Diesel

Got the kids a £50 10' pool - they LOVE it. Have put some chemicals in (pleasanter and cleverer than chlorine and sachets to add once a week) but think we have some slimy algae - should source some fungicide liquid I guess?

However I also have a heater installed (£11 from Costco and 3kw). I filled it up with an hours worth of 25kw combi boiler & some cold water and it seems to be using 'only' about 20 units a day to keep it tepid - £1.40p?

Just wondering what the best policy is - keep it tepid & ramp it up for warm weather use or switch it off in betwee weekends? Also the water and safety aspect bugs me - 3 (THREE!) RCD's in circuit, but I still had a smelly kitchen and a MELTED plug one morning on a 13kw rated extension...

Any tips - the kiddies do love it!

D

Sonic'

What are the chemicals you put in, we got the kids one a few months ago now, but its still all in the box etc

got the pool, pool cover, filter cartridges, filter (it does say only use the filter when the pool is not in use though

Incidently, how long did it take to fill it up, a friends too 5 hours to fill

I saw a heater for sale on fleabay but they are about 80 quid, and my guess would be that they are NOT left on all the time, but they arent rated very high, so how long would it take to heat all of that water

sti-04!!

Steve, i have a 3kw heater if you want it. PM for a friends price

Diesel

Quote: What are the chemicals you put in, we got the kids one a few months ago now, but its still all in the box etc

SOME 'OXYGEN BASED' ONES.... £20 for 10 sachets of orange and 2 of blue!

got the pool, pool cover, filter cartridges, filter (it does say only use the filter when the pool is not in use though

NAH NEEDS TO BE USED WHEN THE SEDIMENT IS MOVING!

Incidently, how long did it take to fill it up, a friends too 5 hours to fill

MORE! WELL SEEMS FINE GIVEN THE RAIN!!

I saw a heater for sale on fleabay but they are about 80 quid, and my guess would be that they are NOT left on all the time, but they arent rated very high, so how long would it take to heat all of that water

PAID £11 FOR A £45 E BAY ONE (all made in China!). £3KW WITH A STAT - WASNT EVEN TOUCHING THE WATER FROM THE HOSPIPE AFTER 3 HRS SO GOT THE COMBI INVOLVED! DOUBT YOU'D WANT TO LEAVE IT ALL GET STONE COLD AGAIN?

Its good though as my terrified shaking 2yr old lad has got over the fear now and that alone justifies the kilowattage!

D

The Snug Rhino

in this weater you dont need a heater - our kids are in our 18ft pool every day, never use the heater as the water is fine. Even the baby goes in it for a good 45 mins before he gets cold and wants out!

David Lock

If you JUST use a filter then it will go green in about 10 days or so with algae. So either change water or use chemicals.

In warm weather a small pool should heat up enough for tough kids A solar cover will help. Or just plug a hose on to hot tap in kitchen. dl

Diesel

Yeah - mine is getting slimy and green, despite the 'non harpic' 'proper' chemicals. Fungicide is needed I guess?

Yes and not all of us are Northern and tough as nails D - 3kw helps our shandy soft skinned sentimentalities!!!

D

The Snug Rhino

Something wrong with your chems.....ours is crystal clear with chlorine tablets and occasional shock dosing dependant on daily test results.

TopBanana

Fatty Ruins Summer Video

staffy-bull

We have a above ground 18 foot pool, i filled it up in late march took about 10-12 hours to fill, i put chlorine granuels in it whilst filling, every other day i go out and check the levels using testing strips that i purchased from ebay. Going by the reading i normally add some more cholrine granules about every 3-4 days, i also use a pool cleaning kit just to remove any grass or leaves as this helps prevent the pool from going cloudy, our pools water is still crystal clear after nearly 5 months of every day use by the kids and all their freinds. Heater wise i tend to only put the heater on for 3-4 hours of a late evening and then put a solar cover over and find that this works enough and makes it quite warm. Algaside is a good chemical to add (the blue coloured one but cant remember the name) if the water becomes merky or cloudy and then cholornate it. Filter wise i have the filter going all day on mine just to keep the water circulating to help mix the chemicals around. Touch wood for the past 4 years i have just been doing this and not once has the water gone merky/cloudy.

Flatcapdriver

You'll need to shock dose it with chlorine so I'd advise a visit to your nearest pool shop. Buy some algicide whilst you're at it and get their advice as to dosing levels as the water volume is considerably less than a normal pool.

