You can minimize the risk of recreational water illnesses and help ensure your kid stays healthy and active in the kiddie pool all summer long. How to properly apply it.
Drain and refill.
If your kid’s pool is pretty small, and draining and refilling it doesn’t feel like a colossal waste of water, then the best way to keep the kiddie pool clean is to drain it, scrub it down with a plain old kitchen brush, and refill it. Consider using the pool water to water the plants in the yard.
Purchase a kiddie pool cover that fits.
Keep a cover on the kiddie pool when it’s not in use. Intex sells a kiddie pool cover that’s made for our particular pool of choice. But every year, I pass on purchasing it, because I’ve got tons of tarps and stakes and bungee cords. My homemade covers keep most of the bugs, twigs, and other flotsam and jetsam out, but they’re worthless against rain. This year, I’m ordering the cover at the same time I order the pool, and put it on every single night.
Try the Aqua Broom
The Aqua Broom is a fun little gadget that vacuums up the sand and dirt at the bottom of the pool. Ruby’s sandbox is very close to the pool, so this might come in handy this year just for the grit. It’s only got three out of five stars from over a thousand people, but it appears that most of the bad reviews came from folks using it to try to clean a large pool and from the fact that it runs on D batteries, which are known to corrode if water gets inside. But it sounds like it does what it’s supposed to do.
Get a Scumbug.
I just saw a program on the tee vee about this enormous sponge that soaks up oil above and below the water after a catastrophic oil spill. This Scumbug oil-sucking sponge must use the same technology. It absorbs 40 times its weight in suntan lotions, so if you slather your kid like I slather mine, this handy, bug-shaped sponge will suck it out of the water to help keep the kiddie pool clean and the water clear.
Use the pool skimmer every day.
Stuff blows into the pool all the time, and having a skimmer of some sort on hand makes quick work of getting it out. I use these cheap nets to skim Ruby’s pool. They work fine for most stuff that gets in the water, and there are enough of them that the kids won’t fight over who gets to skim. They also work great for catching fireflies and butterflies.
If you prefer the real deal, this Hydro Tools pool skimmer will do the trick nicely. It’s got an aluminum handle that telescopes to 12 feet, which seems excessive for a kiddie pool, but the kids’ will enjoy that. This baby will pick up smaller stuff, like the sand and grit you scare up off the pool floor.
Use chemicals formulated for small pools.
I’m always loathe to use toxic chemicals when it’s not necessary, but sometimes chemicals are the best defense against worse enemies. In the amounts we’re talking, chlorine is far less harmful than the frightening things that are apparently lurking in the pool.
