# Is it possible to drink pool water?



## bugout (May 15, 2014)

We have a large inground pool at my house. What is the best way to make the water drinkable?


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Assuming it's been regularly chlorinated, collect some and filter it for debris. Store it in a known clean and sealable clear container. Glass is good, coke/water bottles are second best.
Leave it out in the sun for a few days and the chlorine will mostly disintegrate due to UV breakdown.
The sun's UV rays will also aide in killing off anything the chlorine missed. Clarity of the water and container will affect the effectiveness of the UV rays, so filtering first and using a clean clear container is recommended.
Running it through an activated charcoal filter will help with the taste.

To be truly safe, have a pool testing kit handy, and only drink water with a chlorine level of less than 4ppm.

In the event of power loss, where the filter/pump has not been running, the chlorine will be less effective after a few days due to the same UV breakdown.
Covering the pool can slow this process, and inhibit algae growth.
You will want to disinfect the water if this is the case. Chlorine drops, bleach, iodine tabs, UV exposure, boiling... take your pick.

This is actually one part of my bug out plan since the folks have a large above ground pool at their place, so I've looked into it a bit.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

You will need to cover it well enough to keep the bugs and vermin out of it. Pool water is more heavily chlorinated but that won't kill you. The hard part is just keeping it. If someone needs water they will take it wherever they can.


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## Notsoyoung (Dec 2, 2013)

Chlorine is one of the chemicals that my Berkey water system filters out.


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## Pir8fan (Nov 16, 2012)

bugout said:


> We have a large inground pool at my house. What is the best way to make the water drinkable?


I sure hope so. I drank thousands of gallons as a kid learning to swim!


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## Smokin04 (Jan 29, 2014)

Google is your friend. Lot's of posts on the subject. But to answer briefly,

Cover the pool to stave off algae.
If less than 4 ppm you can drink it like that.
Add to a Berkley filter filters more ppm out.
Boil, distill, etc...

But simple answer is yes...and that's one of my plans in the future for emergency water supply. And welcome to the forum.


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## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

It is perfectly safe to drink pool water in small amounts. You won`t die from taking a few sips. The chlorine in pool water takes some time to decompose.

It is suggested that if you have clorinated pool water (as most health and safety regs require, instead of just regular tap water) that you dilute your pool water with other water. Pool water can actually help to clean drinking water.

See: Effects of Drinking chlorine.
Drinking Swimming Pool Water in an Emergency
Swimming Pool Chemicals, Chlorine | Learn About Chemicals Around Your House | Pesticides | US EPA
How to Dechlorinate Water: 9 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow

Humans have `GOOD Bacteria`in their stomach that helps all kinds of digestion processes and general health. The bad part of chlorine or other tap water cleaners, is that in addition to the bad stuff it also kills the good stuff.

There are filters to dechlorinate water. You might try using charcoal which you may be able to make yourself with wood and fire. 
Or vitamin C tabs.. ``Use vitamin C tablets to dechlorinate water``
If you have no other source of water use your pool water before your toilet water imo.


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## pharmer14 (Oct 27, 2012)

Depends. Do you use stabilizer in your pool? Stabilizer keeps the Chlorine in the pool longer and prevents it from fluctuating between highs and lows. 

If you use stabilizer, I'd probably go with some sort of distillation process to clean out the stabilizer and other dissolved solids. Some chlorine tablets have stabilizer built into them. If you aren't sure, you can check with the CYA test (for cyanuric acid) in your pool test kit.

If you don't use stabilizer, your pool will essentially turn into a pond after a few months in a SHTF scenario with no pumps running and no chemicals being added. When I managed a community pool a few years ago, I'd always see frogs and tadpoles in it when I went in to open it up in the spring. If the water's safe enough for a frog to live in, it's safe enough for me to purify conventionally and drink in my book. In that case, I'd go with boiling.


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## PalmettoTree (Jun 8, 2013)

bugout said:


> We have a large inground pool at my house. What is the best way to make the water drinkable?


Don't pee in it.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Pir8fan said:


> I sure hope so. I drank thousands of gallons as a kid learning to swim!


 Those of you that live in the city are use to chlorinated water and your system will not react to it as those of us that do not live in the city.
But it won't kill you


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

Damned straight. Just let it sit for a day or so.


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## ordnance21xx (Jan 29, 2014)

Yes, that's what a filteration systems is for. and bleach


MOLON LABE


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

Years ago, I tested my parents tap water with the pool tester because it smelled of strong chlorine. The tester indicated not to swim in the water.

This is why I use a ProPur water filtration.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Bit more to this those of you that drink city water that is chlorinated have a much harder time when you must adapt to Non-chlorinated water.
Your system are not ready for some of the things in the water.
When I travel I often allow water to sit a while before I drink it allowing chlorine to evaporate.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

The main thing is to have people shower before going going into the pool to keep things like suntan lotion & bug repellent out of the water.


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## Guest (May 16, 2014)

If it were me drinking the pool water I would use a distiller to obtain distiller water that is pee, chlorine, bird poop(contains e-coil and parasites) free. Over time the chlorine will breakdown naturally. Once this happens you wouldn't have to use a distiller. After chemicals are broken down you should filter with charcoal and sand layers in a barrel and then boil it before drinking. One thing u could do if water becomes dangerously scarce is to utilize your swimming pool as a life sustaining source by hooking up your gutter system on your roof to drain into your pool. Another option is to buy cheap waterproof tarps from Walmart and have areas in your backyard using the tarps as rain catchers. A couple water barrels come in handy so u can distill large amounts at a time and seal the water from evaporation.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

The chlorine in pool water kills E-coli and most other parasites and viruses. It even kills Strep and staph. The problem with bird droppings and other waste products is the nitrates and nitrites that they contain. In small amounts it is OK but too high and the levels become more toxic. Boiling just concentrate the nitrates so if you are going to boil water run it through a still.


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## Guest (May 16, 2014)

So always distill ..noted.. Is there another way to remove nitrates and nitrites?


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## GTGallop (Nov 11, 2012)

As preppers we consider water from MANY sources:
Creeks
Lakes
Ponds
Marshes
Even in old tires piled up (watch out for other critters in there)

Of all of the non-tap water locations that we consider pulling water from, the pool is BY FAR the cleanest source. So you are ahead of the game if you start with pool water. If you own a pool, and want to keep the water drinkable, the best bet is to keep your water as perfect as possible. I find that by regulating the PH and using Pool Perfect / Pool Plus (enzyme) to remove phosphates and bio, I need MUCH less chlorine. My pool water is crystal clear all the time and if you are wearing polarized lenses, it can look like the pool is empty if the sun is at the right angle.

I am F-ing meticulous about my pool water (it is another passion of mine). The stuff is probably safe enough to bottle and drink right now. I might send a sample to the county to see if my "tap" water is clean.

So that is my first step towards having a reserve. Obviously with no electricity and thus no filtration things will change quickly so it will need to be boiled or something but at least I'm not trying to kill crypto-sporidia or filter out buffalo poop or something like that.

Pools are a great prepper option because you get to play and enjoy them now - build swimming skills and stuff and then after the SHTF, it gives you 20k gallons of water that you know hasn't been pee'd in. Only draw back? It won't fit in a B.O.B.


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