Advice: House with pool or without? (Phoenix: maintenance, costs, electric bill)

[morpheaz]

I moved to Phoenix back in June, and I'm currently in the househunting process. There are two places I'm thinking of right now: one house has a pool and the other does not. I've never owned a home with a pool, but I'm aware of the added costs for maintenance. I'm pretty handy so I may try to maintain the pool myself, or I may just get sick of it and pay someone after I've learned the hard way

My question is in regards to electric and water usage. I've searched the forums and it seems like a pool adds roughly $30 a month to an electric bill (running a pump 8 hours overnight seems to be the popular choice). Does this seem about right? I don't plan on having a heater, just a basic pool with a pump.

Also, does anyone know an approximate evaporation rate, or more importantly, about what it would add to a typical water bill? I've read that a cover will help with this, but for now it would remain open (are covers very expensive?). The house I'm considering has a diving pool, if that makes a difference.

Thanks!