Author Topic: pool question (Read 535 times)

Gunslinger · « **on:** May 20, 2006, 04:29:16 PM »

Ok so my pool is doing well but my thrifty mind started thinking about somthing.

When I backwash my filter I am waisting hundreds of gallons of water by flushing it into the drain, thus brings me to my question.

Would it hurt my lawn back washing it into some type of sprinkler system and using my backwash water to water my lawn? Keeping in mind the water is clorinated and the PH is adjusted ect.

Brenjen · « **Reply #1 on:** May 20, 2006, 04:33:10 PM »

Nope, won't hurt it a bit.

EDIT: Unless you are one of those people who put so much chlorine in your pool in burns your mucus membranes. Even then I doubt it would hurt your lawn. Our city water where I live has such a strong concentration of chlorine & chloramines that it tickles your nose to smell it & my wife waters with it.

Gunslinger · « **Reply #2 on:** May 20, 2006, 04:40:19 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Brenjen
Nope, won't hurt it a bit.

EDIT: Unless you are one of those people who put so much chlorine in your pool in burns your mucus membranes. Even then I doubt it would hurt your lawn. Our city water where I live has such a strong concentration of chlorine & chloramines that it tickles your nose to smell it & my wife waters with it.

Rgr that,

I'm thinking about running a PVC pipe with threaded holes to screw sprinklers into. Then use an old drain tube and hose clamp to connect the two. If I don't feel like watering I can allways just flush it in the ditch like I've been doing.....or I can hook it up to my "sprinkler system". Either way the pump should provide enough pressure to make difference and I can even install an inline filter to keep from cloging the sprinklers.

My chlorine is kept at the usual rate 1.6 PPM I beleive.

rabbidrabbit · « **Reply #3 on:** May 20, 2006, 04:47:40 PM »

You should not have to backwash any more than once or twice per season. If you want to spend money killing your lawn then give the idea a go but I'm not sure its worth themoney and time considering how cheap water is.

Gunslinger · « **Reply #4 on:** May 20, 2006, 05:13:16 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by rabbidrabbit
You should not have to backwash any more than once or twice per season. If you want to spend money killing your lawn then give the idea a go but I'm not sure its worth themoney and time considering how cheap water is.

RE: Cheap water, my water bill aint cheap. For what ever reason it was 18000 gallons last month (that included a leaky garden faucet that I didn't know about)

RE: The filter, I have to back wash it once a week. It is a sand filter and requires it. Hence I'm adding water once a week due to backwash and evaporation. If I could save on watering my backyard I'm all for it. If the chlorine in the water is safe for it that is.

Bodhi · « **Reply #5 on:** May 20, 2006, 05:19:20 PM »

I'd test it first guns....

I tried doing it when I had my home in FL, and the water in my pool was roughly the same ph. Anyways, found out that St. Augustine Grass was not a very big fan of chlorine....

Gunslinger · « **Reply #6 on:** May 20, 2006, 05:23:55 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Bodhi
I'd test it first guns....

I tried doing it when I had my home in FL, and the water in my pool was roughly the same ph. Anyways, found out that St. Augustine Grass was not a very big fan of chlorine....

Thanks sir,

The weeds in the ditch that I drain my pool into love the stuff and are currently growing above the top of the fencline. I'm gonna take the weedeater to them tommorow even though that should be the HOA's job because it's not by property.

Bodhi · « **Reply #7 on:** May 20, 2006, 05:26:27 PM »

Guns, when you test it, do it on a small patch down hill or slope from anything else.... say 10' X 10' that way you get a good comparison and any run off does not contaminate anything else.

Gh0stFT · « **Reply #8 on:** May 20, 2006, 05:31:16 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Gunslinger
RE: Cheap water, my water bill aint cheap. For what ever reason it was 18000 gallons last month (that included a leaky garden faucet that I didn't know about)

RE: The filter, I have to back wash it once a week. It is a sand filter and requires it. Hence I'm adding water once a week due to backwash and evaporation. If I could save on watering my backyard I'm all for it. If the chlorine in the water is safe for it that is.

similar thing happened here, water bill exploded because of a leaky
garden faucet!
But i dont understand why you have to backwash the sandfilter once
a week??? How much gallons is needed to fill your pool?

Chairboy · « **Reply #9 on:** May 20, 2006, 05:47:37 PM »

Instead of backwashing the filter, have you considered placing a 150lb block of elemental sodium in the pool instead? The drainage issue becomes a non-event, and you'll find that it both disinfects the pool and flushes all of the lines simultaneously.

Perhaps try it on another pool first, though, to perfect the technique.

Gunslinger · « **Reply #10 on:** May 20, 2006, 06:13:04 PM »

Well I think my sand is old in the filter and needs to be replaced. My house is 5 years old and there's no telling when they isntalled the pool. I've been running the filter about 4 or 5 times a week and running the polaris ground sweeper once a week. So it requires me to backwash the filter quite often. I just think this water is waisted and could be used to water my lawn.

Evaporation has been killing me as well. I've been adding water every week we dont have rain.

J_A_B · « **Reply #11 on:** May 20, 2006, 06:52:43 PM »

"But i dont understand why you have to backwash the sandfilter once
a week??? How much gallons is needed to fill your pool?"

The pool at the place I used to live had to be backwashed about that often; its capacity was roughly 14,000 gallons. This being Ohio, we didn't have to run the hose to refill it very often as rain was usually sufficient except in dry years. It didn't usually take all that much water to backwash it; I imagine Gunslinger is losing more water through evaporation.

How do you like the pool thus far Guns?

If you want to see if it'll kill your grass, you could always try watering a small patch of your yard with it for several weeks.

J_A_B

Sandman · « **Reply #12 on:** May 20, 2006, 06:57:06 PM »

My filter uses diatomaceous earth. My pool is 16,000 gallons. I backflush about once every 2 months.

BluKitty · « **Reply #13 on:** May 20, 2006, 07:01:25 PM »

I grew up in San Antonio pouring my parents back-filtered pool water onto the lawn ......(IMO sand based filters are the only way to go)

They have a pretty nice green lawn.

No the chlorine won't hurt it ..... Use your pool chem's to test your tap water for chlorine sometime, You'll be amazed that your not as green as your plants

---------

Also it helps alot in S.A. to have a pool in the shade .... ya more leaves to pick up etc.... but keeps it from being like 'bath water' in the summer, and helps with evaporation.

FiLtH · « **Reply #14 on:** May 20, 2006, 07:18:56 PM »

Any home plumbing you do be aware of cross connections between potable and non potable water. Be sure to use some sort of backflow protection so the pool water can't contaminate your domestic water or your neighbor's.