Pool Temps Rising - Aluminum Foil Solar Reflector?

[SaintRonin]

So the heat has taken off the last couple of weeks here in Texas and the water temp has shot from around 84º to over 91º. Recalling how last summer was and how the water ceased to be refreshing at severl points, I was wondering if there is any reason a PVC pipe framework with aluminum foil wrapped about it would not help prevent the temp from rising so much during the day (sections of chopped pool noodle slipped on the PVC would provide buoyancy). My main conern is whether or not there will be a reaction between the chlorinated water and the foil and ultimately winding up with metal in my water (I presume that would be considered bad since copper and other metals are treated as such).

Since I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, I would imagine that someone else has likely had a similar idea, but maybe not enough people live anywhere that it is hot enough to both doing anything beyond running the pump longer at night and or water works to cool everything. I was thinking something that would be easy to toss in the pool and almost just as easy to remove, but that would limit the amount of sunlight allowed into the pool during the day (think the solar rings they seel as a non-solid pool cover, but completely reflective).

Regards,
Steven

 

[pwrstrk]

Have you tried using a fountain ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[jcowart]

I am in the same boat as you right down the road on IH-10. I use a fountain. My pool hit 90 a week or so ago. I now have it down to 84. Thats about what it stayed last year in the heat of the summer. Just watch your ph. I can run mine 8 hours a day for three days before I have to adjust ph.

 

[SaintRonin]

I am in the same boat as you right down the road on IH-10. I use a fountain. My pool hit 90 a week or so ago. I now have it down to 84. Thats about what it stayed last year in the heat of the summer. Just watch your ph. I can run mine 8 hours a day for three days before I have to adjust ph.

My backyard is relatively small, and options limited. What kind of a fountain do you have? I realize that it is not as pretty, but I was kind of operating under the premise of avoid the heat in the first place, instead of incurring the expense of a fountain, the electricity to run it, and the acid to counter it. That said, if the fountain is feasible for my setup, I am open to pursuing it. Keeping it in the mid to upper 80's sounds very nice.

 

[weird_tolkienish_f]

People here in the ne would kill to have your problems, lol!

 

[pwrstrk]

There's alot of DyI fountains on here. They make them out of PVC and run them off the return with a valve so you can adjust the fountain and still use your return jet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[jblizzle]

You are not understanding what is meant by fountain. Search the site.

Many people just put some pieces of PVC together and stick it in the return jet so the water goes spraying into the air and back into the pool. It is just using your regular pool pump.

 

[harleysilo]

my-version-of-a-pool-cooler-operating-off-a-return-t48856.html?hilit=Version%20of%20a%20pool%20cooler

 

[pwrstrk]

I forgot about that one nice job harleysilo !!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[jcowart]

Search for pool fountain. It screws into where your eyeball return is and sprays into the air and back into the pool. When you aerate the water it will bring the ph up. Thats also how you lower your TA. Muriatic acid brings both TA and PH down then you aerate to bring the ph back up. My father in laws is 1 1/2" male thread to a 90, then 1/2" bushing, 10" pipe, to a shower head.

 

[jcowart]

People here in the ne would kill to have your problems, lol!

I would prefer cooler temps. I am 10' above sea level "Gulf of Mexico" so the humidity is what kills us. It has averaged 100+ heat index for a while. 80 to 90 degree pool water feels great for the first 10 or so minutes.

 

[SaintRonin]

I will go jump in the pool again to confirm, but I do not believe that my return jets have threads. Whomever built my pool did it as cheaply as possible, one pump, one filter, the skimmer basket and pipe at the bottom of the deep end feed the pump, and 3 returns pump it back out to the pool (it looks like there used to be a fourth but it has been plugged - when I unplugged it, it was not pumping so who knows what happened there). The lack of threads on the returns limits my options for the fountains (which I had googled), but I think I may be stuck until the plaster gets redone. At that point I can have proper eyeballs put in, a fill line so I don't have to run a hose across the yard, and all that good stuff... Back to the original question though, does anyone know if there will be any problems with aluminum coming in contact with the water?

 

[weird_tolkienish_f]

People here in the ne would kill to have your problems, lol!

I would prefer cooler temps. I am 10' above sea level "Gulf of Mexico" so the humidity is what kills us. It has averaged 100+ heat index for a while. 80 to 90 degree pool water feels great for the first 10 or so minutes.

I remember last year there was a 24 hour period where I managed to get my pool temp over 80. I was pretty psyched. Didn't last long.