Dutch Spring is the SCUBA local training facility, dive destination, home away from home, all around weekend getaway located in Bethlehem, PA. Having done several hundred dives there throughout various times of the year, I have experienced some cold weather and cold water. Dutch Springs recently posted a Facebook note about what it would take to heat the giant pool (aka, lake) to a steady 70 degrees.

Here be it:

If we had a nickel for every time anyone asked us to heat the lake, we may have enough money to install the heaters. Over this winter I have worked on the math problem of what would it really cost to heat the lake (I’m slow at math), below are the results. Remember, I’m not a math whiz, engineer or mechanically inclined whatsoever.

The lake:

50 acres in size
217, 800,000 Cubic Feet of water
1 cubic foot of water=62 pounds (weight) 13,503,600,000 pounds of water in Dutch Springs

BTU’s:

A BTU is the amount of energy required to raise 1 pound of water 1 degree Fahrenheit … water weighs about 8.34#/gal … so 8.34 BTU’s are required to raise 1 gallon of water 1 degree F.

The Lake (again):

To raise the water temperature from 40 to 70 is an increase of 30 degrees F. It would require:
30,063,606,609,960 BTU’s to uniformly heat Dutch Springs to 70F

The heaters: A standard in ground 400,000 BTU pool heater costs $3,000.00 with shipping.

The bottom line:

We would need 75,159,017 heaters to heat the lake=2 0and maintain the heat of the water.
The cost of the equipment alone would be:
$225,477,049,574.70

The fuel required to run the heaters from March-July, then again from
October-February: $202,222,994,051,855,700,000.00 (202 quintillion dollars)

The Real Bottom Line:

With installation, upkeep, fuel, other supplies and installation, we are looking at:
$202,222,994,277,332,749,574.7

Perspective:
Adding up the entire world’s currency:
$5 Quadrillion US Dollars ($5,000,000,000,000,000.00)

I think a dry suit is cheaper.