How harmful is pool water to environment?

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gtnos

Well-known member
Jun 9, 2013
549
Newcastle, Oklahoma
no, im not a tree hugger. :lol: however, my pool is about 35 feet uphill from our neighborhood pond. a pond that my boys and I enjoy as much as we do our pool, boating and fishing. the last thing i would want to do is anything that would harm the pond system. i dont backwash often and when i do, i try to keep water loss minimal as it can runoff down to the pond. i am most concerned with closing the pool when i will have to drain it down below inlet fittings. thats a lot of water.

i have already buried my backwash hose and located the end of it to a spot that will hold a bit of water before it starts flowing down towards the pond. i have actually toyed with the idea though of digging my hose up, digging the trench 18 - 24 inches deep, buying a couple pieces of schedule 40 laterline PVC, a few bags of rock, and plumbing my sandfilter drain into this makeshift lateral line that would allow all backwashed and drained water to absorb into the soil rather than run on top of ground. even though this would be a lot of water, when i drain at the end of season i would drain slowly over several days to give the soil time to absorb it. laterals, properly built, can usually handle a lot of water though.

is pool water that bad to where i need to worry about this?

has anyone ever tried to use a lateral line to backwash into?

thanks!
 
gtnos said:
is pool water that bad to where i need to worry about this?
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Well you could wait until your chlorine drops to zero before pumping out at the end of the season to eliminate that concern. The only other thing that might be an issue is many algaecides are toxic to aquatic life, however if you follow this forums BBB advice you won't need algaecide. Personally I wouldn't worry about it unless it is ALL going directly into the pond. You could shorten the backwash hose to 8-10 feet, have the kids move it around like watering the lawn and the majority will get absorbed into the ground long before it reaches the pond.
 
I can't imagine any chlorine surviving about 10 feet past the exit point. Chlorine is consumed by sunlight and organics....there's usually plenty of both on the surface of the dirt.

CYA is an inert ingredient to begin with so it will have no effect at all. CH exists naturally in most soils.

I think it's a non-issue.
 
I'd just avoid any mystery ingredients, like clarifiers and algaecides. If you let FC drop to2 or 3, it's no worse than letting tap water run into the pond. CYA breaks down in soil to urea and ammonia compounds - nitrogen fertilizer, essentially, and I doubt that will mess up the pond too much. I know my lawn is happy with pool water, and I don't let the FC drop before I pump it out.
 
gtnos said:
Richard320 said:
clarifiers and algaecides.
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:shock: NEVER in my pool good sir.... not even on my worst day.... BBB is all i use. i wont even use MA to bring the pH down unless im desperate.
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Nothing wrong with MA, it is Hydrogen Chloride (HCL), nothing but hydrogen and chlorine in there, breaks down to salt just like chlorine. Same acid that is produced in your stomach to digest food.
 
I would protect the pond environment with every effort possible. That said, there is no issue with your pool water causing harm to it. The chlorine will be consumed so fast on the ground there isn't a need to worry. If you let your FC drop consistently before BW, you will see trouble with Algae at some point. It is always waiting for a chance to jump up and get you. I would worry more about chemicals and fertilizers used around the house if anything at all.
 
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