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Running Linux On Your Swimming Pool

Posted by michael on from the chemistry-101 dept.

Forkenhoppen writes: "Ever considered having a computer look after your swimming pool maintenance? Check out this project by Richard J. Kinch. Mr. Kinch uses a Linux box configured with several shell scripts to control the chlorination levels of his pool."

7 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Misleading Title!!!!!! by Wakko+Warner · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Hooking crap up to a serial port isn't exactly the same as inserting a Debian CD in your skimmer basket and installing LILO on your pool's boot sector.

    Anyway, mine runs NetBSD just fine.

    - A.P.

    --
    "Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
  2. What was that again... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Hmm, is it just me, or does anyone else have that faint voice in the back of their heads screaming something about bathtubs, blowdryers, and toasters that may have adaptable relevance to this situation...?

    Er, i'm sure it wasn't important, otherwise i wouldn't have remembered that much of it. :)

  3. Overkill????? by jsimon12 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As much as I am a fan of putting Linux where ever it is possible but lets be honest, this is overkill for the application. There is considerably more mundane technology and none-tech devices that can perform this job, just as effeciently.

    1. Re:Overkill????? by ndogg · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I would not say it is overkill. I have taken care of a pool before (for over half of my life, I have lived in a house with a pool.) Taking care of a pool is a tedious and repetitive task. There are a lot of things that could and should be automated.

      For example, this guy could extend this to controling those self-propelled pool vacuums to clean the pool (and do the backwash as well.) There are actually pool vacuums that propel themselves and clean the floor bottom by themselves. They climb right up the wall and back down. It is a really neat sight to see. I could imagine using the computer, putting the vacuum in a small compartment with an automatic door that the computer could open and close to let the vacuum out. Also, instead of having the vacuum having to run the vacuum nearly all the time like you would normally do (the vacuum has no AI or anything, it largely just goes back and forth), the computer would know the dimensions of the pool and how it is shaped and so strategize the fastest way to vacuum the bottom.

      Also, chlorine is not the only chemical that needs to be put in the pool (but is the main component.) All pools have to worry about algae and the vacuum and chlorine are not enough to handle algae, so a lot of pool owners have a stock of algaecide for that.

      I could also imagine there being cameras on the pool connected to the computer so that the computer could determine if there are people in it, the cleanliness of the pool, etc.

      There are so many tedious tasks to taking care of a pool that having a system that is automated would be a blessing to many pool owners.

      --
      // file: mice.h
      #include "frickin_lasers.h"
  4. the real sun is probably a better measure by ndevice · · Score: 2, Insightful

    while the use of calculated sunrise and sunset times are pretty neat, a simple photosensor might be an idea too. (Of course, the photosensor might get dirty and give faulty data.)

    And what happens if the server hangs (which is possible if not likely)? The pool might get much more clorination than he hoped for.

    Parallel backup safety systems is probably a good idea here - perhaps just a 555 variant (cascaded?) circuit with a long, if not accurate, delay time that shuts down the system if it ever stays on too long.

  5. Re:Not bad but . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    An oxygen rich environment exposed to 250 - 254 nanometer ultraviolet light will produce ozone. In a swimming pool, the bulk of the ozone reverts to oxygen in a few minutes. But in those few minutes of ozone uberoxidative frenzy, it will eat any organic matter --yes including candy bars and chopped up corpses although it could take a few months to get rid of an adult corpse using a neon tube and a swimming pool. The teeth and bones should be ground up separately if you're not authorized to dispose of the corpse in question as they are only borderline organic material and will probably just swirl around the bottom of the pool for years.
    But anyway to get back on topic, just using a straight chlorine system is primitive at this point though oddly common in the States.

  6. Wheel re-invention by gruntvald · · Score: 2, Insightful

    When I got to the first part about not using X10, and making his own controller, (despite crud complaints about X10 stuff not being made for high voltages), I gave him the benefit of the doubt. When I got to the next part about not using a basic stamp either, I figured we were at the wheel re-invention stage, and lost interest. Not only that, it doesn't use sensors for chemical level detection ... oh well. However, this kind of stuff always has the potential for interest - folks - you might like homepower magazine too www.homepower.com - especially if you live are being shafted by California power policies right now!