Caring for non-filtered pools

[Jimdolsen]

I recently bought a 2000 Liter 630 gallon) above ground pool (Intex "Easy-Set")and have not found a manufacturers distributor to get a filter-pump for it .

How can I treat my water in the interim so that I do not have to change it every other day?

Can just adding store-bought bleach help for the short term?

Please help

[Larry]

To protect the pool water in the short term (and later when you have the pump/ filter):

1. adjust the pH (usually 7.2 - 7.6)
2. add chlorine. Store-bought bleach is fine. Aim for at least 2ppm free chlorine.
3. an algaecide will help to prevent your water turning green.

Without any circulation or filtration, the water will tend to spoil quicker, especially if the weather is warm and sunny. Try get your local distributor to speed things up.

[chem geek]

If the pool is exposed to direct sunlight, then you'll need some Cyanuric Acid (CYA) in the pool. The easiest thing to do is to get some Dichlor powder/granular as your initial source of chlorine and use it until the CYA gets to around 30 ppm. That's just cumulatively 5 ounces weight (about 5 fluid ounces volume; about 140 grams or roughly 140 ml volume), but don't add it all at once. You can just add around 3 ppm FC initially and add chlorine each day to get to 3 ppm FC -- that's about 1/2 ounce weight (about 1 tablespoon volume) of Dichlor.

After you've got the CYA to around 30 ppm, you can then use bleach and make sure to keep your FC level at around 3 ppm and never let it fall below 2 ppm FC. Or if you don't think you can do that consistently, then use a supplemental algaecide such as PolyQuat 60 on a weekly basis to prevent algae growth.

If you start off using bleach or any other unstabilized source of chlorine without having CYA in the water, then the chlorine will be far too strong and will accelerate corrosion and be rougher on your swimsuits, skin and hair.

Richard