DRIPPING SPRINGS — Aqua P.R.O. is aiming to provide a better swimming experience to Texas Hill Country residents, while also promoting water conservation.
Trisha Hall and her husband were inspired to start the reverse osmosis filtration company last summer when their pool was chemically locked, meaning that there was too much cyanuric acid in the water, causing it to accumulate.
Faced with the option to either drain their pool or bring in bulk water, the two researched alternative solutions and found reverse osmosis filtration.
“[It’s] a process that has membranes that help to capture all the unwanted things that are in the water. So, for swimming pools, calcium buildup is a big concern because it's hard, not only on the tile and the water quality, but it’s also hard on the equipment. So, it helps to reduce calcium hardness,” explained Hall.
Aqua P.R.O.’s machine runs off of total dissolved solids (TDS), she said. So, the pair measures the TDS in a pool and sets the machine to remove the amount needed to lower it. For example, a pool they are currently working on is currently at 6,000 TDS and it needs to be around 400.
These TDS levels vary on the pool size and content. For those with salt water pools, the TDS will be higher, Hall said, as salt is heavier matter. In this case, their machine also filters out cyanuric acid, which is a stabilizer in chlorine pucks that many buy to clean their pool. While it does aid in stabilizing the pool, it can accumulate at the bottom of the pool, causing hardness similar to calcium, resulting in a chemical lock.
“With the water restrictions and the lack of water, you can’t just drain 30,000 gallons of water. You can, but then, where are you going to get the water from? So, you can either bulk water in or use your city water garden hose — which they don’t really want you doing, especially with the water restrictions — or you can use your well, but, again, with well water, it’s really hard water, too. So, you kind of get yourself in a pickle,” said Hall.
The filtration process on average takes 14-18 hours, depending on the pool size, Hall explained.
Although the process does prevent residents from dumping thousands of gallons of water out, there is an approximate 10-15% loss, said Hall, but “it’s certainly way better than 100% of the water.”
Currently, the Dripping Springs Water Supply Corp. customers are under stage four drought restrictions, which began May 23. Because of this, Hall explained that the company’s goal is to promote water conservation by allowing residents an alternative solution to solving their pool issues.
“Our community is continuing to grow and there’s more straws in the aquifer; there’s more water going out than there is water going in. When we’re in such a severe drought, we need more water. I just hate to waste water, especially drinking water, like potable water, on swimming,” she stressed.
Water conservation is certainly a goal, but Hall stated that she and her husband also hope to improve the swimming experience for community members: “After we did the whole thing ourselves for our own swimming pool, not only did it fix our chemical lock that we were having, the water quality felt amazing. It’s softer on your skin and everything. So, it just made it a more enjoyable swimming experience.”
For more information on Aqua P.R.O., visit www.aquaprotx.com.
