Page 52 - Green Builder March-April 2016 Issue

Tips, Technology and Common Sense
Solutions for a Thirsty World

Long Live the Spool!

If your client wants a swimming pool, try talking them into a sustainable spa instead.

CREDIT: KCXD (FLICKR)

Spoolside. Using a fraction of the water but no less luxurious, spas are generally a more sustainable choice than a swimming pool.

BY GREEN BUILDER STAFF (normal tub size), uses enough water to fill a typical 400-gallon spa.”

SWIMMING POOLS ARE becoming an ever-bigger concern Filling and draining a bathtub twice a week for four months uses
in dry states. According to the Arizona Dept. of Water
Resources, “half of the potable water Arizona homeowners 2,720 gallons of water. A spa uses the same 400 gallons of water
use is outdoors.” Pools and spas account for approximately
16 percent of that outdoor water use. “Filling and continuously throughout those
In Arizona, a standard (16 ft. x 36 ft.) uncovered pool loses four draining a bathtub four months.”
to six feet per year to evaporation—that’s 17,235 to 25,852 gallons.
Most of this loss occurs during the summer. Added to the water Of course, nothing is quite
lost during refilling and backwashing, that’s roughly the equivalent twice a week for that simple, and it’s important to
of filling the pool every year. Draining a pool doubles this amount. consider overall environmental
This is why, if you do own a pool, it’s extremely important to use a four months uses impacts. Spas typically require
pool cover, which can reduce evaporation losses by up to 30 percent. 2,720 gallons of chlorine and other chemicals to
water. A spa uses keep water from becoming unsafe.
Spas, on the other hand, if used wisely, can more or less break even
with a home that has no outdoor water features at all, according to the same 400 Bathtubs don’t. So there’s an
experts. Here’s the deal, according to the Association of Pool and gallons of water added burden with treating and
Spa Professionals: continuously discharging spa water.

“Baths use water once, whereas a spa offers four to six months Recycling graywater from
of use for the same water. Taking just five baths, at 80 gallons each throughout those the bath and using it to irrigate
landscaping helps mitigate
four months.” the higher overall water use of

bathtubs. In fact, depending on the region, the success of a graywater

system depends on having a regular source of graywater, such as a

50 GREEN BUILDER March/April 2016 www.greenbuildermedia.com