COVERFREE usage for evaporation control in CA

[PoolyMe]

Thought i would start a new thread here, as most regarding Coverfree were pretty dated. Here in Ventura County CA we have new water restrictions that require covering your pool when not in use to prevent evaporation. This is not an option for me, so i bought the COVERFREE, going to see if it makes a difference. I have my Pool filler going for 4 min a day, and that seems to be keeping my pool topped off well. Hard to know how many gallons that is per day, but I figure if i control the time, that will tell me something. No accounting for variables regarding heat and evaporation, but its been pretty consistently in the 80’s recently here. I used 4 oz of the coverfree as directed. I reset my pool filler to 3 min per day, and will watch the water level now this week to see if I can reduce more for next week, or if it makes a difference at all. This year has been unusually windy in CA, and I know this disturbs the COVERFREE layer, but maybe it will help during calm times and when we are not using the pool? Just posting to see if anyone else in CA is trying this, and if you have any tips or results to share. Happy summer!

 

[ajw22]

@1poolman1 what do you think about COVERFREE and do you have any customers using it?

 

[1poolman1]

Been using it for years. Sold many.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I can’t absolutely swear that it did NOTHING for me. If there is any disturbance to the water surface either from the pump running or wind, it doesn’t help. Perhaps at night if the air is stagnant it will work but the wind moves all the time here and so for my pool it made zero difference.

 

[1poolman1]

As the ad goes, "Your mileage may vary." In one form (brand) or another I have had success. Maybe the environment. California isn't as dry as Arizona.
Water suppliers in this state have approached all (or virtually all) the major pool service-associations encouraging its use.

 

[Mdragger88]

Are u talking about the orange stuff? I have used it a couple times. It’s definitely no sub for a solar cover. I don’t love the goopyness, considering my main goal with my pool care efforts is to have sparkling water - it kinda feels like a step in the wrong direction when pouring it in. For the price of several bottles you can get a cheap bubble cover that will definitely slow evaporation down & won’t harm your sparkle . I am Curious how the municipality will be able to tell (& not give u a citation) if u use this instead of a cover?

 

[1poolman1]

Are u talking about the orange stuff? I have used it a couple times. It’s definitely no sub for a solar cover. I don’t love the goopyness, considering my main goal with my pool care efforts is to have sparkling water - it kinda feels like a step in the wrong direction when pouring it in. For the price of several bottles you can get a cheap bubble cover that will definitely slow evaporation down & won’t harm your sparkle . I am Curious how the municipality will be able to tell (& not give u a citation) if u use this instead of a cover?

Water suppliers in this state have approached all (or virtually all) the major pool service-associations encouraging its use.

 

[PoolyMe]

Are u talking about the orange stuff? I have used it a couple times. It’s definitely no sub for a solar cover. I don’t love the goopyness, considering my main goal with my pool care efforts is to have sparkling water - it kinda feels like a step in the wrong direction when pouring it in. For the price of several bottles you can get a cheap bubble cover that will definitely slow evaporation down & won’t harm your sparkle . I am Curious how the municipality will be able to tell (& not give u a citation) if u use this instead of a cover?

Thanks for your reply. Yes, it’s orange. I had a bubble cover once, but taking it on and off, keeping it clean and storing it somewhere, plus just the look of it on my pool was not good. We have Santa Ana winds here, which can pick it up and next thing ya know, its over the neighbors fence….I doubt they will know, but just trying to do anything to save a bit of water besides a cover.

 

[PoolyMe]

Been using it for years. Sold many.

Thanks for your input!

 

[PoolyMe]

I can’t absolutely swear that it did NOTHING for me. If there is any disturbance to the water surface either from the pump running or wind, it doesn’t help. Perhaps at night if the air is stagnant it will work but the wind moves all the time here and so for my pool it made zero difference.

Yes, hard to quantify the result, but I figure if i can reduce the time incrementally on my pool filler, there will be some gain. If I can’t reduce time on the pool filler, then not worth it. I will post my thoughts in a few weeks of use.

 

[PoolyMe]

COVERFREE UPDATE: It’s been 3 weeks of use, and so far with temperatures heating up here in CA, there has been minimal water savings with the COVERFREE. I am saving possibly a minute a day (at best) on my pool filler. We calculated roughly 12 g/min output from our pool filler, and our water is costing us less than .01/gal. 12g x 7 days= 84g savings: That is a savings of roughly .84 per week. The cost of COVERFREE is 3.75/wk at 30.00/bottle. (8 weeks worth for my size pool of 11Kg) Of course as it’s been getting warmer, so there has probably been more evaporation every day, so it’s not an exact science. I will use up the bottle, but don’t think its really worth the cost at this point.