The Study of Possibilities for Reuse of Washings from Swimming Pool Circulation Systems

Swimming pools are very expensive, in terms of operation, sports facilities. Therefore, investors and managers of these facilities are looking for methods of reducing the costs of their use. One of the proposed methods is the managing of washings previously discharged to the sanitary sewage system. The assessment of possibilities for reuse of washings from swimming pool filtration system is based on the limits of basic indicators of pollutants in wastewater discharged to water and soil (temperature, pH, TSS, BOD₅, COD, TN, TP, free chlorine). The conducted research of washings quality from 26 tested swimming pools have shown that washings quality is dependent on the operating conditions of the pool circuit, including the filter cycle duration and types of filter bed. A direct discharge to water or soil may be impossible due to excessive amounts of total suspended solids (above 35 mg/dm³) and free chlorine concentration (above 0.2 mg Cl₂/dm³). However, the quality of supernatant water of washings subjected to sedimentation in the laboratory shows that the washings are suitable for reuse. The installation of settling tanks in swimming pool facilities could relieve the sewage systems and allow for the discharge of supernatant water to surface waters or for the irrigation of green areas in an environmentally friendly way.