Customer Reviews

10' x 30" Easy Set Pool

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This is a great swimming pool. I did a lot of research before buying this pool, and I considered the criticisms mentioned by Amazon customers who own this pool. Here's what I experienced.

The pool takes 30-60 minutes to set-up and an extra 30-60 minutes to fill the pool with water -- not the 10 minutes as advertised on the pool box! The set-up time assumes that you've already got a level place to set-up the pool -- if not, expect more time to add/remove sand or soil to prepare a flat area. To make sure your site is level, take a board and place it on the ground, then set a level on the board. Do this in a circular motion to ensure the site is level north-to-south, east-to-west.

I bought a 10mm tarp to put under the pool -- for the 10' pool, that's not strictly necessary, but the tarp provides an extra buffer between the pool floor and those small sharp rocks you didn't notice when you were preparing the site.

The pool is constructed like a bowl with an inflated air ring at the lip of the bowl. Some owners have complained that the air ring sprung a hole after short use. HERE'S A TIP: Inflate the air ring so it just barely inflates -- the ring will feel limp after filling it. THAT'S OKAY! When the sun comes out, you'll find that the air in the ring expands and the ring will be taut and pressurized. If you fill the ring with too much air, the pressure will be too great when the sun comes out and your air ring will burst.

Filling the pool with water is a cinch. Begin adding water and observe whether the water is evenly distributed on the pool floor. If not, STOP and take the trouble to empty the ground underneath the pool -- you won't be able to do anything once the pool is filled up.

Have kids step into a small bucket filled with water before entering the pool -- that helps remove debris from their feet and keeps your pool water clean.

While the pool is filling, be sure to smooth out any wrinkles on the floor. Kids LOVE jumping in the pool while the pool is filling -- let 'em! They'll have a blast and there's no harm done.

If your pool is uneven, you can still use your pool. My pool was about 4" uneven (eg, one side was filled to the brim, the opposite side had water 4" below the fill line), and yet I had no problem using the pool. My kids didn't notice or care that it was uneven.

Visit a pool shop and get chlorine (see my new tips, below), a water test kit and a hand net to keep your pool clean. Buy a pool cover -- it keeps your pool clean and the liquid chlorine lasts longer that way. Use 2 cups of chlorine to "shock" the pool once a week (don't swim in the pool for a day afterwards), and 1 cup of chlorine every other day to keep the water clean. Clean the pool filter every 1-2 weeks -- just spray it off with a garden hose to clean it, then reuse it.

Even though you'll use chlorine, plan on emptying half the pool water once a month and adding fresh water to the pool. That will help keep your pool water clean and remove impurities from the water.

I've been pleased with the pool's durability -- we've used it for a month now, and it gets heavy use from energetic children. Make sure that their pool toys have no sharp objects (no water pistols, for example). Don't allow children to wear jean shorts with rivets in them. The key to durability is caution that nothing pokes through the vinyl walls.

Use this pool to teach small children how to swim/float/hold their breath. Older children must be warned not to horseplay in such a way that they'll fall headlong into the pool.

Enjoy!

**** March 23, 2010 UPDATE

This review has had a lot of feedback over the years, so it's worth sharing a few more tips with you Amazon customers.

1) Instead of using liquid chlorine regularly, buy a chlorine float used for spas, and then buy 1.5" chlorine tablets to fill the chlorine float. This way, your pool always is chlorinated. Use liquid chlorine just to shock the pool, or buy a powder additive to do that. Your local pool supplier should have a good recommendation for you. I regret using liquid chlorine the one time it leaked in my minivan and ruined the minivan's carpet.

2) Definitely buy a pool cover -- and use it! I wondered for *years* why my pool would eventually get this brown sediment on the pool floor. Turns out, it's pollen! The filtration system won't purify the water from the pollen. So, use a pool cover to keep your pool covered when not in use -- that will keep your pool water cleaner. When removing the cover, try to keep the top of the cover from getting in the pool water. To lift the pool cover off the surface of the pool water, stick a beach ball under the cover to raise the cover up. This way, when it rains, the dirt and pollen on your pool cover will run-off the pool, rather than go into your pool.

3) Avoid wearing oily sunscreen when you use this pool. Too much sunscreen in the water makes it cloudy. Instead, wear swim shirts (surfer rash guards) to protect your upper body, and a non-oily, zinc oxide cream for just your exposed face. Use the pool in late afternoons so sun exposure isn't an issue.

4) Buy one or two spare hoses that attach to the pump and keep them handy. The hoses that come with this set won't last long with full sun exposure, and will eventually crack and leak. You may have to order the hose replacements directly from the manufacturer, as local pool shops may not carry the hose size you'll need.

