Trying to beat the Kansas heat

[saunterer]

Man, this Kansas heat is killing us this year. It's so hot, that jumping into 92 degree water isn't cutting it anymore.

Tonight I thought I would engineer a way to get some evaporative cooling into my pool water. I know it'll raise my pH, but I would rather buy more Muriatic Acid and get some use out of my pool when it is hot. I have two fountains, but I run them all night and can only get about a 2 degree drop in temp.

What is so cool about this setup, is that the "T" can rotate 360 degrees to accommodate different returns in my pool. Also the vertical 1 1/2" pipe can rotate also if I need to spray water on a certain part of the pool due to the wind. (Wind in Kansas? Yea right...)

After building this, there are a few things I would change, but overall I'm cool with this setup for now.

I added a cockpit valve so I could adjust the water flow based on which return I was hooking it up to.

Tonight's low is supposed to get to about 76 degrees. If I get up in the morning (6 am ish) and the pool is below 89 I'll be a happy camper. Unless my pH is out of control. :-D

I'll update everyone on how things go, unless you tell me I'm nuts.

--Chris

 

[257WbyMag]

Ours is at 90 degrees right now and that is just too warm. Keep us updated on how your cooling device works out.

 

[saunterer]

I'm hoping for this:

But since our relative humidity is so high right now, I'm not sure how much is being evaporated.

I'll let you all know.

--Chris

**edit** and BTW, the wife was watering plants and that is why the concrete is so wet.

 

[woodyp]

I put one of those store bought 'flower power' looking aerators on the return when the thermometer gets stuck around here too. I usually only notice a 1 or 2 degree drop on the cheapie pool thermometer......but it sure feels a lot cooler than that drop would indicate. Also, the water is a lot clearer looking around underwater for some reason I don't understand. I agree------acid is cheap in comparison to a hot pool. Enjoy OUR usual heat up there!

 

[duraleigh]

I have been using a similar device for three years now. It works so effectively I have to shut it off as the pool temp approaches 84 degrees. I've shut it down twice these past few days and our temps have been mid-90's all week.

I would suggest you increase the pressure to the return you hook it to. It looks like you could use some more elevation to maximize your "time aloft" for the water to evaporate.

I have noticed no additional increase in my pH.....I can't explain why.[attachment=0:b82iycln]poolcooler.jpg[/attachment:b82iycln]

 

[woodyp]

I can get a good 20 feet or so outta mine! Cold hard rain if you stand under it.

 

[saunterer]

Thanks for the reports guys. Dave, it doesn't get hot in Raleigh... I mean it was only about 95 degrees in Newton Grove when I was visiting home last month.

Got up at 6 am and the pool temp was 85 which is good. Over the past week the temp is generally 88 to 89, so I'll take a 3 degree drop anytime. The pH was still hanging around 7.6. Not bad. I would leave it on all day today, but no one will be home plus it's supposed to be windy all day and I don't want to blow all the water out of the pool.

Do you run them continuously or during certain times? I have read here on TFP and other sources and different people run at different times.

Thanks again and I will update on the progress.

--Chris

 

[JMarch]

I got something similar to that on ebay. It screws into the polaris return and sends a 3/4 inch pvc pipe up and on the end of it I placed an end cap with holes drilled in it. It does pretty well.

 

[anonapersona]

I would like to see you test daylight vs night for total cooling effect.

I have been running my waterfall mostly in the cool predawn hours and my pool is actually chilly when I first get in.

 

[saunterer]

I might try that out tomorrow. No one was at home today to monitor the pool.

Good news is that T-storms are moving in and the air temp has gone from 93 to about 79 degrees. I have the jets running right now.

 

[smccull]

We are in the same boat in Dallas - 92 degree water - like a bath!. I installed 5 Deck jets on our current pool hoping it would make a big difference - it helps a little, but the water flow is just too laminar to get much evaporation. I think I'm going to remove the deck jet nozzles and replace it with some kind of sprayer to get smaller droplets to maximize the effect.

I occasionally see post about this and concerns regarding evaporation. The latent heat of vaporization of water is about 1000 BTU/lb of water lost. Water has one of the highest values of any liquid - its why you see so many cooling towers using water - plus its CHEAP. 1 gallon water = 8.35 lbs, so every gallon of water you evaporate removes 8350 BTU of heat - 1 BTU of energy heats 1 lbs of water 1 degree F. So my 20000 gallon pool has 167,000 lbs of water in it, so I need to lose ~ 167,000 BTU to cool it 1 degree or 167,000/8350 ~ 20 gallons of water - all this was a math exercise to show that with a latent heat of vaporization of ~ 1000 just divide your pool volume 1000 to figure how many gallons of water to evaporate to cool it 1 degree F. Around here our water goes for about $2-$4 per 1000 gallons depending on how much you use. I figure to cool my pool 4 degrees per day for a month should cost me around 2400 gallons * $4/1000 gallons = $10 per month over what I normally use. Not too bad - although depending on how hard your water is you will be increasing the hardness of your pool water significantly. Again, we only need it for 2-3 months a year.

Using your solar to cool certainly wouldn't increase water usage and you get the benefit of being able to heat when you want, but this is a cheap easy solution for now.