Drought restrictions could influence pool use

The drought and new water agency restrictions could change the way people use their pools.

Stephen Little of Claro Pools has been building pools in the Coachella Valley for 15 years. According to Little, they are experiencing a spike in pool construction, but he is worried that could change with new water regulations.

“If the water agencies aren’t going to really think about the issue they could have a profound lasting impact on our local pool builders economy because the water agencies could create fear among the consumers,” explained Little.

In other parts of the state, water agencies have banned pool building. In the valley, the Desert Water Agency asked that people not empty and refill their swimming pools from June through October. In addition, the Coachella Valley Water District asked people to cover their pools to prevent water evaporation. But, Little says the first step to fighting the drought is understanding your lawn uses much more water than your pool does.

“With a 100 square foot swimming pool versus a 100 square foot lawn, you’re going to find in the Coachella Valley that the lawn water consumption is ten times greater than the pool,” Little said. “It’s almost 680 gallons of water for each 100 square feet of grass you have”.

On average, it requires 10 to 15 thousand gallons of water to fill up a pool. During the hot summer months, that water evaporates much faster.

“I’ve seen evaporation rates in the Coachella Valley in a warm summer exceed three to four inches a week,” said Little.

Still, Little insists your pool uses much less water than your lawn.