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I read that article this morning and scratched my head over that ending line too!
One thing they mentioned is that they could fill the pools with an alternative water source ( I guess not using city water to fill the pool). But it doesn't mention where the water would ultimately come from.
I have a medium sized plastic pool that I sometimes fill with pudding or jello (pre made of course as I am conserving water). I get my friends together and we watch people wrestle in it.......that's what I think of when I hear the word "pool". Doesn't everyone else?
Well, I suppose you could be creative, and just sit in the thing to sunbathe? Nude, even, if you were of a mind?
Fill it with dirt, and do some gardening -- but then that calls for water too.
Get the kids some boards, and let them create a bunker-style playhouse. The older kids could probably put in a small skate ramp. Have an underground parking area.
Great place to have a food fight, or paint-ball war. Fill it full of rubber balls and jump in. Put mattresses in the bottom, and rig-up a tightrope to learn how to walk one. Put the trampoline in the pool.
Let it be one of the kid's science projects, in that all recycling goes into the empty pool so you can see just how much of that stuff a family generates in a given amount of time. I'm sure we'd be astounded. If you could stand it, the experiment could be done with garbage itself.
I'd like to have been able to show my teenage daughter how much laundry she generated!
Wow. That is quite puzzling. Well, the Durham YMCA recently noted that their pool (very big) only uses the same amount of water per day as one typical household does.
Admittedly I am not a NC resident (yet), but I am well aware of the severe drought impacting the entire South-east US. In my 20 years of in-ground pool ownership I have only had to partially refill my pool twice in mid-season.
Twice in 20 years!
I pump our pool half empty each Fall to purge all lines of water in preparation for Michigan's freezing winter temperatures. Winter snow melt refills the pool before I open it in the Spring. Summer rains are almost always enough to compensate for evaporation and bather carry-off during the swimming season.
I think the city of Durham is wrong to ban the construction of new pools. I think the city would be correct to require all pool fill water to be provided from outside the area served by the City Water Dept during periods of severe drought.
Maybe she meant to say "local water" or "a steady supply of water"? One the video, right after she says the very unfortunate sounding quote they cut her off and start talking about how she says they could bring the initial water in from another source.
Admittedly I am not a NC resident (yet), but I am well aware of the severe drought impacting the entire South-east US. In my 20 years of in-ground pool ownership I have only had to partially refill my pool twice in mid-season.
Twice in 20 years!
I pump our pool half empty each Fall to purge all lines of water in preparation for Michigan's freezing winter temperatures. Winter snow melt refills the pool before I open it in the Spring. Summer rains are almost always enough to compensate for evaporation and bather carry-off during the swimming season.
I think the city of Durham is wrong to ban the construction of new pools. I think the city would be correct to require all pool fill water to be provided from outside the area served by the City Water Dept during periods of severe drought.
The problem there is that we don't get winter snow at all and this year, very little summer rain. Hence, the drought. So there is no natural way to refill a pool here. My earlier question was; where do you get the water from an "outside source" when the entire state (for the most part) is in a drought? Can you buy water from another state and have it shipped to NC to fill pools?
After WRAL started making phone calls, city leaders then announced that pools could be built, but could not be filled with water from any source – whether from within or outside the city or county.
...saying pools can be built but cannot be filled, with water, from anywhere. Having been in the pool business for many years evaporation is not the only way the pool loses water. I have had many customers with leaks in piping or equipment that simply refused to repair them or pay to have the work done. In addition every time someone exits the pool they drag several gallons of water with them. One pool party with a half a dozen kids getting in and out of the pool can result in quite a bit of water loss throughout the day. This drought affects many businesses that utilize water and the pool folks aren't exempt from the pain I suppose.
edit: forgot to mention that a typical white plaster swimming pool actually requires immediate filling with water to finish the curing process. Failure to do this can cause cracking of the plaster not to mention any foreign debris that falls into the pool will very quickly stain the new surface.
Last edited by da jammer; 01-12-2008 at 09:19 PM..
One advantage of building pools, yet not immediately filling them, might be if the pool and spa contractors were significantly reducing prices during the drought in order to maintain their businesses. Haven't heard of that pipe dream yet. Same thing with landscape architects...one could get the plan and light construction, but install plants later.
We're using shower water in our Durham home to flush toilets. Filling pools and spas at this time just seems plain wrong.
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From my 20 years of pool ownership.....
Same thing with landscape architects...one could get the plan and light construction, but install plants later.
