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Simple Ways To Make Sure You Have An Eco-Friendly Pool

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Shutterstock Licensed Photo - By Albie Venter

More people have started to pursue a green lifestyle in recent years, since increased awareness has been spread on the matter. Living an eco-friendly life means more than just recycling your waste or using star-rated appliances, you should consider every possibility you have to reduce your carbon footprint.

If you’ve recently installed a swimming pool, this backyard addition might be currently consuming higher levels of energy, which is not good for the environment.

Having a swimming pool can be great. You have the perfect spot to cool off during hot days of summer, it can add to the visual appeal of your outdoor setting, and it’s something the entire family can enjoy together. However, if you want to maintain an eco-friendly approach to your pool ownership, being aware of some relevant factors is important.

How can you make your pool more eco-friendly? Here are some methods you should be looking into.

Variable speed pump installment

The first and possibly most important way to make your swimming pool greener is by installing the right pump. There are plenty of options on the market, but not all of them come with capabilities of lowering your energy consumption. Usually, out of all swimming pool equipment, pumps are known to hog the most energy. However, you can obtain a significant improvement, and immediately lower your consumption by switching to a variable speed pump instead.

These types of pumps have become quite popular lately, especially for the more environmentally conscious pool owner. They typically come with multiple speed options, not just high speed or low speed. They also have options for increasing speed and ensuring greater flexibility. What this means is that the water in your pool can be cleaned efficiently, without the pump being on full power mode nonstop. For water filtration purposes solely, for example, a low speed will be sufficient, while for more complex cleaning tasks, you can turn the speed higher.

Investing in this type of equipment can be highly advantageous. Throughout an entire year, you could end up saving up to 83% percent on your power bills, so not only will you be doing your part to save the planet, but you’ll be reducing your utility costs as well.

Start using fewer chemicals and more green cleaners

Chemicals used to be the go-to option for almost any pool owner out there. While chemical-based products do their job quite well, they aren’t that beneficial for the environment, nor for your own personal well-being. Chlorine, for example, is probably the most frequently used chemical for pool cleaning requirements. It is actually considered a pesticide by environmental protection organizations.

You can easily come across greener alternatives if you do a bit of research. From natural mineral sanitizers to bromine, you can make use of other systems that provide great sanitization effects. You may still need to occasionally add some chlorine, but you can significantly lower your usage with these alternatives.

Use a windbreak

Wind can trigger faster evaporation of your pool water and can also cool it down, which means you need to use more energy to keep your heater running or to fill in the pool again. That’s why you should think about installing a windbreak.

Fencing is usually the preferred solution here, but you have other possibilities. You could use shrubs, screens or other materials to create an appropriate wind shield. Some pool owners even use trees or shrubs for this purpose, these adding to the natural feel of the landscape as well.

Spot and fix leaks

While a small leak might not seem like such a big issue at first, over time, if left unattended, it can  lead to the waste of gallons of water. Unfixed leaks will also get much worse and could eventually affect the entire structure of the pool, requiring expensive and time-consuming repairs.

Try to spot any potential leaks on time, and make it a priority to fix them. Not wasting valuable resources is certainly important if you want to be an eco-friendly homeowner.

Keep your filters clean

If your filters are dirty, they will make your pump work harder and your cleaning agent less efficient. Instead of causing your pump to use more energy and adding more chlorine e to the water, simply clean your filters properly on the regular. This isn’t a complicated task, so as long as you make a habit out of it, it won’t be something stressful to keep up with.

Install a solar heater

A pool heater helps you maximize your pool usage. Being able to go for a swim even when it’s not exactly sunny outside means you can make the most out of your investment. However regular heaters are known to use up quite a lot of energy, not being exactly eco-friendly. So, what you can do is install a solar heating system instead. Pool heaters that are solar-powered use a series of tubes to absorbed  heat from the sun, allowing you to keep the pool water warm. This alternative does come at a higher price initially, but you will be able to get your investment back over time, by saving on energy costs.

Skip on water features

Waterfalls or other visually-drawing water features might look great, but from an energy-efficient perspective, they aren’t at all advantageous. They will end up using more electricity and they will also contribute to the evaporation of the water in the pool, so it’s better to opt for a simple pool design and to skip on water features, which most of the time are chosen for aesthetics reasons online.

Consider each one of these suggestions if you want to turn your pool into an eco-friendly one. Any homeowner can have an impact in the battle against environment degradation, and each action taken can make a difference, even it it’s a small own. It is possible to make your swimming pool greener, as long as you take some important steps, some of them easier than you’ve expected. Remembers the tips underlined here and start doing things the green way in this department.

Maintain your pool properly to ensure it is good for the environment

You will want to make sure that your pool is as eco-friendly as possible. The good news is that there are a lot of ways to make sure that it is good for the environment. You are just going to need to maintain it properly to keep it energy efficient and ensure it fits your sustainable lifestyle.

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