Artificial Reflective Duckweed for Cooler Swimming Pools

Who would want to swim in a pool covered with green plastic? Here in Arizona if you have a green pool the county sends the hit squad out to your house.

1. non toxic; children can eat it How can this possibly be compatable with #2 Cheap plastic is toxic

2. cheap plastic, maybe small mylar disk - bags Who would want to swim with bags of plastic disks? And Mylar isn't cheap.

3. disks are large enough to not pass through the pool screens See #2. Then they would just clog the pool screens in minutes!

4. disks wick water over increased surface area to increase evaporative cooling The idea is to reduce evaporation, not increase it.

Bret, have you been smoking that duckweed?

The disks wouldn't be green but silver. Haven't you ever jumped to a fill pit pond covered with duckweed? It's really neat the way the duckweed recovers the surface.

Kids would love it.

Bret Cahill

I do remember jumping into those ponds. I never knew it was called duckweed. I have to be honest though, it took some getting used to for me. Jumping through that stuff, and then looking up and being underneath it always freaked me out a little. Kind of like being trapped under ice. I would have had a better time if it wasn't there. Sorry, maybe I was the only one.

have seen the same Idea using plastic balls ranging from the size of ping pong balls to the size of a tennis balls

Or you could put a retractable/or permanent canvas/or nylon awning over it, to keep it out of the sun. Another option, if it's a huge pool would be to dig trenches, bury piping about 48" under the surface and circulate filter water through them and back into the pool. I do like the visualization of small children in a pool happily eating cheap plastic discs though.

Maybe when AGW gets to be a more immediate problem . . .

Bret Cahill

I like my warm pool! It seems that many other people do, too, since solar and gas heaters are very popular down here.

If you want to put the brakes on evaporation you can always add one or two drops of oleic acid to the pool.

Even in Florida our pool doesn't get too hot (for our tastes) and we have a solar system to boot.

I with you on this one! I like my pool warm!! It seems to me that it would be dangerous to have duckweed covering your pool since you would not be able to see a child that could be drowning. There are many good products to help with evaporation and great retractable covers that are available as well

HX surface area of swimmer: 1.6 m^2

Heat transfer coefficient @ 1.5 m/sec: 500 watts / m^2 - K

Pool Temp: 34.5 degrees

Temperature of skin: 35.5 C

Delta T: 1 C

Max heat duty: 800 W

Efficiency of human metabolism: 33%

Max mechanical output: 400 watts

Output of M. Phelps: 550 watts

No _wonder_ I'm not setting any records!

Bret Cahill

when we have a pool with cyanide in it and we want the birds to avoid it as well as to reduce evaporation we use floating black balls. The area covered reduce vapor losses and ducks cannot land because the aliasing throws off their landing sense.

If you want to know what aliasing is, look here.

http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&safe=off&q=optical+%2Baliasing&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=optical+%2Baliasing&gs_rfai=&fp=a46f1babbca89be4

ping pong balls.

Nature invented an automatic shading device that blocks the sun in the summer and let it through in the winter. It is also self repairing. It also gives you annual harvest of compost and potentially fruits. It is called a leaf tree...

Plat a row in the east-south-west direction a few meters from the pool. Some species have very small leaves that disintegrate quickly during the winter/spring. The leaves can be raked on flowers beds in the fall to protect them from deep frost.

In the winter, you will get full sun while getting nice cool shade in the summer. It also captures CO2 and other contaminants while producing oxygen.

The trees' shade will likely reduce the AC cost in the summer and maximize the solar heat gain in the winter. You will save energy, $$$, and reduce your CO2 footprint.

The trees encourage birds to come to give you free concerts and entertainment while you are resting in the shade => less TV time.

Once mature, a tree can be turned into firewood to keep you warm or into planks to make nice shelves that can hold more than two books without sagging or furniture that will not produce the nasty formaldehyde released by commercial furniture. Don't forget to plant a replacement tree a few years before.

A final bonus is that trees provide you with a free exercise routine a few times a year to trim and pick up a few twigs. If you have kids or grand kids, have them jump in the leave pile to give them those sweet memories that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

The down side, some patience needed while they grow and a few leaves in the pool in the fall. This can be taken care of by a net installed after the swimming season.

Check with city for acceptable species and distances from buildings and utilities before planting.

You never owned and maintained a pool, have you? ;-)

A pool? I'm wondering if he's ever owned and maintained a tree? ;-)

..honestly though.. some nice words.. I like the breakdown

.. I'm reminded of the time my brother and I tried to heat up my sisters pool with a flotilla of black bags.. I don't know if it worked, but i was able jump in and fish the bags out..

keeping the pool cool enough to swim?

Is there a bubble solution that you could apply by spraying on or mixing into the water that would insulate the water ..reflect heat.. and then break up 'harmlessly' when swam in?

.. why not? I've seen thick white foam with such properties in some of the more.. 'effluent' ponds and waterways?

Down here the expensive solution is to get trees and a screened in pool, which is how we do it.

The screen provides some break from the sun and keeps the leaves and other debris out of the pool and surrounding area. Very low maintenance that way and it also keep bugs out.

Thank for the appreciation and the joke.

What about spraying the water from the pump in fine drops over the pool to produce an evaporation cooler. This could be fun!

There are various spray nozzles for fish ponds that could be used.

Yes, I have a swimming pool and a fish pond.

Up north, we usually heat the pools in the summer because the nights are often cool.

I dump the heat from the AC in the pool using a supplementary heat coil. No extra cost for heating it.

I also plant as many trees as it is feasible in my area.

I don't like having to clean the eaves through and the pool so often but it is a small price to pay for the good things that trees bring us.

Regards,

Marco

Does it come with artificial ducks too?