Summer is here again and that brings it with the the sweltering summer sun that means more water evaporation and even more Water Restrictions. To help deal with this and to do your part, we've prepared this article not only to help you save water, but to save money as well.
What do Australian Water Restrictions Mean for Pool Owners
While every territory can have different water restriction levels, they all mean one thing: Save water as much as possible! A Level 2 or above water restrictions can mean a few things:
- You can only water your garden before 10am or after 4pm with a watering can or bucket
- 'Smart' watering systems that include automated weather adjustment, a rain sensor or a soil moisture sensor and drip irrigation systems may only be used for 15 minutes before 10am or after 4pm
- The use of unattended hoses is no longer permitted
- Hosing of hard surfaces is not permitted, unless in an emergency or for health and safety reasons
- You can wash your car with a bucket or at a commercial car wash
- Top up an existing pool or spa, using a hose fitted with a trigger nozzle, watering can or bucket for a maximum of 15 minutes a day. You can only do this to replace water lost through evaporation, not to replace water deliberately removed from the pool or spa.
-
You will need a permit before filling a pool over 500L.
Keeping your pool happy while helping mother earth store as much water as possible is a win win.
How big of a problem is water evaporation?
Due to your pool's size, water evaporation may not seem like a big problem, but believe us, it is. We've gotten some numbers on water evaporation statistics and it's quite alarming if you take it as a whole.
How much pool water do I lose every day?
Data from the Sunbather National Evaporation Fact sheet indicates that for a standard-sized Australian pool with around 65,000 liters of volume or roughly 10m x 5x in dimensions, you'll lose 70,000 liters of water on an annual basis! Yes, that's not a typo, that's Seventy Thousand Liters of water. That's like refilling your whole pool and then some! Here's a chart with the water evaporation rates all around Australia.
| Capital City | Annual Evaporation | Water Loss for 30sqm Pool | Water Loss for 40sqm Pool | Water Loss for 50sqm Pool |
| Sydney | 1,400 mm | 42,000 L | 56,000 L | 70,000 L |
| Melbourne | 1,400 mm | 42,000 L | 56,000 L | 70,000 L |
| Brisbane | 1,500 mm | 45,000 L | 60,000 L | 75,000 L |
| Perth | 1,800 mm | 54,000 L | 72,000 L | 90,000 L |
| Adelaide | 1,900 mm | 57,000 L | 76,000 L | 95,000 L |
| Hobart | 1,100 mm | 33,000 L | 44,000 L | 55,000 L |
| Darwin | 2,200 mm | 66,000 L | 88,000 L | 110,000 L |
Just to put it in perspective, a kilolitre (1,000 litres) of water in Sydney in 2020 costs $2.35 during normal times and all the way up to $3.18 when water levels in the dam are down to 60% (which is very possible during summer) If we annualize it, you're losing $164.5 to $222.6 if you live in Sydney in water evaporation for a 50sqm pool.
How to reduce water evaporation losses
First off, when pool cover manufacturers say that a good cover can save you up to 95% in water evaporation, they weren't kidding. Since most pool covers are made with impermeable plastics, any evaporation will just condense on the covers and fall back to the pool. If we look at the sample above, you're saving anywhere from $156 to $215 every year if you have a 50sqm pool in Sydney. This means that even with a starter pool cover like the Daisy Pool Cover 250B, it'll be paying for itself within 3 years or so with the savings in pool evaporation alone!
We've dedicated a whole post on how to choose, measure, fit, and install pool covers for your pool. Check out our Ultimate Pool Covers Guide right here.
Keeping your water levels correct
Water loss from evaporation doesn't only cost you money, but they can cause other problems for your pool as well like elevated chemical levels, your pump overheating, improper filtration and a host of other problems. And since it's very hard to keep visual track of your water levels, especially during windy days where the surface of the water isn't perfectly flat, there's a chance that your water levels are already below their recommended levels.
To combat this, we always keep a stock of Aqua Level automatic water levelling devices on our online store. For a small amount, you can simply set it to your desired water level and whenever the water level drops from evaporation or spillage, it automatically tops up your pool.
Tip: Keep your pool water centred with the hole in your pool wall which leads to your skimmer basket. Keeping your water at this level will allow for leaves that settle on the top of the pool to float into your skimmer basket, rather than down to your pool floor.
Conclusion
By saving water during the hot months (and the whole year round for that matter) you're not only saving money, but you're also doing your part for the environment. And on top of the savings from water evaporation, a pleasant side effect of having a pool cover is that you'll enjoy savings on your pool heating bills as well as solar pool covers can heat up your pool by up to 12 degrees by harnessing the natural heat of the sun!
Summer is finally here! Get ready for endless fun with our curated blog posts below:
- How to get your swimming pool ready for summer
- Five-Minute Pool Hacks that will MAKE Your Summer
- Family Pool Games for Summer + Bonus: Cool Drinks for Kids
- Getting Back into the (Pool) Groove
Do you have any questions about this topic or the featured products? No worries, we're here to help! Drop us a question down below and we'll get back to you ASAP.
Happy swimming :)