower (actual bathing) lasts 8 minutes, and uses 17 gallons. I suppose it would be fair to say that a cold shower just for refreshing would last 4 minutes and use 8.5 gallons. 5 times a week = 42.5 gals. Times 26 weeks = 1,105 gallons.
I know people don't like me talking like this. But, the worse the water shortage becomes, someone's going to be talking like this. It's inevitable. I suppose the price of water could rise so much that people could choose to stop pouring money into a pool (and lawn, Tempe town swamp). But, that assumes all water usage is the same. I don't think most people would agree with that. Wasting water just because one can afford to (driving up the cost of water for drinking, cooking, flushing, bathing) doesn't seem persuasive.
To me, this leads to another topic. Someone else said 80% of pools in their neighborhood have pools. The Phoenix page I linked to said 30%. I'd say my neighborhood is closer to 70%. The difference could be due to affluent/newer neighborhoods vs poorer/older? If that's true, that would add to the perception of this water use being decadent/privileged/unnecessary. I mean, _a lot_ of people are apparently able to live in Phx without a pool. It's not "essential?"
That also leads to, maybe Phx isn't for everyone? I don't like cold weather. I wouldn't move to Buffalo and insist that it be warmer, or setup 100 propane heaters in my backyard (running 24x7 because it's "essential" to living in Buffalo). I'd migrate somewhere warmer. Maybe that should be on the table.
If someone really used their pool, I wouldn't have so much concern about this. But, in my neighborhood, of the 7 pools I could reasonably hear splashing or sounds of use, there's only 1 that gets used weekly. They others are just 15,000 gallons of waste for no reason other than eye candy, status "I have a pool." By my accounting, they're paying $600 per swim (water, electricity, maintenence). It's their money to spend how they wish. But, if the water shortage gets worse (as I think it will), I think this is going to become a topic.
My pool is 15k gallons but I don't drain it every year. I backwash every three weeks during the summer which uses about as much water as it does to fill a large bath tub.
Now it's not essential and I could live without one. However, I do use my pool often during the summer esp. those 115 summer weeks. As far as living in an affluent neighborhood I live in 85205. Clean/quiet but not affluent by any means. Not sure how many homes in my neighborhood have pools but my neighbors do.
It's my understanding that most new housing developments will not be installing grass except for common areas like a small park.
Get rid of the pools, people wouldn't want to live here. That's never going to become a topic. I can't imagine living here in the Summer without a pool to float around in.
If the Phoenix page I linked to previously is correct, it would be 30% of the people wouldn't want to live here. If my observation of how many backyard pools go vastly unused around me is the norm, it would be more like 3%.
Quote:
Originally Posted by john3232
My pool is 15k gallons but I don't drain it every year. I backwash every three weeks during the summer which uses about as much water as it does to fill a large bath tub.
I think the Phx page (which says 25% of a pool's volume is intentionally drained every year) is averaging the periodic draining over the years. Between backwash and draining every 2-5 years(? the pool-service companies say 2-3), it comes out to 25%. (Then there's the 50% evaporation every year, which contributes to the need to drain/refill because the already-high minerals in Phx tap water reach an unworkable level).
I'm just going by that page. I'm not an expert on the topic. It looks like it will become indefensible at some point (soon, imo). They say only 30% of single-family homes have swimming pools. So, it's definitely not essential to even a majority. It does seem that the luxury of a backyard pool is condensed in certain areas (which I assume must be related to affluence). It's hard to understand how 30% of homes have pools, but everyone (including me) says a majority of neighboring homes have them. That must mean there that our neighborhood isn't average in some rather big way. I.e., if we have 70-80% pool presence, then others must have 0-5% in order for the city average to be 30%.
I think an underrated topic is how we consume 90% of the Colorado River before it crosses the border to Mexico. I've read that Phoenix gets 40% of its water from the river (I don't know how much of that is in the tap). I bet they could use the water for more essential reasons than we do.
Unless the river's fortunes change soon, I bet pools and lawns will be a topic. I don't see how that can be avoided (for just 30% of homes, when it seems like many of those go unused.).
If the Phoenix page I linked to previously is correct, it would be 30% of the people wouldn't want to live here. If my observation of how many backyard pools go vastly unused around me is the norm, it would be more like 3%.
I think the Phx page (which says 25% of a pool's volume is intentionally drained every year) is averaging the periodic draining over the years. Between backwash and draining every 2-5 years(? the pool-service companies say 2-3), it comes out to 25%. (Then there's the 50% evaporation every year, which contributes to the need to drain/refill because the already-high minerals in Phx tap water reach an unworkable level).
I'm just going by that page. I'm not an expert on the topic. It looks like it will become indefensible at some point (soon, imo). They say only 30% of single-family homes have swimming pools. So, it's definitely not essential to even a majority. It does seem that the luxury of a backyard pool is condensed in certain areas (which I assume must be related to affluence). It's hard to understand how 30% of homes have pools, but everyone (including me) says a majority of neighboring homes have them. That must mean there that our neighborhood isn't average in some rather big way. I.e., if we have 70-80% pool presence, then others must have 0-5% in order for the city average to be 30%.
I think an underrated topic is how we consume 90% of the Colorado River before it crosses the border to Mexico. I've read that Phoenix gets 40% of its water from the river (I don't know how much of that is in the tap). I bet they could use the water for more essential reasons than we do.
Unless the river's fortunes change soon, I bet pools and lawns will be a topic. I don't see how that can be avoided (for just 30% of homes, when it seems like many of those go unused.).
In the meantime I will continue to use my pool. In fact I'm going swimming today.
If the Phoenix page I linked to previously is correct, it would be 30% of the people wouldn't want to live here. If my observation of how many backyard pools go vastly unused around me is the norm, it would be more like 3%.
I think the Phx page (which says 25% of a pool's volume is intentionally drained every year) is averaging the periodic draining over the years. Between backwash and draining every 2-5 years(? the pool-service companies say 2-3), it comes out to 25%. (Then there's the 50% evaporation every year, which contributes to the need to drain/refill because the already-high minerals in Phx tap water reach an unworkable level).
I'm just going by that page. I'm not an expert on the topic. It looks like it will become indefensible at some point (soon, imo). They say only 30% of single-family homes have swimming pools. So, it's definitely not essential to even a majority. It does seem that the luxury of a backyard pool is condensed in certain areas (which I assume must be related to affluence). It's hard to understand how 30% of homes have pools, but everyone (including me) says a majority of neighboring homes have them. That must mean there that our neighborhood isn't average in some rather big way. I.e., if we have 70-80% pool presence, then others must have 0-5% in order for the city average to be 30%.
I think an underrated topic is how we consume 90% of the Colorado River before it crosses the border to Mexico. I've read that Phoenix gets 40% of its water from the river (I don't know how much of that is in the tap). I bet they could use the water for more essential reasons than we do.
Unless the river's fortunes change soon, I bet pools and lawns will be a topic. I don't see how that can be avoided (for just 30% of homes, when it seems like many of those go unused.).
Yay! You can keep all the people that cannot afford or don't want pools. It will be the land of low income, shut-ins and 55+. Sounds like a recipe for success.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If my observation of how many backyard pools go vastly unused around me is the norm, it would be more like 3%.
