Advice for small first pool

[forkly]

Hi everyone. I'm new to pools and have decided that I'd like to get a small steel frame pool. I've had a big inflatable "kiddie pool" that I've used off an in since I've lived here, but since it has no filter or anything I can really only use it for a weekend at a time and I hate wasting the water plus the inflation/deflation takes ages. My yard is a small urban yard, made even smaller by an extensive rose garden. I've decided on the 10' x 30” grey Intex pool. I like that I can buy it without the filter (since I know I'd need to upgrade anyway) and the color is less of an eyesore than the blue pools.

I'm looking for advice on a pump/filter and salt water generator. I was looking at the items Intex offers and am unsure of how to follow the guidelines they provide, since they send undersized equipment with the pools. Also, while I understand you can't have too much filter, most people around here are talking about much bigger pools and at some point I'd just be wasting money on way oversized equipment.

My other question is do you need a full 12"x12" pad for the legs? I have a bunch of old landscaping bricks that are about twice the size of standard bricks. Could I use those, or does the weight need to be distributed over a square foot? I'll be doing all the work myself. Thankfully my area is within 2" of level, so not much digging. To be honest, I may not even remove the grass this year, and let the ground cloths kill it, and then properly strip it out for next year. I lay down heavy black plastic to kill grass for a season whenever I need to make a new garden bed, as removing sod is a pain and I don't have a vehicle that can transport a sod cutter.

 

[Mdragger88]

That’s a little pool. Around 1500 gallons.
No judgment! I loved my little pool!
The bricks sound like they will work just fine
A word of warning- if you don’t remove the grass it will decompose under the pool & stink like there’s a dead body for weeks or longer.
With our very first one we would move it around the yard to strategically kill the weeds and one time we waited too long - it was horrible!
You couldn’t even stand to be in the backyard.

As for the pump, sand filter & swcg.
The smallest sand filter/pump available will be fine. Likely a 12inch filter and a 1/2 or 3/4 hp pump.
You ideally want a swcg that is rated for 2x’s your pool’s volume so that covers every intex model.
The intex swcg only have run time settings in 1 hour increments - no ability to adjust the %
So I wouldn’t get the largest one (15k gal) or it would probably over chlorinate your pool with just 1 hour of run time in the shoulder seasons.
The 7k gal unit would serve you well & would allow you to use it on a little larger pool if you upgrade in the future.
There are very smaller versions available now but for the cost the 7k gal unit is your best bet as they have less than half the production but aren’t less than half the price.
If you anticipate getting a little larger of a pool in the future then go with a 3/4hp pump.
We generally recommend buying the pump/filter & the swcg separately instead of one of the combo units if your budget allows.
So if one component breaks you can simply replace that item.

 

[forkly]

Thanks for the tips. I looked up the Intex SWCG, pump, and filter and it all seams reasonable. As reasonable as spending $500 on equipment for a $100 pool, haha. But really I understand that the pool is the simple cheap part.

I did notice that the Intex stuff all seems to have built in timers. Is there a way to override those? I was planning on running everything off my smart home system. The simple timers seem like a hassle for maintenance. Also, we have peak usage electricity rates, and I don't want this stuff running during those hours unless absolutely necessary.

I'm not married to the idea of having everything be in the Intex ecosystem if a few adapters can get me an easier time with another brand. I looked at bestway, but they also have the timers.

Lastly, and this might be the stupidest idea, if so please tell me. I was tossing around the idea of making a fountain sprayer that I could stick in the middle of the pool when I'm not using it. Have a manual diverter that I could send some water from the pump outlet to a second hose. That way I can enjoy the pool when I'm not in the pool. This is another instance where the timer will mess me up. I've seen waterfalls that clip onto the side, so I'm assuming return water hitting the air before the pool wont mess the chemistry up too badly, aside from knocking more bugs in maybe. This would just be bigger. I made something similar for my parent's pond, but this would be made to be able to easily move out of the pool as required.

 

[Mdragger88]

The timers are really quite simple -
example: you select your amount of run time, say 4 hours, & it’s currently 5pm, the unit will run until 9pm and shut off then come on again at 5 pm tomorrow. They will do this perpetually until power is interrupted at which time you must manually reset them.
Its one thing i miss about my Intex equipment aside from the power interruption thing. That part makes it impossible to use a smart plug or alterative timer.
There’s a way to bypass it but it involves opening them up which voids the warranty. There’s some threads about it around here somewhere. I just always made sure I reset after a power outage.
If your peak hours are always at a certain time of day it shouldn’t be to hard to coordinate the settings.

I am pretty sure they make pool fountains exactly like you described. Probably have some with lights too.
Definitely check amazon- my return mounted fountain was like $15

 

[bkp22]

> go with round for your first rodeo
> dont bother with swg for small pools
> level the ground very carefully
> spring for a nicer filter
> intex is as good as it gets for soft sided pools, no doubt