Lockdown swimming pool

[bambam]

Like the earlier thread of a lockdown hot tub, my family are keen to get an above ground swimming pool for the summer seeing as we won’t be going anywhere. Not to do any actual swimming etc but just to lounge around in.

Something around 12-15’ wide and about 4’ deep. Like this one: https://www.bestwaystore.co.uk/above...-pool-set.html

Anyone have any experience? I’m not sure what to look out for etc.

Thanks

[AndyMilts]

Yes we have one of those and have had it for two years. First year we ran it as bought out the box. The pump and filter are ok but not really man enough and the internal filter can need changing often, the paper gets clogged and it stops working. If you don’t put the cover on religiously it gets dirty quickly and can get algae growing quickly. The paper filters are not expensive but get expensive if you have to change them every couple of days. Plus it’s freezing unless you get a run of hot days to really heat it up.
Also you don’t want to do water changes as takes a lot of water and is really cold again. Kids loved it but after 20-30 minutes were blue and shivering.

Last year I added a more powerful pump and filter https://www.discountleisureproducts....saAvIsEALw_wcB

This was much better needed cleaning a couple of times I used some balls to filter rather than sand and was great. Much more powerful and less problems with Algae. Also used chemicals in it, chlorine and some other to keep the water clear. Plus added a heat source pump to heat it and it was much better for the kids only really heats the water 3-4 degrees maybe a bit more, after a week it’s was good, not water but much better. When we had a few warm days on the bounce got almost perfect.

https://www.automatedenvironmentalsy...oaAoaWEALw_wcB

Lots of options on the pump but were in short supply last year and this was the only One I could find. If you have any questions let me know.

It was really great last summer in lockdown kids loved it and their friends 5-7 and played in there hours.

[Meesterbond]

A friend has a similar pool to that, maybe slightly larger and whilst his family loved having it last summer he did say that he underestimated the effort required wrt chemicals etc. We moved last summer and our new place has a permanent outdoor pool and it took me most of the summer to get to grips with what I needed to do to balance the pH and Chlorine, testing it several times a week... shocking it after heavy use or heavy rain, cleaning out leaves etc, which got in even when the cover was on.

Not wanting to put you off - we love having a pool here and it was a godsend during lockdown, but don't think that just leaving the filter on will keep it usable!

[P9MES]

A friend has a similar pool to that, maybe slightly larger and whilst his family loved having it last summer he did say that he underestimated the effort required wrt chemicals etc. We moved last summer and our new place has a permanent outdoor pool and it took me most of the summer to get to grips with what I needed to do to balance the pH and Chlorine, testing it several times a week... shocking it after heavy use or heavy rain, cleaning out leaves etc, which got in even when the cover was on.

Not wanting to put you off - we love having a pool here and it was a godsend during lockdown, but don't think that just leaving the filter on will keep it usable!

Thats interesting. I never mess with chems. just bung a couple of multi tablets in the skimmers every few days. Also never shock during the season only at the start and end. Tho I agree with the leaves, its easier to get in an do it!

[ach5]

My only advice re: swimming pools, is don’t build a ‘proper’ one. I had one in a house a few years ago and they’re bloomin expensive to run (so we basically didn’t bother and abandoned it) and as it was in a sort of giant conservatory, it was freezing most of the year. Who the heck would build a pool in the uk, unless you had mega££ to build it in a fully insulated and heated room? To be fair, in the peak summer it was amazing.

Would have suited the folks over in the ‘cold water swimming’ thread!

[Passenger]

No getting away from it, they do come with a fair degree of responsibility/work if you want to keep them and the water nice and clean. A pool cleaning robot does help but a good one won't be cheap, close to a 1000 pound/euro. We spend a little extra on the best multi tabs available, definitely worth it. Get the biggest/best filter unit you can afford anything less is a false economy.

[Neil.C]

We had an above ground pool for quite a few years.

Enormous fun when the kids were younger and even the Mrs and I enjoyed it. Would definitely recommend for a family with youngsters.

Ours was no longer really being used (boys grown up) to so we took it down and recycled it a couple of years back.

Get the biggest one you can fit in your space and at 4ft deep you can swim in it.

[Meesterbond]

Thats interesting. I never mess with chems. just bung a couple of multi tablets in the skimmers every few days. Also never shock during the season only at the start and end. Tho I agree with the leaves, its easier to get in an do it!

I did try putting tablets in the skimmer but couldn't get the levels to stabilise. That said, once I had got the pH and Ch right we used a floating mushroom-shaped thing with tablets in it which was considerably less effort.
Soon after we moved in we had a couple of weeks of bad weather and I didn't check it. Came back to a greeny/black sludge which took a lot of effort to get back to clear.

[Passenger]

No getting away from it, they do come with a fair degree of responsibility/work if you want to keep them and the water nice and clean. A pool cleaning robot does help but a good one won't be cheap, close to a 1000 pound/euro. We spend a little extra on the best multi tabs available, definitely worth it. Get the biggest/best filter unit you can afford anything less is a false economy.

Ours is in ground, sorry, I didn't realise the thread theme before posting above FWIW I think the same principles apply, especially that prevention is easier, cheaper, less time consuming, better than cure.