5) I started using vinyl-sided pools by buying this 10'x30" Easy Set pool. I've since used other, larger pools, too (up to 15'x42"). The larger the pool, the more important it is to have a level surface. Vinyl-sided pools are easy to care for and very cost effective. And the fun they offer doesn't diminish -- my kids have already begun asking me when I'm going to setup our pool for the upcoming warm weather season.

Enjoy!

My kids love this pool, and it's a good alternative to kiddie pools that have to be emptied & refilled over & over, particularly here where swim season is 6 months of the year. The actual water depth is about 20", great for younger kids who can't yet swim, and the pool itself is a breeze to set up. HOWEVER, plan on spending several hours preparing the site if it's not perfectly level - "level site" means absolutely level. A 2" difference from one side to the other was enough to cause the pool to sag; after less than 2 weeks, the pressure on the sagging side popped the air valve open, deflating the ring and dumping 900 gallons in the yard. Fill it the first 6-8 inches and check the depth all around; if it's not the same on all sides, drain it and bring in enough sand to level the site. Also, the requirements call for plugging the 20' power cord for the pump directly into a GFI outlet, not an extension cord, so keep that in mind when considering where to put it. In many places, zoning laws require a slight slope away from the house for drainage, so if your outlet is on the back of the house, you probably don't have a level location close enough. Spend the time preparing the site up front; the pool itself will be a breeze to set up and maintain after that.

I just got this pool from amazon and am quite satisfied. It is pretty large and not real flimsy like most kiddie pools out there. It's big enough for me to do some rehab type exercises in and the kids want to be in it constantly. Do yourself a favor and buy the cover for it, ...and it'll stay clean when you cut the grass.

I've had this pool for 1 summer and am getting ready to set it up for its 2nd summer. Hopefully by the title you'll understand who's using this pool.

1. We live in the city. This pool fits comfortably on the concrets slab which is our back"yard". We might be able to fit the 12' pool, but we're not trying it.

2. Setup. Like every other reviewer has stated, this is not a 10 minute setup. I highly recommend a tarp, ground cloth or thick plastic under this pool to protect the bottom of the pool and to protect knees and feet from inevitable pebbles. Setup with a good air pump (I use the Coleman quickpump and it works just great) is good for the ring and once the ring is inflated, add water and smooth out the bottom and watch the ring rise in about 4-5 hours.

3. You must chlorinate this pool. This is not a dump and refill pool. I chlorinated and tested this pool with test strips. You should take care of the water in this pool or you'll have a green nasty mess on your hands. Also invest in a good pool vacuum and skimmer too. Intex makes a good one and it works just fine.

4. Durability. 2 adults played in this pool last year. I can float comfortably in this pool so its not too terribly small for adults who need a little cool down. Also its good exercise to "swim" in this pool by dragging yourself around by your arms... around and around and around the pool. Much adult exercising fun. The ring has deflated on us many times, but it survives relatively well. Dont overinflate the ring! As many have said, if you overinflate the ring, once the sun beams down on the pool, you'll have a popped ring. I think what we have is just catprints on the ring because the ring will mostly deflate in 2 days, but never goes completely flat. So we'll try to patch the holes before we setup this year. Otherwise with my husband belly flopping inside of the pool (NOT a small man either) its held up to the abuse. This pool also held up to the east coast hurricane that hit maryland last year. Buffetted by wind and rain.. absolutely no problem for this pool, it weathered the storm so to speak very well.

6. The filter. Rinses clean with a garden hose, but I'd invest in a new filter every season. It does not seem powerful enough to clean all of the pool water, but it does a fairly good job.

7. Please watch small children around this pool. It is deep enough for a young one to drown or get in trouble. If you're in a neighborhood with many small children, invest in a good cover for this pool.

Overall, I love this pool and cannot wait to set it up this year. I hope I've illustrated the durability of this pool as well as ilustrated the musts to have along with this pool

We have had this pool for 3 seasons now without problems for the most part.

1. Make sure the ground is level and free of rocks. The suggestion to put the foam squares down underneath is great to save your feet from painful rocks.

2. Keep in mind that this is a real pool, not a kiddie pool. The people who are expecting no maintenance have never owned a real pool before. You need to put chemicals in and clean it, it's not maintenance free. It's just like a larger above ground pool.

3. Buy a spa-vaccuum for it. Don't get the Intex one, but get the one by HTH from Toys R Us or Walmart. If not, go to a pool place and buy one called the Black Magic. They all connect to your hose and suck up all the leaves and sand on the bottom into a bag. A pool vac won't work because these pools don't have a skimmer and a powerful enough filter to run a standard pool vac.

4. Buy a floating chlorinator. You can put chlorine tabs in it and let it float around so you don't have to constantly test it and add chlorine.