Personally, I wouldn't leave an electric heater on permanently unless I knew the provenance and given that it came from China I'd be wary.

The Snug Rhino

if its green drain and re-fill, far quicker than a shock treatment.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Do you lot have water meters ?

Graphite

Even if you're on a meter it's not too bad to fill a pool... ~ 1000 gallons = ~ 4.5 cubic meters @ 81p ... £3.70 to fill pool.

Heating @ 3kW 4 hours a day ... less than a pound a day... takes temp from 20 to 24 ºC - worth doing £36 off ebay + postage.

Shark Man

Seeing that I sort out several proper swimming pool on a regular basis and fell into the pitfalls of algae and green water I can advise: Doing it properly is quite simple, but the ground rules and concepts are quite lengthy to take in in one gulp.

But some pointers:

Use chlorine; Yes its nasty in undiluted form, but there is a reason why its used...it works! BTW, the stinging eyes and bad smells from pool water is caused by lack of cholrine and water that hasn't been changed regulary enough causing a build up of chloromines (used lock up chlorine).

Buy a test kit. Basic one will test PH (phenol red) and Total Chrloine (OTO)

Better ones also test for FREE chlorine (DPD1...chlorine that can still disinfect, rather than locked chrloine that is useless but still in the water)

Make sure the PH is at its ideal (7.4), buy PH- or PH+ powder/liquid to adjust so that its correct. If the PH is too high, the chlorine won't do its job properly

Use multi-action chlorine powder (or tablets in a floating dosing thingy) - these have algaecide, stabiliser, flocculante and other stuff which you probably haven't a clue on what does what.

If its green, you need to shock treat with non-stabilised chlorine (usually stuff dedicated for shock treating, beware as most stuff is stabilsed and won't shock treat properly). Doing this is basically putting 10 times the normal chlorine dose, so will take time for levels to drop so that it safe for swimming; during which time you could just drain and refill - depends how the water costs you

Always keep the free chlorine level at least 1 ppm, let it drop and it'll go green, smelly and you'll get stinging eyes.

And most important; Drain and replace the water regulary; you can't keep the same water in for weeks on end, as water can only dissolve so many solid (TDS= Total Dissolved Solids...think of how much sugar you can dissolve in your cup of tea before getting a sludge at the bottom). The only cure is to drain off some old water, and replenish with fresh water. Something like 10% of pool volume every 10 to 14 days for a lightly used residential pool. Proper pools do this by backwashing the filters, obviously temporary pools have no such feature, but it still needs to be done. Use the old water to wash your car, or water the plants or something.


These two sites have very informative how tos with pools and got me started, ok mainly aimed at propper pools, but the same theory applies.
The Swimming Pool Operators and Owners Pages

Hot Tub Spa Supplies, Swimming Pool Supply - Hot Tub Spa Parts, Supplies, Chemicals, and Swimming Pool Parts, Supplies, Chemicals, Pool and Spa Covers, Pool and Spa Accessories

Flatcapdriver

Sharkman. Can't get the Caromal site to open? Do you have any recommendations for a LPG powered pool heater for an 8x4m pool?

The Snug Rhino

rather than refilling the pool to lower the TDS we just run the hose in it overnight and let it overflow (although the TDS of our tap water is pretty lousy to start with!)

Shark Man

Hmm, it does flag up a security alert on my browser, but I can still see it. Shame, as its probably the most useful site on the net albeit quite lengthy. Does this work??: The Swimming Pool Operators and Owners Resource Pages Index

Can't advise on heaters I'm afraid as we don't use any (no need - water is already 28 degrees ).

Apart from I should have mentioned earlier that the warmer the water, the higher the chlorine dissapation.

Shark Man

Oh, seeing this is a pool thread, I think I'll jump in and hijack it ..... If anyone knows an easy way to sort out a high level of Total Alkalinity, I want to hear it, as thus far any use of tap water means I have to use gallons of acid to bring it under control. Not too clever for the grouting

Diesel

Interesting you all use nasty old chlorine (bleach to me!). I bought some sachets of Oxygen based ones that made me sprinkle in a blue and an orange in initially, then an orange a week. Hoped theyd make it last 6 weeks, but aint looking good.

Looks like I need to dump it and start again - well it is almost Sept! Thanks for the advice though.

D