Easy Wading Pool Maintenance
Take Care of Your Wading Pool Safely and Easily
In the summertime, I like to have a wading pool in my yard. I don’t have children, but it is always nice just to be able to submerge in a standing body of water to cool off, and it is incredibly refreshing after mowing. Of course, the downside of a wading pool is the fact that, without filtration and chemicals, it is highly likely to become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and algae. Here are a few things I have discovered to keep my wading pool clean and inviting all summer long.
1. Use your wading pool every day. If the water just stands there without any disturbance, algae is more likely to grow, and mosquitoes are more likely to find it attractive. Run fresh water into the pool while you are using it. You don’t have to run the water very fast, a slow, gentle stream into the pool while you are in it will add enough fresh water to keep your pool from stagnating. Replacing the standing water with fresh water will discourage mosquitoes and algae.
2. Get a big aquarium fish net or a pool cleaning net and scoop leaves, bugs, and other debris out every day. I usually step into the pool to wade first and systematically sweep the whole pool with the net. Be sure to sweep along the bottom. That’s where mosquito larvae like to hide.
3. Keep an old hand towel or dish towel by the pool so that you can wipe down the sides and bottom of the pool while you are in it. This will keep algae from growing so your wading pool won’t be yucky and slippery! If you do this every day, you will never have a problem with algae. As soon as you sit down in the water, just wipe everything down, rinse the towel with the hose, and hang it on a lawn chair or limb or something to dry out and be handy.
4. Splash around a lot while you are in the water! Do some leg kicks and get some exercise. This will keep the water active and help with the process of replacing old water with new water.
5. When you are finished, add a little squirt of dish washing liquid to the water. Not a lot! It shouldn’t be enough to cause bubbles. My snap-set wading pool is 6′ across and 2′ deep, and I just use about a tablespoon of dish soap. Dish washing liquid is great for killing off all kinds of pests (like mosquito larvae). I use Dawn because it has a good reputation for killing fleas, but any kind would probably do.
6. Cover your pool. I have a solar pool heating disc. It is just a big, round, inflatable plastic circle that almost covers the whole pool. It was quite inexpensive, it is very easy to use. It reduces the amount of leaves and whatnot that fall into the pool, and it heats the water nicely. Even though the point of having a pool is to cool off, nobody likes really cold water!
Doing all of this every day may seem like a bit of work, but really, there’s nothing to it if you do it consistently. If you are just enjoying the pool for yourself, it is just 5 minutes out of your cooling off time. If you have kids, then the fact that you need to take care of the wading pool every day will guarantee that you will be spending some fun time with your kids every day as a bonus.
When you follow these steps, you will not have to drain and scrub your wading pool at all during the summer, and it will be easier to break it down and prepare it for winter storage if it is already clean when you drain it in the fall. If it is a snap-set pool, just drain the water, and drape it over some lawn chairs to dry. If it is a rigid pool, let it air dry or wipe it out with a towel. When it is completely dry, store it away carefully for more fun next summer!
For more about enjoying your back yard, you may like:
Advice On Natural Insect Repellents
http://advice.com/article/2010/04/17/Advice+On+Natural+Insect+Repellents
Advice On Attracting Birds To Your Yard
http://www.advice.com/article.jsp?id=53ec45b3a38c4baca3c383b5f089bffd
Swarms and Attacks by Killer Bees, Bees, Wasps and Hornets
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5459360/swarms_and_attacks_by_killer_bees_bees.ht
Reference:
- cfpub.epa.gov/oppref/insect/index.cfm
- www.poolsolutions.com/gd/kiddiepool.html
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae
