Posted: 4/24/2012 3:39:33 PM EDT
|
I know that because of chlorination pools shouldn't be relied upon for emergency water storage. Let's say the utilities are out for a while, though, and you have used up the water you have on hand. Two questions:
First, would you consider it theft to take water from a neighbor's pool if they weren't around? Second, what methods could be used to render it safe to drink? |
|
My pool is salt water. With distillation I can de-salinate the water and have pure salt left over to use.
It's difficult to accurately measure the ppm of chlorine in a pool, even with the little test kits. One way to get chlorine out of pool water is time. Let a 5 gallon bucket of chlorinated water sit out in the hot sun for a few days and you will see the chlorine content drop off sharply. eta: you will obviously have some evaporative loss, but the sun will bring the chlorine content down. Otherwise you could use the chlorinated pool water by diluting it with (?) rain water or another water source. |
|
Quoted:
I know that because of chlorination pools shouldn't be relied upon for emergency water storage. Let's say the utilities are out for a while, though, and you have used up the water you have on hand. Two questions: First, would you consider it theft to take water from a neighbor's pool if they weren't around? Second, what methods could be used to render it safe to drink? Chlorine is your friend. Stocking pool shock is one of the best ways to be prepared to sanitize large quantities of water. We use chlorine, and only chlorine (no algaecides, stabilizers, etc.) in our pool specifically for that reason. |
|
Quoted:
I know that because of chlorination pools shouldn't be relied upon for emergency water storage. Let's say the utilities are out for a while, though, and you have used up the water you have on hand. Two questions: First, would you consider it theft to take water from a neighbor's pool if they weren't around? Second, what methods could be used to render it safe to drink? any town/city with a water tower used chlorine to kill germs in the water so why would you think chlorinated water shouldnt be relied on? while the chlorine levels are higher in pool water removing a 5gal bucket full and allowing it to sit in the sun and stirring it around say every 30 min would render most of the chlorine out of it in a few hours. you could also boil it to get rid of the chlorine faster but for the most part unless you added chlorine to the pool that day you should be able to drink it right out of the pool as long as there is still some chlorine smell to the water after a day or 2. |
|
Quoted:
The chlorine evaporates right out after a few days. Expose it to sun and it breaks down even faster. Drink up. (1) The above is correct. If you are still concerned, buy a $6 chlorine test kit at WallMart. When the chlorine level drops to 0.5 (which is the normal city water chlorine level) you are good to go. (2) If you are dying of thirst who cares if some kook thinks it's stealing? |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
First, would you consider it theft to take water from a neighbor's pool if they weren't around? Theft is theft no matter what the product is. I understand your reasoning but I disagree. By "weren't around" I don't mean they ran down to the store for a minute. I mean they have left the area and won't return for some time. I believe that if the probability of a resource being ruined is high enough, then it's not really theft. With a long absence, the pool will go South and the water would have to be drained anyway. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
First, would you consider it theft to take water from a neighbor's pool if they weren't around? Theft is theft no matter what the product is. If it were a life & death situation and the neighbors had abandoned the home or didn't appear to be coming back than OF COURSE I'd utilize the water. Only a fool wouldn't. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
First, would you consider it theft to take water from a neighbor's pool if they weren't around? Theft is theft no matter what the product is. I understand your reasoning but I disagree. By "weren't around" I don't mean they ran down to the store for a minute. I mean they have left the area and won't return for some time. I believe that if the probability of a resource being ruined is high enough, then it's not really theft. With a long absence, the pool will go South and the water would have to be drained anyway. I'm not gonna tell you what to do in your situation, but the part bolded above is bullshit. I've owned a +45k gallon pool since 1998, it turns into a swamp every winter when I leave it to it's own devices. Come April/May, I just get rid of the leaves, start filtering it and adding chlorine. Week later, boom! crystal clear water. No draining involved. Having said that, if the neighbor wasn't obviously using it, a couple gallons a day isn't going to bother me, so do what you gotta do. |
|
Cool. I've never owned a pool. I just figured after a certain point it was screwed. Learn something new every day.
What about algaecides and other chemical additives? Should I be reasonably confident it is chemically safe if there is stuff growing in it? That is, if it's murky with crap, I can filter, and boil and it should be safe? |
|
It's not going to be all that much different that if you got it out of a small lake or pond. Obviously, if you can't see the bottom of a 4' pool, it's going to take some filtering to get it to the point where you can sanitize it. But coffee filters are cheap, stack'em deep.
I very rarely have to add algaecides and they are bad for you (forget what's in them, but it's not good for you). On the other hand, you're not going to be drinking much of it. The chlorine is a self-solving issue: it will go away on it's on or will be entirely gone if the pool hasn't been maintained for a while. Pool water is an excellent resource for flushing the toilets as-is. How much of it you want to drink or use it for potable water uses will determine how much you'll have to clean it. Good luck. |
|
Quoted:
Most pools have a number of other chemical additives other than chlorine. Often they are blended in with the chlorine and people don't realize these chemicals are there. Don't drink it. Over 30 years experience military and State public health. We already talked about algaecide, so there's not a whole lot of other chemicals to talk about. I know what's in my chlorine, it's chlorine. About the only other thing I use is Dawn washing soap as a flocculant and water clarifier. Even a whole gallon out of +45k gallons of water isn't that big a deal, after a week or so, I doubt it could be measured, much less tasted or smelled. Lastly, we're not talking about using it for a lifetime or a public health issue, but during SHTF. If it's SHTF, by definition, there is no public health. For short periods of time, there would be no measurable health risks, other than those associated with simply ensuring the water has been adequately disinfected prior to drinking. |
|
After the Northridge quake, the City of Los Angeles started having "classes" for it's employees on earthquake preparedness. At the one my wife attended, one of the other librarians ask if she could use the water in her pool. The "expert" told her that it couldn't be used for "anything". When my wife got home she asked me about it, and I said we had an entire pool of "emergency" water. Then she related the "experts" information to me. I told her that most likely, the city would put a cop on every pool and try to keep the pool owners from using the water, so they were spreading this BS.
Now me being me, I contacted the city's office of emergency preparedness and ask them about it. They tried to spin the same BS tale to me. They shut up and hung up when I explained what I did for a living. Strange how they didn't like being called on their BS by someone who does "water" for a living. |