Hello and greetings to all in the land of the great Bitog:
Yes, you read it correctly, I am considering watering my grass, (or at least some of my grass), with water from an abandoned pool next door.
Said house is vacant and has been for sometime, (a victim of the foreclosure crisis). While the front yard is mowed occasionally, the back yard is a jungle of weeds, vines - basically overgrown in true "Tarzan" style.
The screen enclosure around the pool is in pretty sad shape. Most of the screens are gone and the frame itself is in need of repair.
The pool is filled with water - green water that is a perfect haven for frogs and mosquitos. I have been bombing it with mosquito donuts from time to time so that wifey and I can enjoy an evening in our backyard without being carried away.
I was over there today ready to toss some donuts when it occurred to me that I could kill the ever famous two birds with one stone. "Self," said I, "what if I were to drop a pump of some kind into this here cement pond and pump said water onto grassy area on my side of the line. It would eliminate the bug problem AND make the green, green grass of home look even greener."
Naturally, said pump would have to be portable and would be a classic "weekend" job. But I'm thinking, one of these days they will drain that pool anyway and there must be about 20,000 gallons of water there that will return when it rains which will provide even more water for my watering madness.
I'm thinking - someone tell me I'm not totally off my rocker. In other words, I'm looking for suggestions.
Watering lawn with water from abandoned pool
- Thread starter GreeCguy
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I have no idea the legal issues here, but i would only do it at night and never leave the hose running from the pool to your yard just laying there.
JHZR2
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I'd just want to be sure of the water chemistry. Was it a saltwater pool? If there was chlorine in it, likely it has all flashed off, but what else is in there, bacterial my or chemically?
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I'd just want to be sure of the water chemistry. Was it a saltwater pool? If there was chlorine in it, likely it has all flashed off, but what else is in there, bacterial my or chemically?
I suppose you could go to your local power tool rental place and rent a trash pump. I don't know what it would cost, or what size pump you would need, but the guy at the tool rental place could probably tell you what you need.
Such a pump would be powered by a gasoline engine. Do you know if the noise would disturb someone?
something like
http://www.harborfreight.com/16-horsepower-submersible-utility-pump-68422-8394.html
or
this is probably better.. can handle small debris
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-horsepower-submersible-dirty-water-pump-with-float-69300.html
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If you figure out how to pump it, how will you distribute the water? The junk in the water will plug up a sprinkler. Just pump it on the ground?
best to test a small area of your yard before watering the whole yard. and maybe keep the pump in your yard, if it will pull the water that far.
I've watched small documentaries on the forclosure situation.
The pumps that I have seen for pools are a two man affair. Two men to move them, one to run large hoses, the other to watch the pump. You wouldn't so much as water your lawn as flood it.
Very loud engines on the pump BTW, these things drain a pool in 20-30 minutes.
There are all kinds of grossness in a pool that can kill a small pump.
Dead animals, large chunks of alge, and billions of bugs that are in any array of decomposition.
All of which would be awesome for your lawn, if you didnt mind the smell, but terrible for the pump.
If you want to cut down on bugs I'd go buy a bag full of minnows from the local pet store. They are pennies each, and will eat their weight in mosquito larva.
I'd think beta's are better, but they might kill each other... then again they can live in lower O2 environments, so betas might be better, but cheap minnows are... well... cheap.
Not only are you trespassing on someone else's property, you are planning to steal what isn't yours. Tossing in a few mosquito donuts I understand; theft is something that disgusts me. Theft of any sort. Given the nature of the way you've worded your post, and that you never mention asking the mortgage company for permission, it is clear that you also know that it is stealing.
Even though the property is a foreclosure, it is still owned by the mortgage company. Perhaps a better solution is to contact the mortgage company and offer to clean up the back yard in trade for the water in the pool. Then you, the mortgage company and your neighborhood all benefit. And you don't have to skulk around and do a classic "weekend" job.
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Not only are you trespassing on someone else's property, you are planning to steal what isn't yours. Tossing in a few mosquito donuts I understand; theft is something that disgusts me. Theft of any sort. Given the nature of the way you've worded your post, and that you never mention asking the mortgage company for permission, it is clear that you also know that it is stealing.
Even though the property is a foreclosure, it is still owned by the mortgage company. Perhaps a better solution is to contact the mortgage company and offer to clean up the back yard in trade for the water in the pool. Then you, the mortgage company and your neighborhood all benefit. And you don't have to skulk around and do a classic "weekend" job.
Since summer is the rainy season in Florida, how much more watering does your lawn really need?
Anyway, if you want to do this, you wouldn't be stealing anything.
You'd be abating a nuisance for which the current holder of title could be held liable.
I wouldn't be terribly happy if a neighboring abandoned house had its very own mosquito hatchery.
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Since summer is the rainy season in Florida, how much more watering does your lawn really need?
Anyway, if you want to do this, you wouldn't be stealing anything.
You'd be abating a nuisance for which the current holder of title could be held liable.
I wouldn't be terribly happy if a neighboring abandoned house had its very own mosquito hatchery.
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Not only are you trespassing on someone else's property, you are planning to steal what isn't yours. Tossing in a few mosquito donuts I understand; theft is something that disgusts me. Theft of any sort. Given the nature of the way you've worded your post, and that you never mention asking the mortgage company for permission, it is clear that you also know that it is stealing.
.
Throw a sump pump in it and water away.
Banks are so screwed up they will never figure it out. I know people who buy foreclosures and remodel the entire houses before closing and the banks never catch on.
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