Water run off from roof.

[Phillbo]

This will sounds strange, it does to me .

I know a guy in Huston, Texas that built himself a plywood pool with a liner he bought at Home Depot. He fills it with run off from the roof when it rains. Yes he has a gutter down spout pointed right at the "pool" ...


What kind of contaminates would you expect to fiind in water coming off your shingle roof...


It takes all kinds to make up this whacky world we live in ...

[chem geek]

It depends on the condition of the roof. If it's wood shingles that are poorly maintained and have algae and/or lichen growing in them, then you're likely to get a lot of organic matter in the water, including this plant matter. If it's a modern roof where they are almost all composite shingles, then there probably isn't a lot sluffing off from them, though obviously anything that has fallen onto the roof (leaves, pollen, etc.) is likely to contribute, but this could happen from blowing directly into the pool anyway.

I don't think it's a seriously bad thing this guy is doing. It should be somewhat easy to tell if there's a lot of organic matter getting into the pool since this should significantly increase chlorine demand.

Richard

[Poconos]

I do it all the time for minor topoffs. Rigged a garden hose off the gutter right before the downspout and put a little silicone seal dam just before the downspout hole so water hits the garden hose first. Hose goes into the skimmer. Heavy rain will overflow the little dam to the downspout. Water in my area (Northeast PA) is about as neutral as you can get. In some areas the rain is acidic.
Al

[RavenNS]

I'd be interested in seeing pictures of the ply-wood pool... if you ever get the chance

[Simmons99]

I do it all the time for minor topoffs. Rigged a garden hose off the gutter right before the downspout and put a little silicone seal dam just before the downspout hole so water hits the garden hose first. Hose goes into the skimmer. Heavy rain will overflow the little dam to the downspout. Water in my area (Northeast PA) is about as neutral as you can get. In some areas the rain is acidic.
Al

This is interesting - so you have a hose running from the actual gutter line to the pool - or are you intercepting some where in the down-spout itself?

[matt4x4]

I collect roof runoff water in rainbarrels, any silt settles in the barrel, the overflow gets connected to a drain hose and runs 100 feet to my pool and fills it (gravity) - I do this in the spring since trucking water in gets expensive.
This year, all I used on the pool is bleach and about 10 pucks inside the stairs over the season, even my CYA stayed at the right levels - hey, maybe I got lucky and our ACID rain is actually CYanuric ACID rain!

WRT the guy who built the plywood pool, I've seen numerous pools like that, real simple to make (marine grade plywood), very sturdy, use a pond liner if you want, and a garage sale pump and filter - hey. some cultures even line the bed of their broken pickup truck for a splash pool!
A while ago, a newer member on teh forum actually planned on a plywood pool and was asking advice here, I don't think any of us were any help, a project like that is usually "fly by the seat of your pants".
There's a neighbour of mine who (believe it or not) built his basement walls using marine grade plywood - I've seen it with my own eyes, 30 years old - like new - I asked if when he built his house he had it inspected, he said yes, and the inspector argued that it wasn't allowed, he pulled out the code book, and showed the inspector exactly where it was allowed, he left very red in th e face after giving the stamp of approval.
Just because it isn't the norm, doesn't make it wrong. I look at everything with an open mind, you tend to learn more that way.

[Poconos]

Simmons,
Sorry I missed your question on the 23rd. This forum is a dog sometimes in that everything gets marked as read by just logging in and logging off. Anyhow...here's the setup. The gutter tap was made from a piece of PVC pipe that was flattened by putting it in boiling water and squashing it until it cooled. Then cut it to the right size, drilled a hole in it and ground it out to the right diameter to accept a 3/4 PVC pipe. Then glued a 3/4 NPT pipe adapter on it. Close to a garden hose thread but not quite. Used silicone seal and self tapping screws. Then punched a hole in the gutter. Nothing sticks into the gutter so the water drains all the way. The silicone seal dam is between the downspout and the tap. When I don't want the water I just screw a cap on the fitting or usually just route the hose to where the downspout dumps.
Al

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