Thread: CA. Homeowners take the plunge, bury their pools

Homeowners take the plunge, bury their pools

Water, maintenance costs drive demolitions

By David Hasemyer
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. July 26, 2009

POOL REMOVAL

More and more county homeowners are filling in their backyard pools, work that costs between $5,000 and $12,000.

The reasons: Pools can lose thousands of gallons of water a month through evaporation and cost $200 a month or more to maintain. Some owners just grow tired of them.

The result: Probably a wash. Water savings likely will be offset by losses from new pools. The effect on property values is negligible.

The clatter of a jackhammer and puffs of dust wafting from the bottom of Elliott Allen's empty pool signaled a noisy end to his backyard swimming pool.

A demolition crew was busy using a small tractor to punch holes in the bottom in preparation for filling it with dirt.

Allen is among a growing number of people across San Diego County who have decided to do away with their backyard pools, choosing to replace the Southern California icons with putting greens, patios, artificial turf or drought-tolerant plants, known as xeriscaping.

The pool had been in Allen's La Mesa backyard for 18 years. It served as gathering spot for neighborhood children who had come to splash around with his two daughters.

“It got a lot of use with the kids,â€

Just wonder how many in Palm Springs, in the middle of the desert, are burying their pools, canals that run around the properties and the fountains that adorn their properties.

Originally Posted by vortex

Just wonder how many in Palm Springs, in the middle of the desert, are burying their pools, canals that run around the properties and the fountains that adorn their properties.

Yesterday I saw that one of the things at the North Americian Union Meeting coming up,
is that America is going to BUY WATER from Canada!

In Bonita Springs, FL, after a hurricane, there was a drinking water shortage, while the migrant workers camp (Manna Christian) was totally flooded. The high-priced golf course, whose runoff went into this trailer park, kept pumping fresh water onto the greens. Nice.