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Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

kippen/umkippen (Wasser)

English translation:

hier: turn green

Added to glossary by Patrick John Burhorn
Jan 9, 2014 20:31
11 yrs ago
5 viewers *
German term

kippen/umkippen (Wasser)

German to English Tech/Engineering Chemistry; Chem Sci/Eng Swimmingpool
Dear colleagues,

I am currently translating the directory for a vacation home in Florida. I've just come across the following sentences:

Die Reinigung des Pools macht der Poolservice, der einmal in der Woche kommt. Er fügt auch Chlor zu, da der Pool ohne den Chlorzusatz durch die Wärme sehr schnell kippen würde und dann nicht mehr zu benutzen ist.

Unfortunately, I haven't got the faintest idea of how to translate "kippen" in this context. Could somebody please help me out? Thanks a million!
Proposed translations (English)
4 +2 turn green
3 +4 eutrophication
3 +2 become contaminated/unfit for bathing
3 -1 pass the unhealthy tipping point
Change log

Jan 10, 2014 07:54: Steffen Walter changed "Field" from "Science" to "Tech/Engineering"

Jan 11, 2014 11:21: Patrick John Burhorn Created KOG entry

Discussion

Patrick John Burhorn (asker) Jan 11, 2014:
@ Robin Thanks a lot, Robin! I decided to use "turn green" in combination with "become unfit for swimming":
Besides, the pool service also adds chlorine in order to prevent the water from quickly turning green from the heat and thus being unfit for swimming.
Robin McDowall Jan 11, 2014:
Living in the Philippines, we get a lot of this! I would agree for this kind of general text "turn green" or "become unfit for swimming" would be a good solution.
Patrick John Burhorn (asker) Jan 10, 2014:
@ Trudy It's already done! Thank you so much!:-) Every help and hit is welcome.
Trudy Peters Jan 10, 2014:
@ Patrick I would use swimming instead of bathing - from my US perspective!
Patrick John Burhorn (asker) Jan 10, 2014:
Thanks to all! Thank you for all your input and help! It is really much appreciated.
I think I will have a combination of the solutions "turn green" and "become unfit for bathing":
Besides, the pool service also adds chlorine in order to prevent the water from quickly turning green from the heat and thus being unfit for bathing.
pj-ffm Jan 10, 2014:
Agree with Michele Stale may be used for drinking water (though I'm not sure how common that is), but for swimming pools..?
Standing water that's "gone off" is usually referred to as "stagnant", but again, I'm not sure I'd use that for a swimming pool either.
Michele Fauble Jan 10, 2014:
Just to clarify, chlorine has no effect on eutrophication, which is an over-abundance of nutrients (organic matter) in a body of water. Chlorine is used in pools to kill pathogens and algae spores.
Patrick John Burhorn (asker) Jan 10, 2014:
@ Michele Thanks a lot for your answer and the interesting links!
Michele Fauble Jan 10, 2014:
'Stale' is the wrong word. Low chlorine levels result in the growth of algae, which turns the water cloudy and green.
Patrick John Burhorn (asker) Jan 10, 2014:
@ Trudy Thanks for your input, Trudy! I've just changed it into "from the heat". -:)
Trudy Peters Jan 10, 2014:
@ Patrick I would not say "through" the heat, though. Maybe due to/from/in
Patrick John Burhorn (asker) Jan 9, 2014:
@ Cilian Thanks a lot! So far I have rephrased and translated the sentence as follows:
Besides, the pool service also adds chlorine in order to prevent the water from quickly going stale through the heat and thus being unusable.
Cilian O'Tuama Jan 9, 2014:
or if you need a somewhat higher register... maybe sth like "keeps the water sanitized"
Patrick John Burhorn (asker) Jan 9, 2014:
Thanks everybody ... for your help so far. Rephrasing the sentence is certainly a good option: "prevent the water from going stale" would perfectly fit into the sentence structure! :-)
Ingo Dierkschnieder Jan 9, 2014:
With sibsab Just rephrase it; if you want to be more precise, maybe write that the pool would turn green with algae without chlorine.

Proposed translations

+2
11 hrs
Selected

turn green

The water becomes cloudy and green as the result of an algae bloom when chlorine levels drop. This occurs more quickly at higher temperatures.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs (2014-01-10 07:45:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

www.zodiacpoolsystems.com/.../Pool.../How-to-fix-a-Green-Sw...
... if you let the chlorine drop, even for a day, you might be left with an algae outbreak, which can turn your water green.

www.ebay.com › ... › Pools & Spas › Pools
I started in the business in Florida where a pool can go green overnight in the ...



Peer comment(s):
agree Phoebe Indetzki : I think this sounds far more natural for a holiday home brochure than the scientific term!
46 mins
thanks - If the scientific term you're referring to is 'eutrophication', it is simply wrong in this context.
agree rainerc (X)
6 hrs
thanks
neutral Cilian O'Tuama : I'd have thought "turns green" is much more specific than the source text
2 days 18 hrs
thanks - yes, the source text leaves the change unspecified and subject matter knowledge is needed to interpret the text.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you so much for your help, Michele!"
+4
7 mins

eutrophication

is the scientific term, usually for lakes, ponds etc.

But for swimming pools!?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrophication

Peer comment(s):
agree Kim Metzger : http://www.focus.de/wissen/natur/wasser/eutrophierung_aid_23...
4 mins
agree Sabine Akabayov, PhD : since this is for a vacation home, it might be ok to rephrase and write something like: Chlorine is added to keep the pool sanitary.
5 mins
or maybe sth. like prevent the water from going stale?
agree Coqueiro
12 mins
agree Yorkshireman : or stop it turning foul
2 hrs
Not bad either, ta
neutral rainerc (X) : I'm not convinced: Your reference says "is the ecosystem response to the addition of artificial or natural substances, such as ..., through fertilizers or sewage, to an aquatic system. I don't think a pool qualifies.
3 hrs
seems like we might even agree, - (um)kippen is usually used in a different, non-swimming-pool context
neutral Michele Fauble : Chlorine is added to pools to kill pathogens and algae spores. Eutrophication is an over-abundance of nutrients in bodies of water. In pools, low chlorine levels allow the growth of algae, turning the water cloudy and green.
10 hrs
Yes. that's the concept.
Something went wrong...
-1
37 mins

pass the unhealthy tipping point

"..without chlorine, the (pool) water would soon reach/pass the unhealthy tipping point"

Or:
...pass the tipping point towards unsanitary conditions.."
Peer comment(s):
disagree Kim Metzger : There's nothing unsanitary or unhealthy about algae bloom. http://www.spectralightuv.com/pool-algae.html
20 mins
I’d still stick with tipping point as the core of my solution that best matches the German expression. Yes, everything else can be tweaked or improved, e.g. “a tipping point where the pool water becomes unusable”; that hardly warrants a disagree, though.
Something went wrong...
+2
12 hrs

become contaminated/unfit for bathing

Whether it's due to algae or bacteria, I think either would work.
"... the pool would quickly become contaminated and unfit for bathing..."

You could also leave out the contaminated and just say "become unfit for bathing".
Peer comment(s):
agree gangels (X) : plain, simple and to the point
4 hrs
agree athomeindeutsch
5 hrs
Something went wrong...
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