I'm Doing Something I Said I Would Never Do Again! Help

[OBXMan]

OK. My wife and I purchased a Intex Easy Set Pool (Round 18x48) about 3 summers ago. I set the pool up two summers in a row and fought the green water gremlin both years. We were using the shock, clorine, kick and cuss method to TRY and keep the water clear. Kicking and cussing seemed to work just as good as the clorine. So we put the pool up after the second year and I said I would never get it out again. But this year my wife and kids gave the puppy dog eyes and we are looking at putting the pool back up. We put air in the ring yesterday to see if it would still hold air and as much as I was hoping it would have a hole in it, it didn't. So now to my question. Is the shock/clorine the way to go or should I try something else. My wife's father had a pool a few years ago and swears that Baquacil was the way to go. I am also hearing alot about the saltwater systems. I would like to get everyones opinion on which way is the most economical, troublefree, and easiest to maintain. Any help is greatly appreciated. Because if the water turned green this year I am going to make sure it cannot EVER go up again.

[polyvue]

OK. My wife and I purchased a Intex Easy Set Pool (Round 18x48) about 3 summers ago. I set the pool up two summers in a row and fought the green water gremlin both years. We were using the shock, clorine, kick and cuss method to TRY and keep the water clear. Kicking and cussing seemed to work just as good as the clorine. So we put the pool up after the second year and I said I would never get it out again. But this year my wife and kids gave the puppy dog eyes and we are looking at putting the pool back up. We put air in the ring yesterday to see if it would still hold air and as much as I was hoping it would have a hole in it, it didn't. So now to my question. Is the shock/clorine the way to go or should I try something else. My wife's father had a pool a few years ago and swears that Baquacil was the way to go. I am also hearing alot about the saltwater systems. I would like to get everyones opinion on which way is the most economical, troublefree, and easiest to maintain. Any help is greatly appreciated. Because if the water turned green this year I am going to make sure it cannot EVER go up again.

Chlorine is still the way to go but there's an art to making sure a temporary pool stays green-free. It basically entails buying and using a good test kit (Taylor K-2006, available via several on-line vendors, including Amatoind.com, for less than $50) and the regular application of chlorine -- 6% bleach works just fine. For an overview of best practices, see the Guide for Seasonal Pools.

[usandapool]

I learned something new this year. If someone spends time in a lake and then in your pool they can bring with them the green gremlin! Everything should be totally disinfected 'tween lake and pool. Not sure if this is relevent to you but it was to me.

[PaulR]

The Guide for Seasonal Pools is partly based on Nitro's Approach to Water Maintenance which many spa owners use with great success. You start with some dichlor to build up a CYA (stabilizer) level, then switch to bleach to avoid over-stabilizing.

I've also read a number of posts by people using the Intex SWG, it seems to require some fussing to get the runtime in the right place but after that seems to work okay. One thing to note is that a SWG will work better with a higher CYA level than a bleach pool.

--paulr