Having a pool can be quite an expensive amenity for your monthly budget. Not only do you need to have it cleaned and treated chemically every so often, but you also have to pay for the electricity and water needed to operate the pool well.

Professional pool builders like So Cal Custom Pools and Spas know a few tips and tricks which can help you create not only the best looking but also the most economical pools around.

For instance, water evaporation can be quite a drag, especially during the hot summer days. Not only do you lose water from your pool, but also the chemical composition changes, which means that all your careful work to create the perfect pH balance was in vain.

Here are some interesting things you can do to help you pool preserve the water.

Use a Pool Cover

This is the most effective method of preventing evaporation – if you don’t want to use your pool. Some research has shown that using a pool cover reduces the evaporation as much as 90%.

However, the bad side of using a pool cover is that you cannot swim in the pool which is covered. That means that this method is only effective when you are not using the pool. And on hot and sunny days, how often does that happen?

What’s more, using a pool cover means physically putting on and taking off the cover each time you want to open or close the pool.

Automatic Pool Covers

The alternative to the pool cover which you need to physically put on and off, automatic pool covers install a system which uses an electric motor to cover your pool with the same effect as the regular pool cover.

Even though it sounds amazing, it does require a professional pool builder to install it for you and that is probably going to cost you, especially if pool adaptations are necessary. However, once you have it, you can prevent evaporation and have it done really quickly and easily.

Liquid Solar Blanket

This awesome-sounding product is a chemical alternative to a physical pool cover. Essentially, it is a chemical which forms a film on top of your pool which prevents the water from evaporating.

Even though it is less effective than the pool cover, it does have some important advantages. First of all, you can protect your pool from evaporation at all times, even while using it, since the liquid solar blanket is always on top of the water in your pool.

The chemical is odorless and colorless and doesn’t change the all-important pH of your water. They are also very simple to use. If it comes in a bottle or a tablet, simply put it into the water and let it spread across the whole surface of the water. However, the more convenient option is having a dispenser installed on your pool which will add the chemical whenever it is needed.

Lower the Temperature of the Water

This simple trick can actually help you a lot. When it’s warm outside, the temperature of the water is not as important. You probably won’t even feel it if you set the temperature of the water few degrees lower, but it can do wonders for your evaporation problem.

It all boils down to how evaporation works. The molecules of water move relatively freely but are still somewhat bound to each other. However, the warmer it is, the weaker the bond is and the likelier that a molecule will be able to free itself from the bond and evaporate.

Turn Off Pool Additions You Aren’t Using

If you have had your pool designed by professionals, chances are that it is more than just a hole in the ground filled with water. Most people enjoy having at least a few features added.

A little cascade of water from a higher position may look interesting and novel at first, but the droplets of water which are created in this way evaporate much more easily than the actual water.

So, even if you have some water features installed on your pool, only turn them on when they are needed, there’s no need for them to run all the time. This decision can save you both electricity and water.

Even though you may not realize it at first, running a pool can cost you a lot in terms of water consumption. It’s not just a matter of filling it up once and leaving it like that. However, with these helpful water saving measures, you can limit the water waste.