A Fish Tale

For anyone who hates cleaning their swimming pool or can't bear the thought of treating it with chemicals like chlorine, city officials in one Florida town have an innovative solution: Fill the pool with fish. Officials from the code compliance department in Wellington, Floridastarted using local fish as an eco-friendly and inexpensive way to eat up the algae that blooms in swimming pools throughout town.

According to an article on WPTV's Web site, the recent housing market collapse caused a wave of foreclosures through in the town. Many of the properties boasted swimming pools which, according to local codes, must be kept sanitary even if abandoned. Dumping chemicals to cleanse the scummed-up pools was costing the city about $7,000 a year -- no small sum during a recession.

Now, the city's been placing about 15 pleco algae-eating fish in each abandoned pool, at the much-reduced rate of about $700 a year. The fish munch on the algae before it has a chance to get out of control, keeping waters nice and clean.

Officials hope the tidy pools will make houses more attractive to buyers. Once the houses are sold, owners can either give the fish back to the city, or take them to the lake from whence they came -- unless, of course, they're in the mood for a fish fry!

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng.