# Chemical Treatment For Small, Inflatable Pool **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-treatment-for-small-inflatable-pool/759913 "2016-07-14T19:21:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-treatment-for-small-inflatable-pool/759913/1 "2016-07-14T19:21:02Z")
Mrs. Homie and I bought a cheap, inflatable pool to use this summer, and we’d like to keep the bugs out of it and keep the water from going rancid as best we can. The pool chemicals I see at the store are, I presume, intended for larger pools. How can I best protect my little inflatable pool? A few cups of household beach every day? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-treatment-for-small-inflatable-pool/759913/2 "2016-07-14T19:36:59Z")
Bleach will provide chlorine. Get a hand skimmer to keep floating crud in check. I’d guess 1-2 cups/week of 6% bleach will work. Ignore the rest - no more chlorine that you need, you won’t need CYA (chlorine stabilizer). The other chemicals presuppose a huge amount of water that cannot be easily dumped. If your water goes belly-up, just replace it. As long as you remember the bleach, you should not have to worry about algae and the other crud associated with pools. Machine dying. more later ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-treatment-for-small-inflatable-pool/759913/3 "2016-07-14T19:39:46Z")
Start here - I’m trying to get the Pool Calculator up - it will give you all the numbers for a pool. For an inflatable, just go with chlorine. > **[Home](https://www.troublefreepool.com/blog/)** > > Our main goal is to provide easy-to-understand help to pool owners and to give them the tools to care their pools easily and stress-free. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-treatment-for-small-inflatable-pool/759913/4 "2016-07-14T19:41:34Z")
The calculator: > **[Pool Calculator - Swimming Pool Maintenance Tools and Chemicals](https://www.poolcalculator.com/)** > > Pool Calculator provides the tools and maintenance information you need to keep your swimming pool and hot tub chemicals balanced and your pool water crystal clear. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-treatment-for-small-inflatable-pool/759913/5 "2016-07-14T20:20:17Z")
Buy it where they have spa/hot tub supplies. It will tell you how much, right on the product. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-treatment-for-small-inflatable-pool/759913/6 "2016-07-14T20:36:29Z")
Thanks for the replies! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-treatment-for-small-inflatable-pool/759913/7 "2016-07-14T20:57:59Z")
I bought chemicals for a 21" x 8’ pool, the smallest kit they had available from the spa store, and it was still too much. Household bleach is what I ended up using, plus a tester kit to make sure I got the whatever balance of bleach/water right. ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-treatment-for-small-inflatable-pool/759913/8 "2016-07-14T21:10:12Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I bought chemicals for a 21" x 8’ pool, the smallest kit they had available from the spa store, and it was still too much. That’s surprising. That size pool holds 600 gallons, which is larger than your typical home spa. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-treatment-for-small-inflatable-pool/759913/9 "2016-07-15T02:49:18Z")
you can buy solid blocks that slowly dissolve that may be safer than liquids. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2016, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemical-treatment-for-small-inflatable-pool/759913/10 "2016-07-15T05:34:36Z")
Those “pucks” are the worst idea for large pools - they contain both chlorine and CYA (stabilizer). The chlorine burns off. The CYA does not - not ever. The more CYA, the more chlorine you need to get “Free Chlorine” (the form which kills bad things). So, after using pucks for 10 years, you now need 100 pounds of dry chlorine. This is called (sometimes) “chlorine lock”. The only solution is to dump 1/3-3/4 of the pool water and refill with tap water. Then add chlorine. But not with CYA. Play with the pool calculator - see how much more chlorine you need to add to get the same “FC” after you kick up the CYA concentration. I have several pounds of chlorine + CYA. I buy pure dry chlorine and liquid chlorine. The “Pool Chlorine” in the big box stores is just laundry beach, but with 10% chlorine compound.