Using Chlorine & Salt Pool Water on Plants

Sometimes it’s necessary to drain your pool. The best place to drain water is on your landscape. If that’s not possible, you must follow the city requirements on pool drainage. Because any chlorine in the water is rapidly inactivated by sunlight, it’s usually safe and beneficial to discharge pool water onto your landscape. It’s also a great way to reuse water you already paid for.

Most desert-adapted plants can tolerate an occasional soaking with water from the pool while others may be more sensitive to salts, chemicals used to control microorganisms and the pH level of the water. Watering the same area repeatedly with pool water could build-up an excessive salt level in the soil. To avoid salt build up, be sure to move the discharge hose to different areas of the yard each time.

Tips for using pool water on your landscape:

• Observe soil for symptoms of salt accumulation like dry or dense soil with a cracked appearance or a grayish-white color.
• Check plants for dry, dead areas or a blotched appearance on the edges and tips of plant leaves.
• To prevent yellowing/browning of leaves and leaf fall, avoid spraying pool water directly onto leaves.
• Drain the water slowly to avoid runoff and to allow water to soak deeply into the soil. Make sure pool water doesn’t drain onto your neighbor’s property.