No Idea What I'm doing. lol

[devotedmommy]

Hi. I have an Intex Swim Center Family Pool.
120" x 72" x 22" large family pool
3 air chambers each with double intake and free flow exhaust valve
264 gallon capacity
15 gauge vinyl
Extra wide side walls for comfort
Drain Plug Included

I have no idea how to treat it. And so far, all the information I've found on this site talk about larger Intex pools.
Can someone please help me?
I live in Spring, TX. We have city water.

[Watermom]

I'm going to put a link to dealing with a kiddie pool. The page was written several years ago and a couple of things are a little outdated but the overall page is fine.

http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/kiddie-pool-care.html

Use these links to find the dichlor and polyquat that are mentioned on the kiddie pool page.

Only buy one of these types of dichlor:
PoolBrand bagged dichlor shock (www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=108822) @ Sams Club
+ Kem-Tek Dichlor 22 lbs (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0030BEHZA/scouscho-20) @ Amazon (You don't need 22 lbs. Use the link to see what product you are looking for and then see if they have smaller quantities.)

There's more info about polyquat at www.poolsolutions.com/polyquat; here are order links:

Kem-Tek 60% polyquat (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0030BEI0Y/scouscho-20) @ Amazon
Nava 60% polyquat (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004BFV4EQ/scouscho-20) @ Amazon


You also need an OTO/Phenol Red kit (yellow and red drops) that you can pick up at Walmart.

BTW -- That kiddie care page talks about 6% bleach but the bleach that is currently sold most places is now 8.25%.

Welcome to the Pool Forum! Hope this helps.
After you read these links, come back if you have further questions and someone here will try and help.

(Until you registration is completed, you won't be able to see the rest of the forum while you are logged in. So, copy that link and then paste it into a browser window after you log out.)

[PoolDoc]

membership upgraded.

If at all possible, replace that pool with one like these, that have actual filters:
Intex Easy Set 12-Foot by 30-Inch Round Pool Set (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000OR5X1A/scouscho-20/) OR
Intex 12-Foot by 30-Inch Metal Frame Pool Set (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BVKO0E/scouscho-20/)

. . . membership upgraded.

. . . And thread moved to correct section.

[devotedmommy]

Thank you for the info. I looked at all the links you posted.
The dichlor you suggested is almost $80 on Amazon. I looked at the link for Sams Club but there was no price for theirs. Do you happen to know how much it is? I don't have a membership there but I have a friend who does. I can ask her if she'd get it for me. But $80 on amazon is a lot more than I can afford right now.

[devotedmommy]

Thank you, PoolDoc. This pool was $30 and money is tight. Maybe next year we can get a better one.

[CarlD]

You can always use bleach to chlorinate your pool. Dichlor simply adds stabilizer, which you can get separately at any pool store, and probably K-Mart, Costco, WalMart, Sears, etc. It's called stabilizer or conditioner, but the only ingredient should be cyanuric acid or Isocyanuric acid, aka CYA.

Bleach + CYA = Same Effect as adding Dichlor.

[PoolDoc]

The smallest unit Sams sells is a 24 pack of bagged dichlor. The bagged material will keep for a couple of years, so it's appropriate for a very small pool like yours.

The price varies around the country, but here it sells for about $2.50/lb or $60.

However, with a really small pool, using bleach before and after each use, may be a better idea. The problem is, without stabilizer sunlight will remove ALL the chlorine in as little as one hour, no matter how much you add. Your PF is 75 (your pool has 1/75th of a million pounds of water) so 1 pound of stabilizer will add 75 ppm of CYA to your pool.

A gallon of 8% bleach contains about 0.7 lbs of chlorine gas equivalent, so an entire gallon would add 75 x 0.7 or ~50 ppm. That means 1 cup of bleach would add 3 ppm of chlorine. That's a reasonable dose. If you add 1 cups BEFORE and 1 cup AFTER each pool use, your pool should stay in reasonable shape.

One more thing: stuff keeps trying to grow in your pool even when you don't use it. So . . . add 1 cup EVERY evening, whether the pool is used or not. That way, the chlorine can remain overnight (no sun!) and clean up whatever's in the water.