Frame pool for summer cottages. Selection, installation and maintenance

Recommendation points

• Types of construction and arrangement of frame pools
• Pros and cons of frame pools
• Installation of a frame pool
• Pool water
• Swimming pool conservation for the winter
• At the end

In this Article: Types of Prefabricated Frame Pools characteristics of seasonal, frost-resistant and prefabricated stationary reservoirs; frame pool manufacturers; advantages and disadvantages of artificial reservoirs with a prefabricated frame; how to install a frame pool; water disinfection with perhydrol; stages of conservation of a stationary pool.

Summer has come to the concrete-brick city blocks – scorching, dusty and stifling. Forced to be on the street, the townspeople zigzag between the metro, supermarkets and cafes, gaining strength in these air-conditioned oases. The desire to leave the city is stronger than ever – the days until the next weekend and departure to the dacha are counted, plans for barbecue and fishing are being made. But if a summer cottage is good, then a summer cottage with a pool is great! Continuing the theme of artificial swimming ponds, we will explore frame pools, understand their types, design and operation issues.

Types of construction and arrangement of frame pools

If inflatable pools retain their shape due to water collected in their bowl and chambers filled with air along the side, then the shape of frame artificial reservoirs is provided by the frame. There are three types of frame pools – seasonal, all-season (frost-resistant) and stationary.

Seasonal pools are assembled and installed on site before the start of the swimming season, after which they are dismantled for storage. Their collapsible frame consists of hollow metal pipes and connecting elements, and the pool bowl is a bag made of three-layer polyvinyl chloride (thickness from 0.5 to 0.7 mm) inserted into the frame structure and connected to it, reinforced between layers of film with a mesh of polyester or kevlar. The frame provides the strength of the pool structure and retains the shape of the basin after it is filled with water. As a rule, frame pools of this design are designed for a relatively small volume of water (no more than 7 tons) and for visitors no older than 12 years..

The design of models with a larger size and volume of a bowl (hold up to 22 tons of water) is additionally reinforced with a metal wall-shell along the perimeter of the sides, made of rolled galvanized steel (sheet thickness 0.6 mm), for greater protection from moisture, covered with a polymer layer. The rigidity of the metal wall running along the side is provided by frame elements fixed from the outside of the pool along the lower and upper edges of the steel wall, as well as across it. A three-layer, reinforced PVC bag is laid inside, fixed along the upper perimeter of the side.

The shape of the bowl of seasonal pools can be round, oval, rectangular, or in the form of two semi-ovals connected by a “eight”. The average service life will be 5-7 years, the price depends on the size of the model and its manufacturer – for example, a swimming pool 5.5 m long, 2.74 m wide, with a side height of 1.32 m (water volume 17 tons) on average costs 40,000 rubles.

Frame pools of all-season type are named so because they can not be disassembled during the cold season. By their structure, all-season artificial reservoirs do not outwardly differ from seasonal models with a metal wall along the side, the difference is that this wall is slightly profiled, thicker (0.8 mm) and covered with several layers of enamel or polymer. Thanks to a steel side and a reinforced frame with additional crossbeams and wall supports, all-season models successfully resist frozen water in a bowl – we will return to the procedure for preserving them for the winter..

The bowl of all season pools is either round or oval. Usually the height of their side is from 1.2 to 1.5 m, but one manufacturer – the German company Krulland – produces models with a 2-meter side, in which you can dive. A frost-resistant pool, for example, with a diameter of 4.6 m, with a side height of 1.2 m (volume of water 20 tons) will cost the buyer about 45,000 rubles. An all-season pool, subject to preventive maintenance, will serve its owners for about 10-15 years.

Stationary prefabricated pools consist of sections made of combined materials – steel, duralumin, plastic and wood, the moisture resistance of which is provided by special impregnations. Compared to collapsible models, the design of stationary pools is much more rigid and reliable – the sections are installed only once, using lock, bolt and adhesive joints, i.e. it is impossible to disassemble such a pool without critical damage to the bowl. After assembly, all joints are sealed, a bag of three to four layers of PVC film is placed inside the structure (the thickness of each layer is about 1-1.5 mm).

Prefabricated stationary reservoirs are superior to both types of collapsible pools in a number of criteria:

• the shape of the bowl is either rectangular or oval, or multifaceted or complexly curved;
• the height of the side is from 1.2 m to 2.4 m, that is, such pools have the maximum possible depth among other prefabricated reservoirs;
• a difference in depth is allowed within one bowl, which is impossible for collapsible models;
• service life of 15 years and more.

Disadvantages of stationary pools:

• impossibility to change location after completion of installation work, i.e. you need to carefully choose where to put the reservoir;
• high cost, comparable to the cost of building a concrete pool of equal dimensions. On the Russian market, prefabricated stationary pools are practically not represented.

