Recently, CBS reported online that Beverly Hills is now banning residents from filling new swimming pools and spas. This, however, is false information. While the Beverly Hills City Council did release to the press that they are taking further precautions to conserve more water and counter the California drought, the city’s new water conservation restrictions specifically states, “Existing swimming pools cannot be drained and refilled.”
While this does, in fact, impact a homeowner’s swimming pool or spa maintenance, it is a very reasonable contingency for swimming pool owners. The newly mandated regulation should not dishearten anyone considering building a new swimming pool or spa in their backyard living area. The frequent misconception of how the swimming pool industry is affecting the California drought, however, should concern homeowners statewide.
Other components of the Beverly Hills “emergency water conservation program” limit water use for irrigation, landscaping, and plumbing. Even the city of Beverly Hills recognizes the impact of lawn and landscape maintenance on California’s water reserves. After all, the California Pool & Spa Association states “that independent studies show that a well-maintained pool uses roughly half the amount of water a lawn uses in the same period.”
Ergo, water conservation is actually easier with a new swimming pool, as a homeowner with an average-sized swimming pool and decking will save 12,000 gallons of water in the first year alone. The following chart demonstrates approximate water savings based on an average swimming pool / decking design measuring 475 sq. ft. of swimming pool, 725 sq. ft. of decking, and 17, 813 gallons of swimming pool fill capacity.
For more information on the California drought and how swimming pools actually conserve water, feel free to check out the California Pools & Spa Association’s Let’s Pool Together campaign. They are partnering with the Save Our Water campaign, whose mission is to counter the California drought and bring the state back to its former glory.
To learn more about the California Pools story and values, feel free to continue to browse our website. Since 1952, the Steimle family has wanted to turn your dream into a reality. Call us at (800) 282-7665 for more information, or contact us today to schedule a consultation.
