r/preppers • u/Nyambura8 • 6d ago
New Prepper Questions Is this wrong thinking?
I'm very new to this so it may be a stupid question. I apologize in advance if so. Would a swimming pool or spa be an acceptable water source if water was shut off? The water would be chlorinated of course, but it wears off over time.
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u/shinyappyrobin 6d ago
One time I was without water for a few hours. Well needed to flush, I was thankful the hot tub was so close. After that a found a ring of wheels that fits under a 5 gallon bucket. Just in case I ever have to do that again, hauling water is heavy work. And the ring fits under my big potted plants also. So bringing them in the winter is easier.
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u/th30be Bugging out to the woods 5d ago
I know that you are indicating that you just carried water from the hot tub to the toilet to be able to flush but the way its written really indicates you just used the hot tub as your toilet.
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u/RonJohnJr Prepping for Tuesday 5d ago
Well needed to flush, I was thankful the hot tub was so close.
They normally get their water from a well, but -- since power was out -- they got water from the hot tub.
It's written clunkily, though: my first reading was that "well" was an autocorrect snafu of "we needed to flush, I was thankful the hot tub was so close."
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u/TexFarmer 6d ago
There are no dumb questions, only dumb answers. That being said.
Yes, it would be an excellent water supply, as you correctly noted it would be chlorinated, but that is easily fixed with patience. I would highly recommend a good water filter like a Berkey or similar gravity filter. We went several weeks without water during an emergency and did just fine with pool shock treated rainwater barrels and our trusty Berkey.
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u/mooonguy 6d ago
Pool chemistry is pretty simple, Chlorine, pH, alkalinity. The most exotic thing is cyanuric acid, which brakes down fairly quickly to ammonia ( low pH) and CO2. So by and large - go for it. If you have a pool, you have a test kit. Wait for the Cl to dissipate and make sure the pH is close to neutral - which it should be,
Clean it up with a filtration kit, boil it. For a short term emergency (days, 1 week), this wouldn't be my choice, but for longer term, it should be a pretty good.
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u/Blueporch 6d ago
I’d say yes — with filtering.
You control bacteria in pool water with chlorine (usually sodium hypochlorite), but the chlorine breaks down on exposure to light, air and heat. Sodium hypochlorite has a loose chemical bond, and breaks down into a little sodium chloride (salt) in water. (My parents had a pool and Mom had a chemistry degree).
I don’t know that I would trust the pool chlorination to keep the water clean enough for drinking vs swimming, particularly in emergency conditions, so suggest you get one of the recommended water filters to run it through. That should remove any excess chlorine too. Or pee.
But basically you have a giant reservoir of water that’s already cleaner than a lake or stream.
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u/RichardBonham 6d ago
Plus, if wildfire is a risk a pump and 1” hose line (generator powered if necessary) can be an effective home firefighting tool.
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u/boblabon 6d ago
If happen to have a pool or spa, then sure, it's better than nothing.
Just pull whatever chlorinating system you're using and the chlorine will dissipate almost entirely within 24 hours. You might need to filter it or rechlorinate it depending on the outage.
If you're going to get a pool for storing water as a makeshift reservoir, I'd probably recommend against it. Professional installation costs a pretty penny ($3-$10k) compared to a bunch of 55 gallon drums, they also have maintenance costs, and will be a serious knock against your homeowners insurance policy as an 'attractive nuisance'. They're also open to the elements and can easily become contaminated. If power goes out keeping it clean will be a massive headache and take up a lot of valueable time and resources that you probably want to go to other endeavors.
If you want to get a pool or hot tub for recreation, go nuts, but I wouldn't count on it to pull it's weight for survival water storage. Hell if SHTF anf I had a pool I'd probably drain it then and there and not bother with it.
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u/Healthy-Caregiver997 6d ago
Most pools have other chemicals as well, okay for flushing or bathing, distill before drinking.
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u/PollutionAway9782 6d ago
it's semi safe for drinking. if you drink a ton it might give you the runs however they expect kids to drink it.
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u/JRHLowdown3 6d ago edited 6d ago
Store lots of baking soda and a good filter. Definitely not a first choice but you might be able to do something with it provided you haven't gone too overboard with chemicals- I don't have a pool so I assume just chlorine in it?
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u/TheLostExpedition 6d ago
Yes it's fine. The back of a tank for a standard toilet is also fine. I've had to get water from both in my youth. Go Northridge quake and all the fires !! Won't live there again.
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u/chrs_89 6d ago
I was thinking about whether or not to count the pool as a potential drinking water source and had the thought that after shtf keeping it chlorinated is going to be an issue after a while, and algae might produce toxic compounds that I don’t think will boil or filter out. After it turns green I probably won’t trust it, but maybe I can toss some random copper or some pond critters to keep the algae at bay.
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u/EfficientBaddie9090 5d ago
With a water filter? Yes. But I mean the kind of filter you use to drink lake water.
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u/PSYOP_warrior 6d ago
Probably not for drinking, but it would be a good source of water to use for flushing your toilets.
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u/Lactating-almonds 6d ago
To make pool water drinkable you would need to remove the chlorine and other chemicals by either distillation (boiling it and collecting the steam) or reverse osmosis filtration.
A lifestraw or similar filter would not be enough.
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u/RedBullPilot 6d ago
Technically, water is water, just depends on how much effort you want to apply to purify Pool water I would be charcoal filtering and then steam distilling at the least
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u/RonJohnJr Prepping for Tuesday 6d ago
Pool water has 2+x more chlorine than tap water. It's not something I'd drink more than a little of.
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u/Ryan_e3p Salt & Prepper 6d ago
It'll be fine with aeration. Chlorine will naturally evaporate. That's why it needs to be routinely added.
How Long Does It Take for Chlorine to Evaporate Out of Water? - Biology Insights
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u/Malinois_Man 5d ago
Keeping chlorine in a pool is a constant struggle for us pool owners, it burns off in a day no problem even when buffered.
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u/Efficient_Wing3172 5d ago
It depends on your filtration capabilities. I prioritize storing drinking and cooking water. The pool could be great for toilets or cleaning things.
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u/Malinois_Man 5d ago
One thing about owning a pool, you usually have a bucket of pool shock around and are well versed on how to use it.
This is a bonus for water purification.
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u/d_istired 6d ago
Absolutely not. Swimming pools or any bodies of water are breeding grounds for bacteria. There's no amount of treatment and supervision that will safely ensure that it won't get infected while also not turning the water completely unsafe for human consumption.
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u/Ryan_e3p Salt & Prepper 6d ago
Surely you can't be serious. Bodies of water can absolutely be treated to be safe for consumption.
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u/QuantumAttic 6d ago
Upvoted! This sub provides lots of ideas so they don't have to drink out of a fricken swimming pool. It's a desperation move.
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u/Casiarius 6d ago
Yes, it is wrong thinking. If you had no preps, you would need to decide if it was safer to drink from the swimming pool or the creek. If you're going to be a prepper, store some clean water!
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u/Phat_J9410 6d ago
I wouldn’t drink it but you need water for lots of stuff that’s not eating and drinking. Toilets, showering, water plants, clean clothes, etc.