Filtering a saltwater pool

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and new to prepping as well and hoping to get some help with water filtration. I don't see much discussion on filtering pool water, so my apologies if I missed it somewhere and hopefully this isn't a stupid question. I have seen plenty of discussion on filtering and storing fresh water but I'm curious if there is a way to use the 22,000 gallons of saltwater in my pool? The salinity of my pool is 3600ppm, low compared to seawater but certainly not drinkable.

In searching for solutions, I stumbled on something called the AEG Oasis which claims to be purpose built for this scenario but I'd prefer not to spend a grand on it. Looking more closely, it is just a simple RO filter that uses a DOW Filmtec filter with a 99% rejection rate. I called a couple of companies that sell RO filters and they didn't recommend filtering water above 2000ppm. However, I'm more interested in emergency situations than perfect taste.

The Filmtec membrane has a 99% rejection, so in theory the water would end up at 36ppm. Let's say it doesn't work perfectly and gets 97% rejection, that's close to 100ppm which works out to around 100mg salt per liter. I imagine it would have a slight salt taste but would still be safe to drink?

I'm curious what you all think and if any of you have a saltwater pool and have come up with solutions for turning it into drinking water when the SHTF?

Thanks,
Brian

 

this wont help today but a 3dp solar powered desalinator maybe in the works.

How aerogel can make the ocean drinkable

,,, why do you have 22k gallons of salt water in your pool?

 

It's a saltwater pool that uses a chlorine generator to turn the salt into free chlorine. Instead of constantly buying chlorine for the pool, you just occasionally buy salt. It's a lot easier to maintain than a traditional pool, they've gotten very popular with pool owners. So, I figured if I have a 22,000 gal pool in my back yard, it would be nice to be able to use that water in an emergency if the municipal water is out of commission for an extended period of time.

 

To be honest, I never heard of someone having saltwater pool before, but it does make a lot of sense.

I think you might have hit on a new topic. We certainly have discussed water filtration and etc. but never desalination of salt water to my knowledge. It is indeed an interesting topic... First question that pops up in my mind is if it can be done cost effectively. Now, the technology is out there because naval ships certainly have them and it has come a long way from the old days so...

 

My cement pond is a traditional chlorine pool, and all that I have to do is wait a day or two and the chlorine is gone. I would still need to filter/treat the water before drinking it, as it would quickly become a backyard pond, but it would be a large source of drinking water...while it lasts.

 

Yes, salt water pools are a thing. Typically found in affluent area homes. The cost about 10x more to build and install than a typical chemical chlorine pool. Maintenance cost for the swimming season is way less in a saltwater pool. A salt water pool isn't as hard on the skin (drying out, rashes and such) than one might experience in a typical chlorine pool.

Due to initial cost we don't see many salt water pools in most areas.

 

so its cost prohibitive to convert a chlorine pool to salt? i never heard of one.

 

My son bought a house in Gulf breeze FL has a salt water pool has't had any complains about

 

Is the salt concentration enough that you feel more boyant?

I'm that guy who was told in Boot Camp to go across the pool. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to walk across the bottom of the deep end and just jump up at the far side. I retired as a First Class swimmer, but if required lots of weekends in the training pool.

In the ocean I float just fine.

 

quick check on the internet found folks saying that a conversion is around 3k in cost. not sure if that is just for the hardware and not including installation and programming.

 

No, you don't feel buoyant, the salt concentration is very low, it is 3600ppm where seawater is around 35,000ppm and the dead sea (where I think you do feel buoyant) is 10x that. It isn't expensive to convert a pool, it's about about a grand for the salt cell / chlorine generator and the salt needed would be a couple hundred but then you don't buy chlorine and it's easier on the skin as said earlier. I've also found it's just simpler to maintain. I'd love to be affluent but I'm definitely not, lol.

Also, I typically cover the pool for the winter living in the Atlanta area and with the pool covered, the water is always clear in the spring when I uncover it. It doesn't turn into a green pond if there's no light getting to it. I figure if I need to start using it for drinking water, I'll throw the cover over it so it lasts longer.

The chlorine content of a balanced pool is very similar to tap water and the chlorine also dissipates quickly if you turn the generator off so that's not really an issue. You'd still want a carbon block in front of the membrane to take out the chlorine as that will damage an RO membrane if there is any in the water. My thought is that since the salinity is relatively low, a standard residential RO filter would be sufficient to take enough salt out to make it drinkable but wanted to run it by the community and see what folks think.

 

That's probably accurate if you have someone else do it. I tend to be a DIYer, so I put it in myself and it cost a lot less.

 

@Burrell is your salt water pool above ground or in ground.
In my AO, i've seen the above ground saltwater pools just rust the ever loving hell out of above ground. Maybe we are just too humid and that salt water just eats bolts, ladders, railings, screws holding deck together, anything made of steel.
All the salt water pools that last more than a few years are inground and the designers/installers charge an arm and a leg to put them in. but they seem to last a lot longer than the above ground ones.

 

Buy a still if you have the ability to boil water when the grid goes down. Saltwater needs to be evaporated, the steam cooled, and water collected. Just what a still does. There are solar means as well.

 

I second the Still, build it with enough capacity to match your daily needs, then double that for output and you should be golden! The higher performance the Still, the faster you get to drinking water. Don't forget to run through a filtration system first, and depending on your location, a U.V. system!

For a high performance Still, you need a large heating area, and a large copper coil condenser, the bigger, the better up to a point, it all comes down to how fast you can heat the feed water to the steam stage, and the larger coil will condense faster! If you were really trick, you could build a secondary convection heat system to help power the system, making a much more efficient Still! I would rig to use multi fuels, primary should be something you already have, Natural Gas or Propane, for emergencies, wood or paper pulp, or anything else you might be able to source!

 

my thought on pool water use it to flush toilets, wash cloths with it, bath in it, get a small still to make drinking water

 

Stills also filter out other unwanted chemicals out of pool water

 

……. Not particularly. Saltwater Pool probably dominate the home pool market 80/20. My house back in the country has an 10m in-round pool that was a Saltwater sett-up when I bought it is 1987. Certainly a big easier to maintain than traditional chlorine pools.