Pool cooling

[Chico1412]

Building a lap pool in California desert and want to know if anyone has had success with jet spray arc fountains for cooling water. Several promotors tout the effectiveness of evaporative cooling by water falls, fountains, arc jets etc... ingot he pool. Can anyone corroborate this? Would like to place three arc fountains on each end of the pool to assist in cooling. Pool only 5ft deep, 50ft long and 7.5ft wide and temps in the summer get to 105F - don't like swimming in soup nor do I want to pay the expense of a cooling tower.

[BigDave]

Evaporative cooling should work if the air is dry, better if the air is dry, cool and breezy. What's the weather like at night? I can't say if half a dozen jet spray arc fountains will do it. Are those the laminar flow arcs? If so, they probably don't add much surface area for evaporation. Better a spray that divides the flow into many tiny streams / drops.

Is water expensive? Evaporative cooling will consume makeup water. There are heat pumps that can cool the water if electricity is cheap for you.

[Chico1412]

Air in the Cali desert (Palm Springs) is dry, no problem there. Although you hear that nights in the desert are cool, they can stay in the 80-90s, which seems cool after 105-110 during the day. They are arc sprays but since I have not purchased them yet I can always go to more of a spray-type if you think it is better - max six. Water is not terribly expensive compared to other places, so I am fine with this; I will have a water auto-leveler. Electricity, not so cheap. Hate to think that I will have a heater during the winter and a cooler for the summer, sort of defeats the idea of living in a resort paradise with great weather.

[Chico1412]

The air in the Cali desert is dry, not cool but breezy at times. At night the temps can stay in the high 80s and low 90s. The jets I planned on were the arc jets but if you think the spray would be better, then be it.
Water is not cheap but cheaper than many other places, so not a problem. Wanted to stay away from not only heating the pool in the winter but having to cool it in the summer. Electricity, not so cheap. Sort of defeats the purpose of living in this resort paradise with great weather but having to heat and cool 6 months of the year.

[BigDave]

Just my thoughts based on my understanding of evaporation, I'm no expert and certainly can't predict the cooling values of various setups. I can say that evaporation happens at the surface of the water and increasing the surface can increase evaporation - drops have far greater surface for a given volume of water than a neat laminar stream does. Those laminar arc fountains are pretty aren't they, I wonder if there's a way to disrupt the laminar flow with a skimmer or something? hmm.

I just suggested the heating/cooling heat pump as an alternative. If you are putting in heat and it's not solar, heat pump may be cheaper to operate for heating than a gas fired heater.

[Chico1412]

BigDave, thanks for the info. Appreciate it. Chico 1412