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238 comments on Drumbeat: March 23, 2009

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eric blair on March 23, 2009 - 9:18am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top

http://www.seia.org/cs/news_detail?pressrelease.id=385

The 2008 figure included 342 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV), 139 MWTh (thermal equivalent) of solar water heating, 762 MWTh of pool heating and an estimated 21 MW of solar space heating and cooling.

http://www.seia.org/galleries/pdf/2008_Year_in_Review-small.pdf

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totoneila on March 23, 2009 - 12:12pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I think it is sad, in light of our increasing water shortages, that so much investment [762 MWTh] went to heating decorative pools and spas, as these are entirely unneeded discretionary purchases.

Also, we have an opposite effect here in my Asphaltistan during the peak heat season: people can flip a valve, then turn on the pool pump to spray water from numerous jets just above the pool surface to help cool it down to a more comfortable level. Thus, they are burning BTUs to evaporate water at an even faster pace.

It is not unknown for some to buy blocks of ice to add to the pool just before their summer pool party gets underway. :(

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jeffvail on March 23, 2009 - 12:29pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

In Doha, Qatar there is a hotel (Sheraton, if I remember correctly) that actually has a refrigerated pool--keeps it down to a nice, comfortable 80F in the peak of the summer.

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totoneila on March 23, 2009 - 12:48pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Yikes! I guess that cool pool helps people properly stretch & limber up their muscles before they hit the snowy slopes of the indoor ski run.

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Anas Aljumaily on March 24, 2009 - 12:56am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

The indoor ski strip is in Dubai's Mall of the Emirates. Interesting region ha?

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speedy on March 23, 2009 - 4:23pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Hey Jeff,
not only in Qatar, but also on Sansibar, the resort where I stayed in 2007 also had a cooled swimming pool. This was an island that suffered power cuts on a regular basis as all it's power comes from a hydro plant in Tansania on the main land. Not enough power on the mainland and they cut the island of first. First the beer gets warm and then the pool gets warm.

Funny how westerners go to tropical islands to spend all day in an air conditioned room - pool - resturant.

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BadgerB on March 23, 2009 - 5:25pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Exactly some of the nicest resorts in the world started life as a malaria mosquito infested swamp, and without not just energy but very cheap energy will rapidly degenerate back.

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RalphW on March 24, 2009 - 7:04am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I would use the term regenerate, not degenerate.

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Geckolizard on March 23, 2009 - 2:09pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Swan Pools Leads the Effort in Water Conservation for Swimming Pool Companies

Swan Pools, a leader amongst custom inground pool builders in California, is educating customers on conservation techniques and informing homeowners about the benefits of replacing their lawns with swimming pools. The campaign explains how existing customers can use swimming pool design techniques to save water, while informing prospective customers about the eco-friendliness of pools vs. lawns...

Swan Pools is also striving to inform homeowners with large lawns and landscaping in their backyards about the benefits of a custom inground pool. This lawn replacement campaign will help educate prospective customers on improving their backyard while significantly reducing water usage by replacing lawns with swimming pools. For example, Sacramento swimming pools can use half as much water as a lawn according to the City of Sacramento water analysis. A swimming pool design that uses more walkway and decking areas can reduce total water use to 20 inches per year, while lawn irrigation uses 49 inches per year.

A pool company saying that having a pool uses less water than not having a pool... I suppose the next thing I'll hear is that a company is just too damn big to collapse because of it's own stupid decisions.

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FMagyar on March 23, 2009 - 3:29pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Now if the pools were like this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/garden/05pools.html
Add some turtles,frogs, snails, fish, wading birds and maybe if there were enough of them put in they might just change the overall local climate enough to go from drought stricken to more naturally humid therefore providing conditions for permaculture projects. Nah, forget it, that's a really stupid idea...

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darwinsdog on March 23, 2009 - 3:54pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I have two such small pools and one large one. I keep fish in them and in summer, my alligator snapping turtle lives in the large one. I couldn't afford the water bill if I used city water, so fill them from the irrigation ditch. They were designed for a pump and filter but I use a gravity fed system & one way (downstream) flow thru. The ponds are 36 years old and just this past winter the drain pipe of the large pool froze and cracked. This has never happened before and I'm not sure how to fix it. All my fish died as the water leaked out below the ice. So this year, for the first time, I may not have my big outdoor aquarium. Mac Snap may have to stay indoors all summer.

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eric blair on March 23, 2009 - 4:52pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

So how did you get a permit to keep wildlife?

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BadgerB on March 23, 2009 - 5:34pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Look at the neighborhoods with huge forclosure rates, the pools are now turning into 1000sqft watering holes, amazing to see how fast left alone nature claims back territory (granted with non-native species, but still.)

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Dragonfly41 on March 23, 2009 - 11:07pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Watering holes for mosquito larvae. Not a good by-product of foreclosed homes.

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FMagyar on March 24, 2009 - 9:43am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Here is a partial solution:

http://www.mosquitocontrol.org/pgs/mosquitofish.html

Gambusia have been used for mosquito control in the US since the early 1900’s. Various agencies throughout the world have developed stocking guidelines for mosquito control in swimming pools (abandoned), ornamental pools, ditches, wetlands, mine pits, storm water and waste water disposal lagoons, natural creeks, animal watering troughs and small seasonal or permanent ponds. Recommended stocking rates in the US range from 15-100 fish for back yard ornamental ponds to 2,500 fish/acre for small ponds and ditches.

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enemy of state on March 23, 2009 - 5:52pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

A pool company saying that having a pool uses less water than not having a pool.

If the comparison is against bluegrass it is probably true. Of course you could do a lot better with Xeriscaping. And pool filters are major consumers of electricity.

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FMagyar on March 24, 2009 - 10:00am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

pool filters are major consumers of electricity.

I think this is a case where combination small scale solar and wind might really prove cost effective. At least here where I live in South Florida.

BTW someone here on TOD posted a link to this company not long ago, I found it interesting.

http://store.motorwavegroup.com/11-turbines-semi-directional-waterair-pu...

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238 comments on Drumbeat: March 23, 2009

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