The mandatory set of prefabricated pools, in addition to the design of the bowl and assembly instructions, includes a filter pump with a replaceable sand cartridge, an installation for chemical water treatment, an underlayment, a cover for closing the bowl, a ladder, a net for cleaning garbage.

Collapsible pools, both seasonal and all-season, are produced by many companies, such as: Chinese Intex and Bestway, Spanish Gre and Torrente Industrial, German Krulland, Unipool, D&W pools, Sunny pool and B. Kern, Czech Ibiza and Azuro, American Delair Group and Canadian Atlantic pool. As for prefabricated stationary pools, few are produced – the Swedish Folkpool, the German B. Kern, the French Desjoyaux and the Italian Myrtha..

Pros and cons of frame pools

Prefabricated frame ponds look more solid, stronger and more reliable than inflatable ones. Let’s consider their advantages:

• the classic shape of the bowl, which allows them to be placed on a site with any landscape design;
• a wide range of models – choosing a bowl of the required size of labor will not be;
• the assembly is quite within the scope of the owners of the frame pool, who have never faced this task before (the exception is prefabricated stationary pools);
• long service life due to high wear resistance;
• installation of all-season models is performed only once, they can easily withstand winter frosts;
• thanks to the rigid frame, the pool bowl, if necessary, can be buried into the ground by 1/3 of the side height;
• the filtration system of all-season and prefabricated stationary reservoirs in its characteristics is not inferior to similar equipment of stationary pools;
• prefabricated frame pools are practically not inferior to classical artificial reservoirs in terms of service life, their assembly does not require a large amount of work, i.e. is performed much faster;
• the location of collapsible reservoirs can be changed without damage to the structure.

Disadvantages of frame reservoirs:

• collapsible seasonal models must be assembled and disassembled at the beginning and end of the bathing season; they cannot be left on the site in winter;
• it is difficult to install additional equipment (lighting, waterfall, etc.) a pool even with a metal sheathing on the side is not designed for this;
• the strength of the sides of seasonal and all-season pools is lower than that of stationary reservoirs; they may not withstand the weight of a visitor trying to sit on them;
• small models cannot provide sufficient water surface for full swimming, and larger artificial reservoirs are not cheap.

Installation of a frame pool

The text and video instructions offered by the manufacturers, complete with the pool model, explain in sufficient detail and clearly to the owners how to assemble and dismantle it. We will consider the preparation of a place for all-season and prefabricated-stationary reservoirs – for seasonal models that have a smaller area and are arranged more simply, it is enough just to clear the site of hard and sharp objects, cover it with underlying material.

The choice of the location of the pool is determined by the availability of free space on the site, the proximity of power supplies for the pumping and filtering unit, a source of fresh water for filling the bowl and a place for discharging liquid during its replacement.

Having decided on the installation site, you need to find out how horizontal its surface is – if the slope angle is more than 5 °, then it will not be possible to completely fill the pool bowl. The list of works on the preparation of the basin area includes: marking and sod removal; obtaining a flat, horizontal surface; backfill with sand; PVC film flooring; laying sheets of extruded polystyrene foam; flooring of the canvas that comes with the pool.

The marking of the area for a round pool is done as follows – a metal or wooden peg is driven into the center, a thick fishing line or strong twine is tied to it, 150 mm long less than the radius of the bottom of the reservoir bowl. We tie a pointed wooden peg to the free end of the twine and, with the help of an impromptu compass, draw a circle on the ground. Inside the resulting circle, we completely cut off the sod, leaving not a single blade of grass – if vegetation remains under the bottom of the pool, it will rot with a characteristic smell.

To level and make the site cleaned of sod horizontal, a building level of at least a meter long and a flat edged board 3 m long is required – we put the board on the ground, put a level on it, check the horizontal position, then turn the board clockwise 90 °, look at the readings level, etc. We cut the protruding soil with a bayonet shovel, you need to deepen the installation site of the reservoir by at least 30-40 mm, even if you do not intend to immerse the pool in the ground – you need a place for a sand cushion and expanded polystyrene plates.

Having finished leveling the soil surface, fill the site with sand so that the thickness of the sand layer is about 10-15 mm – if there is a significant slope at the pool installation site, a deeper pit will be required, respectively, the sand layer will be thicker. The sand needs to be leveled using the same 3 m long board and a building level.