5. MOST IMPORTANT --> Add Chlorine Stabilizer!! This keeps the level of chlorine in the pool up so you aren't constantly adding it. The first year I had the pool I could never get the chlorine right, it was too high off the charts and a day later there would be none in the pool. Now it's almost always fine, and I add shock just once in awhile.

6. Don't add more than one chemical at a time. If the PH is off and it needs chlorine, only do one and do the other the next day. Adding too many chemicals at once is a recipe to make the pool cloudy and you can have a hard time getting it clear again.

7. A cool trick to make cleaning it easy. Go in the pool and walk around the perimeter a bunch of times to get a little whirlpool going. Get out of the pool and wait about 20-30 minutes. All the junk will collect in the middle of the pool on the bottom and you can suck it all up in 2 minutes.

The pool is great. My 4 year old loves it and has been able to stand in it since she was 2. It's survived being stored in the cellar 2 times and never had a leak. Just don't expect to fit it back into the original box. The pool can be put back in, but there isn't room for the pool and filter once the pool has been inflated and deflated.

This is the greatest pool I have ever owned! Why? Because it is shallow enough to get into without a ladder and once in, I can plop down and enjoy a good book, meditate, or I can float or sit in the pool with family and cool off. We have our pool up for the third summer and all original parts are in great condition. Assembly is a snap and taking it down in the winter is just as easy. If you want a great pool, that takes up little space, buy one of these and stay cool this summer.

We bought the 12' pool last year and it was one of the best buys we've made. I highly recommend it! I can't begin to tell you how many great afternoons I've had with my son in the pool. There are a couple of helpful hints tho:

1. If you are like us and would rather not kill your grass and want to put it on a concrete area, check your local carpet store for some of their throw away carpet pieces. Make sure you get a piece (or two) that is large enough for the entire pool or you'll be a little lopsided - throw it down with a tarp over it and start filling. This would also work if you are worried about rocks on a grassy area. Sand or those rubber play-yard mats also work but we found carpet to work the best - Your knees will thank you later!

2. Last year we didn't have a very good pump so it took a while (30 min) to fill up the ring - this year we filled it up using the intex quick fill pump - it was ready for water in 7 minutes. Be sure to smooth out the wrinkles as you are filling it! If you have bad water pressure like us it will take a while to fill (5 hours).

3. You must have a cover! We had to purchase ours separately, but it keeps the animals out of it as well as the dirt, leaves and bugs. The cover from intex has a circle of holes in the middle of it (I'm not sure why but there is probably some reason) anyway if you don't want it to sink down under the water we float a childs floating ring in the center to keep it from sinking, collecting water and attracting mosquitos.

4. For maintenance we've found that 1/2 a cup of clorine every other day and 4 hours of running the pump every day is plenty. Using the store bought shock treatments will just ruin the liner. Once a week we clean the filter (one lasted us the whole summer last year) and sweep the sides and edges.

5. If you have a cat(s) or your yard is often visited by the neighborhood cats (or other animals with sharp claws) you will most likely need to invest in a repair kit or two, because they jump up on the ring and once it wobbles their claws go right in. If you have a leak that you cannot find - pump the ring up full and with the pump still going, slowly wet down the ring and look for little bubbles - clean the area and apply a patch.

6. If you have babies or toddlers you might want to invest in a canopy or cabana to put up over the pool to keep the sun off of them while they're swimming.

That's about all the best advise I can think of, I hope you enjoy your pool as much as we do!

We purchased a 12' x 30" Intex pool late last summer for our family to use. The pool held up and was bunches of fun for 3 months till the pool was packaged for winter. We set the pool up a month ago and noticed the top ring will not stay inflated, then we need to put more air in the top ring.

Do not buy this pool, instead purchase a hard side (metal) pool where no air is used to support the walls.

No help from [store]with their 90 day return/exchange policy and the manufacturer has the same policy. Well I guess the pool did last 90 days!!!!!!

this pool is the best purchase i've made all year! i've priced this pool at other retail stores and it's much cheaper on amazon! a great value!! my kids are in it all the time and its a great water saver (no constant sprinklers). the only disadvantage to the pool is that it comes without a ladder!

This is a great pool for the price but 30" height is from the TOP of the inflated ring not the water height. You must have it level for it to look right and for the filter hoses to be "in" the water. "Ready for water in 10 minutes" is a joke. You have to roll out the pool, adjust it where you want it, attach the hoses to the pool then to the filter, it really takes about 30 minutes. It took 1 1/2 hours to fill. Immediately found a tiny pin hole leak but used the enclosed patch kit to repair it, it actually worked. Probably will be great for just 1 summer but I would buy a larger one next summer.