How To Create A More Eco-Friendly Pool

Going green is always a good thing, but have you ever thought about creating a more eco-friendly pool?

A few tweaks to your pool or even building a natural pool can help create a pool that’s safe for the environment and even safer for you and your family.

Eco-friendly sometimes means a little more work. However, it’s not that difficult to make just a few small changes that make a big difference.

Ditch the Chemicals

This might seem like the worst thing you could do. After all, chemicals are what help balance your pool water, making it clean and safe. However, as with most chemicals, there are natural, safer alternatives.

Natural mineral sanitizers, PHMB and bromine are just a few examples. They work much like chlorine does to sanitize your water. It may take a little work to get the balance right, but once you do, these work quite well.

Occasionally, you may still need a shock treatment if things start to get out of hand. However, using chemicals once in a while still makes your pool more eco-friendly.

Use A Robotic Pool Cleaner

Yes, these are more expensive, but drastically reduce your pool maintenance workload. Plus, they’re a highly effective way to create a more eco-friendly pool.

The more often you clean your pool, the less build-up you have. This means you need fewer chemicals to maintain a safe balance. Plus, this also reduces the load on your pool filtration system.

Since the cleaner works automatically, you have less work to do. Your pool stays cleaner, it’s better for the environment and you don’t have to replace your filter as often.

Add A Pool Cover

This is one of the simplest ways to create a more eco-friendly pool. You have to take a few minutes to put it on and take it off, but you’ll save energy and water.

Your pool water evaporates, meaning you have to constantly refill it to keep the levels up. This also means adding more chemicals to balance the new water. With a cover over the pool, you slow the evaporation rate, though some water still evaporates as you use the pool.

If you heat your pool, your heat pump runs less often with the pool cover on. This is because the cover traps the heat, reducing your energy usage and costs.

Use A Solar Heater

If you heat your pool, that obviously uses energy. However, cut back on your energy usage by using a solar heater instead. Not only do these effectively heat your pool, but you use the sun versus traditional electricity.

If you don’t have a heating system already, it’s actually considered more eco-friendly to use a solar heater to heat your pool all year if possible. This allows you to use your pool all year, preventing the waste of draining and refilling your pool. Of course, if you have an outdoor pool in an extremely cold climate, this might not work well for you.

Build A Natural Pool

The more eco-friendly pool is a natural pool. Instead of chemicals, you use plants to keep the pool clean. In some ways, there’s less maintenance since you don’t have to worry about a filter or chemicals. But, you still need to clean the pool itself and ensure the plants remain healthy.

Natural pools are much more expensive to install. The water can also take on a brownish hue much like a pond versus the bluish color you’re used to.

London actually opened a completely natural pool to get people more in touch with nature while swimming. Before opting for a natural pool, it’s a good idea to look at the pros and cons.

Switch Your Filter

Switching to a cartridge filter versus a sand filter helps you create a more eco-friendly pool. There’s less maintenance involved, usually only needing to be hosed off a few times each year. Plus, they require less water to be effective.