Next, we drive a wooden peg into the center of the site, we lay the first layer of bedding made of polyvinyl chloride film, making a hole in its center for the peg – with its help, it will be possible to fix the film in place, prevent it from moving. On top of the film, we lay plates of extruded polystyrene foam, each 20 mm thick. The reason for choosing expanded polystyrene boards is that they will last longer, because have a higher density than foam. The slabs are laid with an offset – the seams between the slabs of each next row should be located lower than in the previous one. Do not worry if the slabs protrude at the edges beyond the perimeter of the site – they will need to be cut with an ordinary knife, but first you should connect the rows of slabs to each other using wide adhesive tape. To cut the expanded polystyrene plates exactly along the perimeter of the site, we again put a string on the axial peg, form a loop at its end and thread a marker into it – using the compass obtained in this way, draw a line in a circle, then cut off the parts of the expanded polystyrene plates protruding beyond it. Yes, the film laid under the slabs in those parts of it that protrude beyond the perimeter circumference must also be cut with a knife or scissors.

It remains only to cut off the peg protruding beyond the plane of the polystyrene foam plates, lay the film that comes with the frame pool and start assembling it on the prepared site.

After completing the installation of the frame of an artificial reservoir, make sure that each side of the side is horizontal using a level – if one of the sides is higher, deepen its support legs into the ground, if lower, then substitute wooden blocks of sufficient thickness under the supports. The installation of a frame pool on a site with loose soil must be accompanied by a lining of wooden blocks under each rack.

Pool water

The cleaning equipment that completes the frame pools – a circulation pump with a filter element and a skimmer that removes dirt particles from the water surface – is capable of removing only mechanical pollutants, but not biological ones. To combat “water bloom”, and standing water will inevitably “bloom”, a variety of chlorine-based chemical preparations are usually used, but their use is fraught with a change in the acid-base balance of water, with the acquisition of acid properties (pH below 7.2 units) or alkali (pH above 7.4 units). Additional chemical treatment will be required to equalize the pH level to the optimum for humans..

Meanwhile, the problem of blooming water can be completely solved with the help of a well-known and, one might say, household antiseptic – hydrogen peroxide (hydrogen peroxide H₂O₂) or, as it is called in a state stabilized with sodium phosphates, perhydrol. I note right away that hydrogen peroxide does not affect the pH level, since when it enters a filled pool it quickly decomposes into oxygen and water.

To purify water in a frame pool, a 35–37% aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide will be needed, its amount is determined at the rate of 700 ml of H₂O₂ by one m³ water, i.e. if the capacity of the frame pool bowl is 19 tons, which is approximately 19 m³ water, it is necessary to pour 13.3 liters of hydrogen peroxide into it. If the degree of biological contamination is high, then the dosage can be increased to 1200-1500 ml per cubic meter of water. Work with perhydrol is carried out only with rubber gloves, not allowing the chemical to get on open skin areas – it will cause burns!

Like other chemicals, hydrogen peroxide can only be used in artificial reservoirs equipped with a filter pump that must be turned on for the entire duration of the chemical treatment.

Stages of disinfecting water in the pool using perhydrol:

• the container with the calculated volume of the chemical is installed close to the board and above it – use the step-ladder that comes with the frame pool, installing it near the basin of the reservoir;
• if rubber gloves are not worn (surgical gloves will not work, they are too thin), then you should put them on now;
• the cap is removed from the neck of the canister, a thin rubber hose is lowered into it, its free end is immersed in the pool near the nozzle, through which the switched on circulation pump takes water for filtration – as a rule, the pump power is sufficient to create the necessary pressure in the hose and pump hydrogen peroxide into water. Do not bring the hose close to the water intake nozzle – just bring it 200 mm closer to it. If it is impossible to use this method of introducing hydrogen peroxide for some reason, the contents of the canister with the chemical should be carefully and unhurriedly poured out near the water intake of the circulation pump;
• Having completely emptied the peroxide canister, we leave the pool for 24 hours – during this period it is absolutely forbidden to swim in it! If the dosage of the introduced perhydrol solution exceeds 1000 ml per cubic meter of water, then the period of keeping the reservoir for disinfection will be a full 72 hours. Warn households about the dangers of swimming during the period of chemical treatment of water, remove the pool ladder to the barn. You cannot cover the bowl of the reservoir with a cover – the reacted oxygen must leave the water;
• after maintaining the prescribed disinfection period, inspect the bottom and walls of the reservoir – they may have a brown coating of contaminants that have settled as a result of the reaction of hydrogen peroxide with water. If such contamination is found, you need to clean the walls and bottom by hand using a “vacuum cleaner” brush and a skimmer. Dirt particles suspended in water will be removed by a filter pump and skimmer, it will take about 2 hours to completely remove;
• this is the end of the work, the water in the pool is completely purified, has an attractive bluish color, there are no odors.

Depending on the intensity of use of the pool and the amount of precipitation that falls in the summer in a given area, the water after chemical treatment with perhydrol will be clean for about a month, then the introduction of the chemical should be repeated, reducing the dosage to 400-500 ml per cubic meter of water.

