new to TFP/ advice on metal stock tank pool and sanitation

[satsitananda]

Hello,

New here to TFP and pool ownership in general. I have been fantasizing about building an in ground pool forever but have resigned to lesser goals that will perhaps suit my needs fine.

Recently I purchased an intex easy up pool 10X30 and a 1000 intext filter pump. I also purchased a chlorine floating dispenser and 1" chlorinating tabs.

Set the pool and filter up but didn't receive the chlorine until maybe 4 days after the pool was up and running. I put 3 tablets of chlorine in the dispenser a few days ago.
Last night I was in the pool for a half hour and the bottom was super slimy, the water a tad cloudy, and my skin felt itchy. Today I went to the spa store where I was sold a taylor basic k-1000 test kit, some ph increaser and some shock and was told my ph was probably too low. Went home and tested and CL level was 5 PPM and the ph was 7.2- I can only test these 2 with this kit. Called the spa store and was advised to leave the cover off, take the cl dispenser out and retest in a few days as the ph is probably not accurate with cl levels being so high.
Sounds like I need to get myself a better test kit and consider the BBB method? I'll wait a few days to see what the cl levels drop to. Open to any advice...


Recently I came upon some DIY blogs where folks are making small above ground pools out of stock tanks. This is my ultimate goal as the intex pool looks like it might last a season, if that, and is kinda ugly besides. The stock tank I'd like to use is an 11X2 galvanized steel tank which holds about 1400 gallons from Hutchison. Much more attractive then my current vinyl easy up.

I know there is some controversy surrounding "natural" pool sanitation and I'll be the first to admit that I get excited about every ad I see with this marketing. Seems like folks are pretty big supporters of cl here... asserting that the other methods just don't work. My husband won't swim in conventional pools (nor the easy up) because the cl bugs him and we have a whole house cl filter, however he probably wont be using the pool anyway... Since I basically have no idea what I'm doing and want something as low maintenance as possible, maybe cl is the way to go...

Finally to my question:
Any recommendations to make ozone or UV work??
I also like the idea of a SWG if nothing else seems viable however would it corrode galvanized steel?
Any other advice welcome...

Thanks for bearing with me!

 

[Smykowski]

Re: new to TFP/ advice on metal stock tank pool and sanitati

Hello,

New here to TFP and pool ownership in general. I have been fantasizing about building an in ground pool forever but have resigned to lesser goals that will perhaps suit my needs fine.

Recently I purchased an intex easy up pool 10X30 and a 1000 intext filter pump. I also purchased a chlorine floating dispenser and 1" chlorinating tabs.

Set the pool and filter up but didn't receive the chlorine until maybe 4 days after the pool was up and running. I put 3 tablets of chlorine in the dispenser a few days ago.
Last night I was in the pool for a half hour and the bottom was super slimy, the water a tad cloudy, and my skin felt itchy. Today I went to the spa store where I was sold a taylor basic k-1000 test kit, some ph increaser and some shock and was told my ph was probably too low. Went home and tested and CL level was 5 PPM and the ph was 7.2- I can only test these 2 with this kit. Called the spa store and was advised to leave the cover off, take the cl dispenser out and retest in a few days as the ph is probably not accurate with cl levels being so high.
Sounds like I need to get myself a better test kit and consider the BBB method? I'll wait a few days to see what the cl levels drop to. Open to any advice...


Recently I came upon some DIY blogs where folks are making small above ground pools out of stock tanks. This is my ultimate goal as the intex pool looks like it might last a season, if that, and is kinda ugly besides. The stock tank I'd like to use is an 11X2 galvanized steel tank which holds about 1400 gallons from Hutchison. Much more attractive then my current vinyl easy up.

I know there is some controversy surrounding "natural" pool sanitation and I'll be the first to admit that I get excited about every ad I see with this marketing. Seems like folks are pretty big supporters of cl here... asserting that the other methods just don't work. My husband won't swim in conventional pools (nor the easy up) because the cl bugs him and we have a whole house cl filter, however he probably wont be using the pool anyway... Since I basically have no idea what I'm doing and want something as low maintenance as possible, maybe cl is the way to go...

Finally to my question:
Any recommendations to make ozone or UV work??
I also like the idea of a SWG if nothing else seems viable however would it corrode galvanized steel?
Any other advice welcome...

