Owning a pool means that you are the envy of all the neighbourhood kids and parents alike, as there is nothing more inviting than a sparkling pool on a hot summer day. But, pools require maintenance and use a lot of water to be kept in crystal clear condition. Backwashing a pool wastes water, as liters of water are pumped out during the cycle that will need to be replaced. A water-wise solution is to install a pool backwash water saver and recycle your backwash pool water. The backwash water does the job of cleaning the pool filters that in turn keep the pool nice and clean, but instead of being discarded the pool backwash water saver cleans the backwash water so it can be returned to the pool to keep it topped up.
Why it is important to recycle backwash pool water
Backwash pool water is not necessarily ‘dirty’ water but due to the chlorine, it is considered to be contaminated. Since the backwash water contains chemicals designed to kill any organics in the water, any backwash water that gets into streams and rainwater drainage systems can harm natural ecosystems killing fish and freshwater organisms. Traditionally the ‘safest’ way to dispose of the water was to ensure that it was discharged into the sewage system. This presents a problem if you have a septic tank, or French drain as the chemicals in the backwash water can harm the bacteria that decompose the sewage, resulting in a smelly problem when the bacteria stops working.
The most common way to ‘dispose’ of the backwash water was to allow it to drain onto the bottom of the garden, however once again this contaminated water will find its way into the stormwater system through natural drainage.
Considering the current national water scarcity situation it is time to become water-wise and go green with your pool, keeping it sparkling and inviting by recycling the pool water.