Cost of RO treatment

[Puffin]

I've read a few articles here where people suggested dump and refill or RO treatment. I was wondering how much RO treatments cost in general.

Its not much of an issue for me now, but I hope to have a permanent pool in a year to two. At that point, changing thousands of gallons of water seems like it would pretty significant undertaking.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Starting off right in the first place, by following the methods we preach here - should provide preventative measures so that draining tons of water is a non-issue. RO treatments are useful in places with high evaporation rates like dry arid areas combined with hard water, so places like Arizona the CH levels can build up quickly, CYA from tablet use year-round can build up quickly... in areas like that RO is really useful especially if you have drought restrictions when it comes to water replacement.

In GA, if you use tablets sparingly and follow the proper chlorination methods we preach, it's unlikely you would ever have to worry about needing an RO treatment or replacing your water... What's your CH level like in your fill water?

 

[Bama Rambler]

What She said!

 

[Guest]

If you do not have high CH in your fill water, and if you do not allow your CYA to get out of control (just like FPM said!), then you will not need to consider R/O for your pool. Here in Southern California, our fill water is in the 300-400 range, so we build pretty fast, and we evaporate quickly as well. People like to use pucks, so they mess up their CYA rapidly also, creating a need for us. You may be able to avoid these issues if you stay on the BBB Method and do not allow your pool to reach unacceptable levels.

R/O is not readily available in all parts of the country (yet!), so it may not even be an option for you. It would also be hard to know what they may charge in your area. We price very closely to drain and refill pricing here, so that folks have an option to wasting water without paying any more than if they drained and refilled the pool. We are also able to give them back much better water quality than the water company is able to provide, and the pool is never out of service, has the plaster exposed or is able to float out of the ground!

It is nice to know that people are starting to understand this technology and consider it as an option for their swimming pools. Especially in areas of the country where water is not plentiful, but also in areas where folks are just trying to be responsible also. Good job

 

[Puffin]

Thank you everyone for the info.

FPM, my CH is only 40. Its remarkably low. I don't think high CH is a problem, lol low CH maybe an issue tho.

I was thinking of RO from 2 points of view. First, if I buy a place with a pool and the water chemistry was really bad, I was trying to get an idea of what my options were.

The other was from a cost/benefit point of view. Assuming it costs a similar amount to dump and refill, it seems like it would be a good option in general. As I understand from reading here, dumping a lot of water from a pool at one time can be risky, creating possible problems with liners and such. Dealing with a tremendous amount of waste water could be tricky as well. RO seems to help mitigate both of these to a some degree.

I recently moved out here from CA. Back there the water situation was very different. The pH was high, the water was very hard and in short supply (rationing, steep progressive usage costs, etc...). We had to deal with a lot of scaling and hard water issues, especially with our appliances. Also, the soil doesn't handle lots of water well at all. Out here, the water out of the tap, pH: 7.5, CH:40 TA:50 TC:2. (hehe, I love playing with my new kit). We get something like 50+ inches of rain a year. Last night, we got about 2 inches and I don't seem to have any erosion or flooding.

I guess my thinking is still somewhat tied to CA. To be honest, after living there for a few years, I feel a little guilty wasting water.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I feel a little guilty wasting water.

Nothing wrong with that. I'm a bit obsessive about it myself.