Letter Re: Making Swimming Pool Water Potable?

James Wesley:
I’ve got a question for your readership, the answer to which may save a great number of lives.

The metropolitan Phoenix area is one of the half-dozen most populous in the United States. Between 3 and 4 million people live there. The river which Phoenix was built on (the site of a previous civilization whose population vanished around 500-600 years ago) is now dammed upstream, and usually bone dry. The population is mostly dependent on grid-up well-pumped or canal/dam-diverted water for its entire supply.

Some 3.5 million people are going to be in a world of hurt if the grid goes down.

One bright spot: given the high temperatures, swimming pools are very common, even in working-class neighborhoods. A hike to the top of any of the several urban park mountains in the city reveals dozens or hundreds of backyard swimming pools scattered everywhere. These manmade cisterns will presumably hold several thousand gallons of water even after a SHTF event.

If the grid goes down, these are going to be the best available source of water for millions of people.

What is the best low-tech, grid-down way of de-chlorinating, or otherwise rendering drinkable, swimming-pool water?

Thanks! – K.F. in Phoenix




One Comment

  1. Hi,

    Concerning the swimming pool for reserve of drinkable water. I spoke with a manufacturer of pool liner, he told me that the liner are made of some chemical for antimicrobial( like algeacide etc..) thus the liner release some chemical. It seem it’s not NSF61 thus the water in the pool even after cleaning the pool it might not be potable water even after passing it through different process re-filled pool that is intended for drinking or cooking through a gravity ceramic water filter in your kitchen, such as a Big Berkey might not be suitable for drinking since the chemical like the one release from the liner might not be eliminated. Thus I would appreciate having your opinion on this.
    Thank you.

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