Four Things You Need, Above-Ground Pool Speaking

After 50 + years …

I’ve seen a lot of changes in the above-ground pool industry since I began building them in 1974. Yeah, I’m that old. Nowadays, pools are better looking, liners are fancier, and filtration systems have improved dramatically. Thru-wall skimmers replaced over-the-wall contraptions and high-efficiency Black Diamond Cartridge Filters have become the primary filter option at Eastgate Pools. Change is good.

The accoutrements that complete the process and make life easier and more efficient have also improved. In this essay, I’ll briefly examine four popular things that have become highly desirable to the above-ground pool owner.

Walk-in steps.

If you’re still using a wobbly ladder system, consider replacing it with walk-in steps. They make it a breeze to get in and out of the pool and the bridge over the top rail makes a great spot to sit, relax, and watch what’s going on in the water. It’s like using the stairs in your home. Handrails help you balance and steps are much deeper than a standard safety ladder rung. I highly recommend adding a self-closing gate to keep inquisitive smaller kids out of the pool when unattended. Plus, lock the gate to deter entry when you are away from the pool!

If you have added a deck to the pool, you can skip the outside half of the system and just do in-water steps. They come with either one or two handrails depending on the model, and this helps prevent slipping. That’s great for kids and old-timers like me.

Auto cleaners

In learning the ropes while working as a pool installer for my brother back in the mid-1970’s, my assigned duty was to vacuum his 21-foot diameter above-ground pool. I would have much rather been in the pool than outside, reaching over the wall and pushing the vacuum over the bottom, careful not to miss any spots (which I usually did!). These days, people still hand-vac pools, but the majority rely on automatic cleaners to do the work. They consist of three types.

Suction-side cleaners easily hook into the thru-wall skimmer and remove dirt and debris, allowing the filter to trap it and be backwashed out. I like these a lot. It’s like hand vacuuming the pool without any of the work.

Return-side skimmers hook into the filtration system via the in-wall eyeball return. Returning water goes through a hose that has a containment bag at the end. This is a great system if you have lots of large debris on the bottom, but smaller silty particles go right back into the pool.

The third option is robotic cleaners. These used to be quite expensive and were more often found in in-ground pools. But now, the cost has come down and efficiency has gone up. I think the biggest advantage is that they effectively add a complete second filtration system to the pool as whatever dirt or debris collected is contained inside the robot. This gives the main filtration system a break and helps maximize its efficiency. Editorial comment: Pools with robotic cleaners and Black Diamond filters are often the cleanest in the neighborhood.

Simple Salt Water Purification

I will start by saying that this is an extremely low-level salt system. Unlike in-ground pools where high volumes of salt are added to produce chlorine, there is a trace amount of salt used in the Simple Salt system. The heart of the system is natural minerals and an exceedingly small dose of granular chlorine used to sanitize and keep water clear. The salt helps ‘distribute’ these components.

The result is clean, clear water that no longer has you swimming in a chlorine bath that leaves you smelling like you just crawled out of a chlorine bucket. And if you take care of your pool water balance, you may never need to use messy liquid shocks again.

Leaf nets

With the heat we’ve experienced this summer, not too many people are thinking about fall and winter. But when the pool is closed for the season and the leaves are falling, remove them easily with a leaf net. A leaf net goes on top of the winter cover and as leaves fall, the leaf net traps them. With a friend, just pull the net back and dump them on the ground for easy cleanup. If leaves are still falling, easily reinstall the leaf cover and wait for the next batch, then repeat the process.

The benefit of removing these leaves is simple. Without it, leaves lay on the winter cover and in accumulated water, rotting away and not smelling particularly good. Without it, people often try to scoop the leaves out with a net attached to the vacuum pole. That’s a lot of work. Others use the pool brush and sweep the leaves to the edge. Occasionally, this causes a seam to split on the cover and presto, everything you don’t want is in the main body of water where it will continue to rot and create a major spring cleanup project. Just get a leaf net and eliminate the likelihood of this happening.

To summarize …

Above-ground pool ownership has become much easier over the last half century thanks to innovation and technological gains. I hope you have or will add some of these advancements to your backyard fun spot.