ABP Closing San Diego

[jamesd8]

I have a 15'x48" AG metal frame intex I don't plan on using for next several months. I would like to leave up but want to reduce costs and maintenance. I also have young children and the idea of draining it sounds appealing just so I don't have to worry about them drowning. I have a fence up, but God forbid I forget to latch it securely or something. My question, can I drain it and leave it up covered? I know a lot of the tension is created by the volume of water, and it seems to me the legs would get wimbly and topple. I'm hoping to avoid taking it completely down. Has anyone been in this type of situation before and thought of a good solution? Also, another option may be a partial drain, a couple feet, kids are tall enough to stand up in that, but then wouldn't the water get swampy?

I guess what I'm really trying to say without much success is what would you do if you were not planning on using your AGP for several months, didn't have to worry about freezing weather, and wanted to reduce costs on bleach and maintenance? Without taking it down and packing away.


Thank you.

 

[Kiss4aFrog]

Just thinking out loud that I'd be concerned if it's in an area that the wind could get to it without having the water to hold it in place or hold the sides upright.

If you drain it down to a couple feet you could get away with adding much less bleach and doing it less frequently and likely be OK but I've never done it.

 

[singingpond]

Well, with a pool of that volume (4400 gallons according to your signature), why not just cover it up, make sure the fence is secure, and forget about it until you want to use it again? The water will maintain the pool structure, and keep the wind from doing damage.

When you do want to use it again, the water will probably be disgusting -- just dump out, scrub the pool (maybe a non-trivial task), and refill with clean water.

I'm not saying it's wonderful to have a 4400 gallon biology/chemistry experiment in your yard, but it's worth considering, especially since you don't really have to clean the water when you want to use the pool again -- it's up to you to decide what are the pros and cons in your particular situation. You could add bleach from time to time, to reduce the amount of stuff growing in the unused pool.

I don't see any benefit to partially draining the pool -- the structure won't be as well supported, and the mess (if neglected) will be very similar. If access by children is a real risk, just take the pool down and store it.