swimming pool chlorine and salt

[fern]

Need some help and hoping someone here on the forum has knowledge of swimming pool chemicals. My next door neighbor just had their above ground swimming pool torn down and all their nasty 3 year old water just came gushing into my garden. Now I know what to do for chlorine contamination but I have no clue how much chlorine would be in a pool that has simply set idle for the last 2 summers plus this year. Also would need to know how much salt and what kind is added to pools? Are there any other goodies that get added to pools? Anyone have this knowledge? This may not be my year for gardening...

[Toepopper]

When it rains it pours. What else could possibly go wrong? If that water was a couple of years old and has not been treated in all that time you will be alright because sunlight breaks down chlorine, warm temperatures break down chlorine and wind will dissipate chlorine. How much water hit your garden? ( To estimate how much water is in a rectangular pool, length x width x depth x 7.5 = gallons. There are 7.5 gallons in one cubic foot. Round pools-multiply the diameter x the diameter x depth x 5.9 = gallons. ) Chlorine bleach is what most pool owners use because it is cheaper than solid chlorine tablets designed for pool maintenance. A well maintained pool should have a chlorine content of 0.5 and 2.0 parts per million. During warm spells when the water temp reaches 82 degrees or above, that is when algae starts to appear and 3 times the normal dose of chlorine is used to kill the algae. "Superchlorination ". Normally, that would take a half gallon of chlorine to kill off all the algae in a warm pool. On a cool day just a couple of glugs out of the bottle every other day will keep the water clean and safe, so you can see that there really is not that much chlorine or other garbage in that water. The PH should be between 7.2 and 7.6 and water PH is regulated with soda ash but most water sources are already at the proper PH. The only salt I have ever seen used with pools is rock salt in a water softener. That is unusual and is not recomended because salt attacks the pool plaster and will deteriorate an above ground pool liner. Pool filters use either sand or diatomaceous earth. I don't think this pool water will hurt your garden and the algae may add trace minerals and boost growth. So don't lose hope, those tomato's will be ready in a couple weeks.

[fern]

Thank you very much for the info Toepopper. I researched on line before writing my post yesterday but there were too many variations of pool additives and nothing on what folks typically do. There was such a large amount of water that it actually pooled in the garden and part of my back yard. Top leaves are literally falling right off the plants. Glad to hear there would be no salt used in an above ground pool. It was a 24' round pool. Killed most of the broccoli and cauliflower already. Some of the edge plants are leaning away from the garden now rather than standing tall. The few edge squash and cucumbers that had survived the human attack have sent new growth and their flowers through or into the fence just overnight! I am amazed!! I have spread manure and soft rock because they both help release chlorine into the air. Was just worried over other chemicals and salt. They are something I just don't know how to deal with. It appears we will lose the corn in the area where the water gushed through. They are already dead about 4" up from the ground. The leaves are starting to sag very sadly. My grass has died in the area where the water laid the longest.

A number of years ago, we bought an old log cabin (186 years on closing day) and the acreage it stood on. I was so excited to garden there as the soils were rich. At that point the house was not livable...had electric issues among lots of others. Well I planted the garden by the barn and it was just starting to produce...the stage where your mouth waters (!) when the pump for the well died. The plumber couldn't find the well to replace the pump and I needed to water that garden. There was a huge cistern and I lifted the lid and it was full!! I excitedly strung hoses and put the sump pump down in there and watered that very dry garden. That water must have been stagnant because the garden was dead within 3 days. I worry that this pool water may be the same. It has had a solar cover on it since we moved in and that has probably helped the algae and such to grow. I can only do what I can do so I will impatiently wait to see what happens. I did start foliar feeding the plants in the middle of the night though...just in case that may give some of them the strength to survive. I prefer to feed only the soil but in this case I will do the foliar stuff.

Oh...ate my first 2 juicy tomatoes last night!! I ate both of them!! ; )

[Toepopper]

I am distressed and dismayed by this information. What do you suppose was in that water besides chlorine? Could it be that there was so much water released that your plants drowned? A pool is usually drained before dismantling; your neighbors must be a collection of pot zombies too stoned to think rationally. That water should have been pumped or siphoned off and run through a hose to the street. I have pumped out many in the ground type swimming pools directly onto manicured lawns with zero adverse affects to the grass, in preperation for re-plastering the pool. I also pumped thousands of gallons of late summer creek water, loaded with green algae into my garden holding tank and watered my gardens/fruit trees for 29 seasons with this water, unfiltered, and had no adverse affects. This was water I would not dare to drink. So now you have got my grits burning as to what may have caused this unfortunate misadventure with your garden plants.
This series of events concerning the simple act of growing some organic produce in the privacy of your own backyard is one more GLARING example of why I refuse to live anywhere near any stinking cities. The everyday grind plus the psychological warfare generated by dealing with inconsiderate neighbors, combined with all the other indignities encountered by the average person which are caused by too many people living in too small of an area, are too much for me to tolerate. I would have gone stark raving looney tunes if I had not moved out of that situation. What happens when you place too many lab rats in a cage together? They start killing each other.

[fern]

I was the much youngest baby of a very dysfunctional family...and as a kid I would often think to myself that watching them was like stuffing a cage full of gerbils and shaking it!! I got out of there and loved them from a safe distance at an early age. I have never heard anyone else say that about a stuffed cage until you!!

Alas...I am only stuck here in community heaven a bit longer. I will simply have to trek to the big city to keep buying veggies at Whole Foods paying top dollar. Have been doing it for the last year anyway. The neighbor with the pool hired 3 fellows that looked like they were trying to be bikers but were failing miserably. I even talked to them that morning and asked if they were tearing it down and how they were emptying the water. They assured me that it would be piped to the alley. I left then but looking at the remains of the pool, it appears that they did something wrong when they were removing the deck. The pool collapsed and is laying in her yard yet. No sign of the wannabes. I should add that this neighbor lost her mom, sister, and then husband in one month this winter. She is beyond overwhelmed and trying to heal. Her dad has had a stroke to add to her problems. She looks like a semi functioning zombie these days and I feel for her. As upset about losing the garden as I am, I will not add to her load. I will kick the ashes of those guys she hired if they ever come back though.

I believe fresh water, even if full of algae is still good. Standing water that is years old is my worry. That cistern episode taught me to distrust water that sits. We worked with a realtor last year looking at properties and he would keep pointing out areas to build dry ponds to catch rainfall off the hills. Each time, I would look at him and the hills like he was nuts. I do not trust sitting water without a spring or something running through it. Not even interested in a property without springs anyway.