New Intex AG Pool setup advice

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WileCyote

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Jun 23, 2017
10
San Jose, CA
Hello All,

I'm a first time pool-owner and am looking for some setup advice. First, I'm glad I found this site, since it gives me hope for a TFP!

We have an Intex 18' round AG pool and the included Krystal Clear sand filter at the moment. We're getting the yard prepped and leveled for where it will be


  1. I was thinking of a SWG, but which one would be recommended?
  2. Is the included pump good enough or should I upgrade? (and if I should upgrade, what about a combo SWG + filter?)
  3. As far as heating, we live in San Jose, CA, so would solar cover + solar roof heater be enough or do I need a heater too? Do the solar heater/covers work well? And again, which ones are recommended?
  4. Are there any real tricks to setting it up or anything I've overlooked here?

Thanks for any and all advice!
 
I am going to touch on the space the pool will be going on. That is the most important part of all! It must be level. What is recommended is to dig down instead of adding anything like sand to build up an area.

You can do a search for water levels. They are easy to make and work great for this kind of work!

The other stuff I will let others take care of.

Kim:kim:
 
Get the ground level. Seriously- I'll say it again. Do what you gotta- but get the ground level and hard. If you get the ground level and compacted then you're golden. Anything less, and you will have headaches.

I had a challenging spot to put mine on and it took me months a of backbreaking effort to level and compact- Buying pea gravel, leveling tools, renting compacters etc... and I put down pavers for the legs and foam insulation board under it. The wife was fit to be tied- but I wasn't putting it up until I was satisfied.
Relatives of mine tossed up even smaller pools in a couple of days. Now they are all calling me because they are unlevel or their posts are sinking in the ground.

I swear, if I had to do a challenging spot again- I'd shop around and get the cheapest guys who would come in and put down a nice concrete pad to put it on to come and do it. That's just me- but that's what I'd do. If you did that, you could forego buying a bunch of tools, gravel, pavers, and renting equipment. I honestly think I would have come out ahead. Certainly would have from a 'my time vs. money' standpoint.

Just food for thought.
 
Thanks to both of you! I just spent the past 2 days leveling and compacting and leveling - and the area had been leveled and compacted the year before anyway so some of the work was done. I laid down puzzle-piece foam board underneath and we just set up the pool before it got dark today. No water yet. We did the absolute best we could with the leveling, so here's hoping!

Next... I only have the included sand pump, but thinking that probably won't be enough. Recommendations for filter and SWG? Ordered my TF-100 today. Also, solar cover? Solar roof heater? Skimmer? All recommendations welcome.
 
For the skimmer question do a search in the white box at the top of this page. It only goes to TFP threads so that will help narrow it down. There are several people who have done the skimmers with great results! Let us know what you find that will work best for you.

Solar cover......helps keep the heat of the day in the pool. Most people say to just get the cheap ones as the more $$ ones do not last any longer :(

Kim:kim:
 
Zrock - mine came with the sf80110, so I'm hoping it will work well. I'll use it as is frist and then upgrade if I need to down the road.

Kim - Thanks again for the input. 8mil solar cover ordered and I'll see how that does before I get anything else like a solar roof heater or active heater.

I think I'll do the pool school method first and learn the ins & outs before I get a SWG. Off to get chemicals and see if I can start filling today!
 
OK. Just tested my water and Ph is good at 7.5. Not sure if I did the test right, but the TA came in at 220. FC was barely readable <.5

I'm a wee it confused from the pool math section, which is saying I need to add acid to bring Ph down to 7.0-7.2 and then add baking soda to bring it back up. Is that what I need to do to address high TA? Seems weird.
 
WileCyote said:
OK. Just tested my water and Ph is good at 7.5. Not sure if I did the test right, but the TA came in at 220. FC was barely readable <.5

I'm a wee it confused from the pool math section, which is saying I need to add acid to bring Ph down to 7.0-7.2 and then add baking soda to bring it back up. Is that what I need to do to address high TA? Seems weird.
Click to expand...

You add muriatic acid (MA) to bring PH down to 7 (which also brings down TA), then aerate the pool to bring the ph back up. Repeat this proceedure until your TA is at the correct level. I have high TA in my fill water so I have to do this procedure often. Don't stand downwind of the MA - ask me how I know.
 

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I got a SWG the second year our pool was up and I don't know why EVERYONE wouldn't use this method. I open the pool each spring (I live in Ohio and don't take the pool down each year, just drain it half way and put a winter cover on it) and once I fill the pool, I run the filter for a day or so and take in a water sample to a local pool shop. They tell me what I need to add (this year I needed to bring the alkalinity up) and how much salt to add. I added 50lbs of salt and turned on my SWG. My water is and will stay crystal clear all year long. I won't have to treat it for the rest of the season. It's amazing. Our neighbor has a pool and she's out there constantly chasing cloudy water. My SWG had a leak in it and I went out immediately and got another one. I swear by them. No more greenish blonde hair, no kids with red eyes. I can't say enough great things about it. I have a 16' Pro Series (just like the Intex) and have upgraded the pump, return jet, all the hoses, vacuum, ladder - and next the skimmer. The ONLY drawback to the SWG is the water tastes slightly salty, and recently I had a cut on my hand and I went to clean the pool and put my hand in there - WOWZERS did that hurt! Also it turns metal rusty - which is why I replaced the ladder.
 
I have mine down to a science. After all these years I know what it needs daily/weekly.. just tossed in one of those floating chlorine dispensers and after a few days of adjusting it I don't have to add daily. Maby a weekly top up not sure yet.. been holding the levels steady
 
Hi guys, I got the pool filled and balanced the water, but then headed out on vacation. The water seems great, but it does seem that the leak may be from the hose connector coming back from the filter. It twists and then as it tightens, it seems to catch and then skip over the threads so it won't tighten all the way and there is a steady little drip coming from there now. We lose maybe a 1/2-1" a day. I'll have to get a replacement part to see if that solves it. The solar cover works great! I was out of town for 4 days and when I came back to test - FC dropped to .5, pH was at 7.0, TA had dropped to 190, and CYA was holding at 37. I just used pool math (thank you for that great tool!) to adjust things a bit, but the kids are loving it!
 

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