The Summer Waves Elite Above-Ground Pool is our best round option because it’s an excellent value for the size. At 20 feet in diameter, this pool has a water capacity of 8,241 gallons intex inflatable pool and 48-inch walls, so there is plenty of room to cool off and splash around. We also like that it has a durable, rust-resistant steel and PVC frame, and triple-layer polyester walls.
Here are our picks for the best above ground pools to make the most out of your summer. Setup is said to take about an hour (though some reviewers say it’s much longer), and it’s easy to maintain, with routine backwashing needed only every five years. This pool is also designed with safety in mind, thanks to its removable ladder and its automatic pump shutoff, which activates if the water comes in contact with the electrical current. Along with our in-house experts, our team analyzes thousands of product reviews from the most trusted websites. “We are truly enjoying the pool! In Brooklyn, New York, backyards are small and the pool is a perfect fit.”
This is when you may need a few more chemicals to lend you a helping hand in clearing up the pool water. The shock level has to be 10 times the amount of combined chlorine in the water in order to raise its free chlorine level and reach breakpoint. Alternatively, you can convert to a saltwater pool by installing an Intex salt chlorinator. This is a sizable upfront investment, but it works out much cheaper to sanitize and maintain your pool in the long-term. Sanitizing chemicals are added to pool water to kill off harmful bacteria, viruses, and other microscopic health hazards. TA affects the pool’s pH level, and essentially acts as a buffer, protecting the pH level from wild fluctuations.
To prolong the life of your above-ground pool, Dougher recommends investing in good quality maintenance tools (including a pole, vacuum head, brush, skimmer, and vacuum hose). Make sure to service the pool regularly (weekly and same day every week is ideal, Dougher says), and stay on top of skimming the pool if it tends to get a lot of debris (such as leaves) falling into it. Also, if the pool gets a leak, fix it quickly, as leaking pools are harder to maintain, says Dougher. Soft-sided pools have a vinyl bladder that serves as both the walls and liner. When the pool is filled, the water reinforces the structure of the pool, so the bladder doesn’t shift around while you’re swimming. Hard-sided pools have walls made of steel or resin with a separate vinyl liner.
Your pH must be between 7.4 and 7.6, your total alkalinity between 80 and 120 ppm, and your chlorine between 1 and 3 ppm before you can safely use the pool. Once the pool is drained, you’ll break it down, and store it indoors where it won’t be exposed to the cold temperatures. Before intex swimming pool draining, always make sure you fully clean the pool with a skimmer net, pool brush, and if needed, a vacuum. You may also encounter issues with your pump filter, where it doesn’t pull in water to circulate it. Thankfully, it’s not very hard to do and doesn’t take up too much time.