Should I empty my pool into my cistern?

sleuth · #1 09/01/13, 08:15 PM

I have a cistern under the barn that I use only for plant irrigation. I have an Easy-set pool with about 2000-3000 gallons of water in it that I need to take down for the fall. And I have a portable pump to move the water from point A to point B. My question is... is there any reason not to put the water in my cistern? I haven't added chlorine in a couple weeks and it's just now starting get a little cloudy.

mnn2501 · #2 09/01/13, 08:18 PM

Sounds like a good idea to me since you've let the chlorine go.

MichaelZ · #3 09/01/13, 08:24 PM

You might want to test the water on some plants first if there is any chlorine left.

I use a salt system on our above ground pool and the water that splashes out has actually made some volunteer apple trees grow like mad. The apples are not much good to eat but I am saving them for deer hunting bait. The water in our pool is only slightly chlorinated. This year one tree will be giving me bushels of apples. Perhaps it is just the constant supply of splashed water on an otherwise dry slope. Initially I feared the pool water would kill the trees.

Harry Chickpea · #4 09/02/13, 12:04 AM

No. If you have done any balancing with sodium bicarbonate / muriatic acid or done any shock treatment, it will have residuals.

VERN in IL · #5 09/02/13, 09:00 AM

Do like we've done in the oilfield with salt brine, crank the drain valve open and let it run out!!!

sleuth · #6 09/02/13, 02:56 PM

I should have mentioned we've had plenty of rain this year and the garden is wrapping up. The water will sit in the cistern over the winter without use.

Rustaholic · #7 09/02/13, 03:20 PM

You know what you have put in that water.
What normally fills the cistern?
Unless you know for sure it will be filled without that pool water then I would pump the water into the cistern.

Trying to be ready in case TSHTF here I have been considering sand filtering and tanking up the water from the washing machine and the kitchen sink then in the Winter pumping it into forms for ice blocks. It is easy digging here and I could do a pit and insulate it before filling it with blocks of ice. That water could be made potable with Berkey Filters but mostly I am looking for refrigeration without electricity. I am also gearing up so I can hand pump our well. I would love to build or find a windmill but that is too visible for times like that.

Harry Chickpea · #8 09/02/13, 04:49 PM

A data point here - we had a pool in south Florida. It went green and was growing algae. I dumped the water into an area of the lawn, and not only did it kill the grass but it took over a year of rain on that sandy soil and irrigation before grass would grow properly again. I would NEVER use pool water as potable water unless I was literally dying of thirst.

wy_white_wolf · #9 09/03/13, 08:33 AM

How much water do you need for the plants this time of year?

How is it normally filled and will that way have it filled by the time you need the water?

If the water isn't needed I think I would pass.

WWW

sleuth · #10 09/03/13, 09:00 AM

The cistern is normally filled by the barn roof gutters channeled down to the cistern opening. So long as we have plenty of rain/snow this winter it will be refilled.

I just hate the idea of throwing away all that water. We filled the pool using our public water connection so we had to pay for it.

Anyway, based on the posts here, I emptied the pool yesterday and let it run into our driveway grate, which will take it downstream. But before next year, I need to think of a way to reuse all that water.

bhawkwind · #11 09/03/13, 11:45 AM

I'm dreaming of a self-sustaining pond for my family instead of a pool. Note the dreaming bit of that? LOL - I don't even have a pool! Lots of luck!

Oggie · #12 09/03/13, 12:52 PM

How much of the pool liquid kiddie tinkle?

Harry Chickpea · #13 09/03/13, 01:17 PM

Uh-oh, honey boo-boo in pool!

Danaus29 · #14 09/05/13, 08:51 PM

Hope there's no doodie in it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPxiXGr9nFM#t=11

scene from Caddyshack

o&itw · #15 09/08/13, 08:58 AM

I would normally give it a try myself, but since the cistern will fill up over the winter anyway, why take the chance. I don't thin any of the additives would be a problem as if it sat that long. The poster above with the algae lost his grass to the algae, not the chemicals. Algae water will kill lots of stuff. the chlorine will eventually evaporate from the sodium hypochlorite, if there is enough muratic acid in the water to hurt plants it wouldn't be fit to swim in, and it will react with any sodium bicarbonate to produce CO2 and NaCl (table salt). If you ever decide to do it, though, don't pull the vent off the cistern and take a big sniff... it may have both chlorine gas and carbon dioxide in it. It would be good to make sure the cistern is well vented so any that forms can escape. Many gasses in a cistern are somewhat heavier that air, and will harm one simply due to the lack of oxygen, and some are toxic. Anyone that every decides to clean or go down into any cistern or similar space should force air into it with a fan for at least 1/2 hour before entering, and keep the fan going when they are inside. It may have a concentrated amount of radon in it, and gasses will be continually produced from the organic material that has settled to the bottom.