• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Letters
  • Contact us:

Waterlog

Cool the pool–a proposal from CalM’s Alice Jones

October 21, 2018 3 Comments

Cool the Pool

Our recent week of swimming in the Golden Bear pool at water temperatures in the low 70’s has generated some cold-water reflections. 

If we were to lower the daily water temperature from 80 to 78, these two degrees would save the university thousands of dollars in heating costs and lower our share of carbon emissions. 

If this were applied to all the UC pools, what would the multiplier effect be? 

What about all the Pacific Masters Swimming pools? Each community could maintain one warmer pool, for those of young or old age, with special needs or medical problems that require higher temperatures.

In the US, swimming pools collectively consume about 9 -14 kilowatt hours resulting in CO2 emissions of about 10 million tons per year, equivalent to about 1.3 million cars on the road per year. Energy costs go up by 10-30% for each added degree of water warmth.

Why not make our tiny contribution to this massively needed effort since we are among the privileged who have access to a pool? The shift in two degrees might take some weeks to acclimate to. Yes, this is a discomfort. But considering the stakes for our planet, it is nothing.

Alice  Jones

Share this:

  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Filed Under: Guest Contributors

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kate Coleman says

    October 21, 2018 at 10:49 am

    even tho Ive lost my pre surgery acclimation to SF Bay temps , i do welcome Alice’s modest couple of degrees lowering of temp (it would be even more of a righteous affect to lower Speker pool temperatures…) , but i n the mean time of it were imposed SOONER RATHER THAN LATER ON, we’d have time to acclimate before winter. I’m for it. as long as we don’t have to wait long for explanations ( and why I still wish workouts were written individually for each lane.

    Reply
  2. Hilary Naylor says

    October 22, 2018 at 12:30 pm

    I’m not convinced that people who swim only 3-4 times a week for only an hour will acclimate to the lower temperature. I think this could be a hardship for both seniors and youngsters with low BMI. I would hate to hear that people left the team because the water was too cold for them. We have to save the team as well as the planet!

    Hilary

    Reply
  3. Alice Jones says

    November 4, 2018 at 11:44 am

    Hello Hilary,
    thanks for your comment.
    I agree that old and young and those with different metabolisms need a warmer pool.
    Spencer tells me that the Strawberry Canyon pool is set at a temperature of about 82.
    This is appropriate for kids learning to swim and anyone else who is not able to acclimate.
    It’s important that each community, university or otherwise, provide an accessible pool for all.
    Alice

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe!

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Comments

  • Scott Adams on Update from Coach Gaku 8/9/2020-Baby Seo arrives!!: “Congratulations! Beautiful baby!”
  • Scott Adams on Update from Coach Gaku, 8/18/2019: “Thanks Kai…”
  • Teresa Ostlie on Update from Coach Gaku: “I too would like to commend your Sara Everett for a great swim at the Arctic Circle. I was there…”

Archives

  • August 2020 (2)
  • July 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • May 2020 (3)
  • April 2020 (8)
  • March 2020 (4)
  • February 2020 (1)
  • January 2020 (5)
  • October 2019 (2)
  • September 2019 (4)
  • August 2019 (5)
  • July 2019 (3)
  • June 2019 (2)
  • May 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (1)
  • February 2019 (8)
  • January 2019 (6)
  • November 2018 (13)
  • October 2018 (11)
  • July 2018 (7)
  • June 2018 (7)
  • March 2018 (1)
  • February 2018 (7)
  • August 2017 (5)
  • May 2017 (6)
  • April 2017 (5)
  • March 2017 (4)
  • February 2017 (5)
  • January 2017 (5)
  • December 2016 (1)
  • November 2016 (1)
  • October 2016 (1)
  • August 2016 (1)
  • April 2016 (1)

Copyright © 2021 · Magazine Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.