Thanks for bearing with me!

Welcome to the forum.

I know nothing about the stock tanks, so I'll let someone else jump in on that one.

If you're looking for a way to take care of your pool using something other than chlorine, you won't get much help from the members here because we're pretty much all on chlorine of one form or another. Chlorine is without fail the best way to keep your pool safe and clean. The irritation your husband has is probably a sensitivity to chloramines, not chlorine. Chloramines only show up in improperly sanitized pools. A correctly maintained chlorine pool tastes and smells no different than city tap water. (All of this and more is covered in Pool School, upper right corner of every page.) I know of no greater compliment than when a guest comes to swim in my pool and says something along the lines of "Wow, your pool is really clean. How do you keep the water so clear without chlorine?"

As for the "natural" and "alternative" ways to keep a pool clean, for the most part, they don't work. Some, like ozone, depend on something else in the bulk pool water (read-chlorine), and others are basically a step above snake oil.

SWG is also a chlorine pool, it just delivers the chlorine constantly and automatically without having to lug bottles of bleach. You're paying for the convenience, though, as the units are a bit pricey.

Anything that uses a mineral system is a bad idea. They use metals to kill algae and other organics (but they won't work on pathogens) and the metals in the water can stain equipment and hair.

I hope I answered some of your questions at least.

 

[Donldson]

Re: new to TFP/ advice on metal stock tank pool and sanitati

I know of no greater compliment than when a guest comes to swim in my pool and says something along the lines of "Wow, your pool is really clean. How do you keep the water so clear without chlorine?"

I will second that! I have been told that I must not use much chlorine and, with a smile on my face, I reply that it's not an entirely accurate statement.

satsitananda: I bet if we took your husband to any of the pools of the long term BBB practitioners here and told him there is no chlorine, he would get out completely believing us. Chlorine sensitivity is a real thing but far more people think they suffer from it than actually do. If you are talking 1400 gallons a UV or ozone system is going to be far more expense than it is worth. My opinion is that they are not worth the expense for any pool, but for one that small the chlorination level you need is so small that you are looking at tens of dollars a year.

One simple truth about any "natural" systems: Only 3 things are approved to sanitize a pool, chlorine, bromine, or biguanide. Any UV, ozone, mineral, etc. system MUST use one of these in some amount. This is a significant reason few of us will recommend any other system, you spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to set it up, and then you still have to add chlorine.

 

[satsitananda]

Re: new to TFP/ advice on metal stock tank pool and sanitati

Thanks for the reply's. it seems like bbb is the way to go. I like the sound of SWG systems to generate chlorine as people make it sound like you can dump the salt and it takes care if itself (though this may be wishful thinking on my part as the more i read here it appears great water quality will always take some regular attention), but I heard that the salt can corrode stainless steel. Not sure if galvanized steel would also corrode...which I guess is my main question.
Thanks

 

[techguy]

Re: new to TFP/ advice on metal stock tank pool and sanitati

i am not an expert but I have heard SWG can be hard on metals. I would think you would be better off using liquid chlorine.

As for using a stock tank for a pool, I don't see why not. If you really wanted to get fancy, you could stretch in an above ground liner. Doughboy makes liners designed to stretch into the pool. Basically you fit the liner so its floating in the air and add water to fill the center and let it stretch in. As you get further along you let the liner in as it becomes tight and it stretches out to the walls.

As to your water concerns, if you added several pucks/bags/sticks of shock/dry chlorine to a small pool (tank/spa) you will have a very high CYA (stabilizer) level. When this happens it masks your chlorine and you get a green fuzzy pool. As this continues, you get a large amount of partially oxidized algae and other debris and you get high CC (chloramine) levels that can make you itchy and the pool smell like a hotel pool and chlorine-y.

Stop going to the pool/spa store. They are wrong. You need liquid chlorine to clean up the algae and sanitize your pool. Pucks and sticks are not your friends and will not keep your pool clean and clear.

At this point, since you are dealing with what I assume to be a small pool, only a couple thousand gallons or less, it may be easier to start with fresh water and only use chlorine until you get it stable. You could then add CYA if you felt the need to reduce your chlorine usage slightly.

you can read Pool School for all the details

Pool School