A solution of hydrogen peroxide in a higher concentration than 37% should not be used, because highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide is very sensitive to heat (up to explosion) and extremely corrosive to the skin.

According to the sanitary norms and rules on drinking water (SanPiN 2.1.4.1074-01), the permissible content of hydrogen peroxide in water should not exceed 0.1 mg / l, but when it is used to disinfect the pool, the concentration of peroxide will be at least 6-8 mg / l. However, one thing must be taken into account here – the requirements described in SanPiN refer to drinking water, and no one will drink water from the pool, while a couple of random sips during the bathing process will not create problems for the body of the swimmers.

Swimming pool conservation for the winter

The prefabricated frost-resistant pool, in contrast to the collapsible models, is not dismantled at the end of the warm season, only a number of measures are taken to protect it from damage during frosts. Consider the stages of conservation work, which must be started when the outdoor temperature drops to +15 ° C.

The first step is to remove visible dirt. Without draining the water from the artificial reservoir, it is required to clean its bottom and walls using a hand-held “vacuum cleaner”, which is a brush on a long hollow handle, to the opposite end of which a hose is connected, connected to a skimmer. During cleaning, dirt deposits removed from the bottom and walls will be pumped into the skimmer filter, and the water purified from them will return back to the pool.

The second stage is shock treatment with chemicals. It can be carried out with the help of preparations containing chlorine (it will be necessary to equalize the pH to 7.2-7.6 units) or with a shock dose of hydrogen peroxide (1200-1500 ml per m2³ water). After the introduction of chemicals, the circulation pump should work for 7 hours, then you need to switch its operating mode to reverse to flush the filter and then follow the instructions for the circulation-filtering device. The introduced chemicals will protect the water from algae and insects during the cold season.

The third stage is dismantling the pump. Having finished cleaning the filter element, drain the water from the pool until its level drops to 80 mm in relation to the lower edge of the water supply nozzle from the pump (the water supply nozzle is located lower than the water intake nozzle). Disconnecting the pump hoses from the walls of the reservoir and plugging the holes formed with rubber plugs included in the kit for the frame pool, we remove the pumping and filtering equipment for storage in a dry room. You need to remove the cartridge with sand from the pump and store it separately, make sure that there is no water left in the pumping system, then you need to plug the holes in it with PVC film.

The fourth step is to protect the pool bowl from volumetric expansion caused by water freezing. To compensate for the expansion inside the reservoir, plastic cans and bottles, foam floats, poorly inflated tires from cars, submerged in water at least halfway are used. The expansion joints should be placed so that they almost completely cover the water mirror (at least 1 float for every 0.5 m² surface of the water) – in their places they will be held by sandbags tied with a rope to each float-compensator. Do not use metal pipes, etc. as a load, fasten the load to the float with a wire – rust will leave irreparable marks on the reservoir! However, simply preparing the floats, tying a load to them and throwing them into the water is not enough, since the resulting movement of water will collect the expansion joints in one place, and this cannot be allowed – you need to go down inside the bowl, lay each float-expansion joint in its place, then tie them with a rope and fix its ends on the sides of the reservoir.

Fifth and final stage. It remains to close the bowl of the frame pool with a PVC screen, which it was equipped with. To prevent the collection of water on the surface of the coating, a volumetric inflatable cushion or car tire should be placed and fixed in the center of the reservoir, making sure that its upper edges protrude above the sides of the pool. If you cover such a structure with a screen cloth, we will get a conical surface with a natural drain of precipitation – otherwise you will have to make sure that the water level in the pool does not reach the holes for the pumping and filtering unit, i.e. lower its level manually (scoop out).

Please note that it is impossible to completely empty the pool – heaving of freezing soil will inevitably damage the structure of the reservoir!

At the end

Despite the external exoticism of prefabricated-stationary frame pools, they are quite durable and quite capable of competing with the usual concrete reservoirs, especially since their installation takes much less time, and it is easier to maintain them – you do not need to restore the bowl finish after the next cold season.

However, one should not rely on the long terms declared by the manufacturers of frame reservoirs – preventive repair, which includes painting the damaged surfaces of the metal panel of the side, the elements of the frame structure with enamel, restoration of damaged areas of the polyvinyl chloride bag of the bowl using a repair kit and patches, as well as timely replacement of the filter cartridge with sand filler is required to be produced.

With regard to the fight against water bloom with the help of perhydrol – the described technique can be used not only in frame pools, but also in any stationary reservoirs intended for swimming. But – in the absence of a circulation-filtering installation, the reaction time of hydrogen peroxide will double, depending on the proportion of the chemical used, you also need to stir the bottom layer of water manually, using a spatula with a wide wooden or plastic bayonet-blade.