Running Linux On Your Swimming Pool

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."

Comments

Re:Oh good God!

[heliocentric]

What next? A device that runs Linux so that their toilet flushes? :-)

Hmmm... will you settle for one running slackware here -

http://tbp.berkeley.edu/~harlan/projects/ToiletPap er.html

Misleading Title!!!!!!

[Wakko Warner]

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.

Not bad but . . .

[ahfoo]

How about installing an electronic ozone system? They're supposed to be quite efficient and don't require much maintenance as they're basically just a fancy neon tube that the water passes by. I understand they've been required in many european countries since the seventies.

Overkill?????

[jsimon12]

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.

Re:Overkill?????

[ndogg]

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.

What theme is he running?

[WIAKywbfatw]

I'm willing to bet it's Aqua.

Pretty cool.

[Soko]

Something like this would be a prime candidate for Embedded Linux running on a smaller, weathertight, dedicated device instead of a full blown PC tho.

The headline remined me of what I used to say to the people (several years ago) in the office when I had to re-boot a NetWare server:

"Everybody out of the memory pool!!"

Soko

Similar Project

[T3kno]

I am thinking about doing something similar with a reef tank that I am going to build. Hook a cheap 486 or pentium up to all of the monitors and dosers that I need to run the tank. I would also like to hook it up to the light ballasts and pumps and have them controlled by some sort of software that mimics the sun and moonlight in the corals natural habitat. What would be really cool is some sort of random cloud generation, as well as random storms in the winter. Even some water temperature variations would be nice.

I was origionally going to use X10 for the design, but I am going to look closer at his custom designs and possibly use those. I really would like to stay away from X10 because of those damn popup windows that they started. I really dont want to support that sort of company.

I am really glad he did this project, it really gives me some good ground work on which to base my smaller project on.

Re:Yeah, but

[Metrollica]

Thought this would be appropriate

Homer: Ah, there's nothing like rising with the sun for a quiet,
peaceful dip in your very own pool.
[cheers, dives in]
[comes up covered in algae, yells and sputters]
[Lisa walks out] Lisa, the Blob has got me! Don't touch me or
he'll get you too.
Lisa: Dad, you have to put chlorine in the water every day to keep it
clean.
Homer: Chlorine, eh?
[later, all the kids scream and rub their bloodshot eyes]
Ralph: [coming up] Ow, my face is on fire!

how about those pool robots?

[OmegaDan]

this is cool, but ... I always loved those pool cleaner bots that drive around the pool bottom and pick up debris. Could we get a rediculously complicated computer controlled one? let it be run by perl scripts and have a mysql database to log the ammount leaves picked up and ammount of urine in the pool. This will be served from the pool robot itself running a custom apache rig via an 802.11 underwater access point :)

this would be a proper geek project

Dem pesky neighbours

[LadyLucky]

try {
PoolState poolState = pool.getPoolState();
if( poolState.getChlorineLevel() < MIN_CHLORINE_LEVEL ) {
dispense();
}
} catch( KidPissedInPoolException kpipe ) {
MainsPower.reRouteTo( pool, MainsPower.MAX_VOLTAGE );
}

Sorry. I just had to.

a Linux zealot's pool party

[nomadic]

"Thanks for inviting me to the pool party!"

"No problem, Ed."

Ed enters the water.

"Ahhh! It burns!"

"That's impossible, Ed. You see, the chlorination levels are controlled by several scripts running under Linux. It's Open Source, so it's stable and it can't help but work."

"For the love of all that's holy, someone help me!"

"You see, with open source any bugs that would have cropped up would have been immediately been fixed by the many independent programmers around the world who check the source code."

"Oh the pain! My skin is being flayed from my body!"

"See the neighbor's kid over there? The one in the Limp Bizkit t-shirt with the baseball cap? He's one of the many open source coders around the world who maintain the system I use to automate my pool. Don't let his age, lack of education, or immaturity fool you; because he's an open source coder he's far superior to any corporate drone with a masters in CS. Now don't you feel better?"

"Oh, the pain! It's like acid!"

"Ed, the chlorine level is precisely monitored, as I've been telling you. Whatever you're feeling is most definitely not the result of chlorine."

Ed finally manages to crawl out of the pool. His skin is an angry red, and his hair has turned white.

"Ohhh...someone...help..."

"Ok, I see how it is, Ed. You're one of those Microsoft supporters, just trying to spread FUD about the open source movement. I think you should leave."

Interesting slashdot effect

[flacco]

When I try to load the page, all I get is a blank screen with this across the top:

Swimming poo

Ick.

Overkill

[tkrotchko]

The problem with this system is that its automating something that is more easily handled by cheap mechanical devices. Mechanical autochlorinator technology is cheap and works.

Most people think a pool with too much chlorine will have a "chlorine" smell and will irritate your eyes. This is a fallacy; pools get that funny smell because the available chlorine has been turned to chloramines. The only way to get rid of the chloramines is to add more chlorine. So ironically, a "chlorine" smell in a pool is a sign of poor maintence and NOT ENOUGH CHLORINE! Your eyes will not be irritated, your skin won't turn red, you won't be harmed by too much chlorine in a pool.

Besides this is attacking the wrong problem. Keeping the proper chlorine levels in a pool with the proper chemistry is simple. Combined with the mechnical device I've already mentioned makes checking the chlorine levels a once-a-week chore for a residential pool. Its the least bothersome part of running a pool.

The tricky part is the rest of the chemistry (particularly total alkalinity and pH). It can be done via automation, but there's no particular need to have a computer do it. Again, its a once-a-week check, and then you add small doses of chemicals at that time if it needs to be balanced. But the balance is critical to everything about the pool and the health of the people in it.

The bottom line is that you have to check it once a week yourself anyway, regardless of the automation system. Spend your time swimming, not inventing the equivalent of an electric dog polisher.

Re:Overkill

[tkrotchko]

In my experience, people who say this are intolerent to bad pH balance or chloramines. I've had people tell me that "they can't tolerate chlorine", and tell me my pool hardly has any chlorine.

The truth is, I keep my pool chlorine levels relatively high. The trick is proper pH balance.

Incidentally, I don't have any experience with Bacquil, but the people who I know that use it, I never like the clarity of the water.

That's not a knock on anything, everybody keeps their pool the way they like it; we've been happy with chlorine (in fact, I had the ozone generator removed because I'm convinced residential ozone generators are useless).

Pool season in only 3 1/2 months. Can't wait.