Life cycle environmental implications of residential swimming pools in Phoenix, Arizona

There are more than 8 million private swimming pools in the U.S.. Though known to be prodigious consumers of water and energy, apparently there has been no systematic analysis of their environmental impact to date. Additional impacts arise from pool chemical use and pool construction. Phoenix, Arizona, has one of the highest concentrations of pools in the country. This is despite large evaporative water losses due to the hot, arid climate, and a reliance on imported water supplies. Given this context a hybrid life cycle assessment of Phoenix area residential pools was undertaken to determine their water consumption, energy use and climate change impacts.