Un-setting the easy set!

Un-setting the easy set!

Well, it’s now late September and even the Florida sunshine isn’t warming up the little easy set pool like it did in June. The shadows leave the pool later in the morning and hit it earlier in the afternoon. Time to empty it, clean it, pack it up and pack it in until next season. In other words, time to un-set the easy set pool.

A lot was learned that first season with the little starter pool. Easy to set up? Absolutely! Fun for the family all summer long? You betcha!

As easy to put away as it was to set up?

Nnnnnot really.

As was mentioned in the previous post, you need to educate yourself on maintaining the health of any pool, including the smallest easy set pools like the ones manufactured by Intex. They have to be kept clean and, by learning the hard way, Dad discovered they really should be kept covered.

While taking down that first, small 8’x24″ pool after a full summer of cooling waters, Dad thought back on the experience. The first thing he realized was that it had been progressively difficult to clean it when he would do a refill. Stubborn spots of algae had clung to the floor of the pool which had required no small amount of scrubbing. Had he invested in a vacuum, there would have been less need for quite so much scrubbing at the end of the season.

He also noticed a definite slimy feel to the walls and floor once it was emptied of water. He hadn’t noticed it before, nor the faint musty odor that seemed to permeate the entire pool. He had taken a few shortcuts when treating the water and hadn’t heeded the advice from his neighbor who had been using easy sets for a couple of years. He had suggested treating the pool like a hot tub when it came to keeping the water clean. More advice he didn’t take.

Use a tarp, at least!

Use a tarp, at least!

As he was cleaning the pool various points of wear and tear caught his eye. They had been very careful to keep the dog away from the pool area but hadn’t even considered the other wildlife that visited their yard daily. Squirrels, birds, stray cats and rodents drawn to their fruit trees had adopted the little pool as their own personal watering trough. He now understood the reason for the increasing necessity of adding air to the supporting ring, as there were minute punctures and scratch marks all around it.

The last thing that caught his eye was the fading colour and flexibility of the vinyl. He remembered a suggestion to either purchase one of the available covers or to invest in a tarp to protect it from the elements and wildlife. Yet more unheeded advice.

Finally completing his cleaning task he debated on whether or not their little pool was worth keeping. After all, it was getting pretty worn out and he wasn’t sure how long it would last from then on. He told his family that he was considering donating their beloved summer toy to the trash heap. The kids cried so much that they could’ve refilled that pool in a half hour.

In the end, Dad decided that, as long as he at least followed the good advice he’d been given on storage, he would hold on to it for one last go ’round.

With their fun assured for the following summer, the children helped him pack up their un-set easy set and put it away, leaving him with the last brilliant sunshine of the season…their happy smiles.

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