[AJo]

I am sure a lot of us swimming enthusiasts must be feeling terrible that swimming pools have been closed since last year.

I caught the swimming bug late in life (at 45, in 2014) & had been swimming at least 5 days a week. (Till the covid shut-downs happened). Also - not swimming since Mar'20, meant that my low-back pain was back with a vengeance. I was really missing my daily swim. Wanted to change that!!

In November of last year, I started looking at having my own pool. The only place which was suitable for me to locate this was my roof-top. I talked to my Structural Engineer & was assured that there should be no issue about having a pool (upto 20,000 liters) at a designated location on my roof.

Talked to a few vendors (offering "turnkey" pool installations). After seeing the quotations, I was really disappointed since the costs seemed way too much to indulge a hobby of mine. Most vendors advised me to plan for a minimum 6' x 10' FRP pool fitted with a counter current machine (costing 1.2 lakhs). The total pool quotes were usually in the Rs. 4 to 7 lakhs range. (These were only for the pool & accessories. Any civil costs would be extra)

During this search, I came across a few videos (mostly from the US) about inflatable pools & was intrigued. These 'water-inflatable' vinyl pools were being installed in back-yards or garages & were not too expensive. Most pools were being used for kids or just as a 'cooling-off' device.

Some serious swimmers though were using these with a "swim-tether". A swim-tether is merely a belt attached to a bungee cord (put round your waist/ chest/ ankles) & fixed at a high point so you can effectively swim 'on the spot'. (Its like a swimming tread-mill).

I started searching the internet if such a pool is available in India. (Amazon & Flipkart do have such pools, but they are too small & barely 2' deep, usable mostly for kids). I found a website called Jumpking, which stocks such pools from couple of companies - Intex & Bestway. (These company's pools are very widely used in the US, from what I found on the net).

I settled on a 15' diameter & 4' depth pool (Intex) & ordered it online. Had to make 100% advance payment of roughly Rs.39900. It included the whole kit - pool, cover, ladder, filter pump, base-cloth, etc (in fact each & everything needed) . Looks like the whole box is imported & shipped as is to the customer.
It arrived in about a weeks time. It came with extremely detailed instructions on every aspect - setting up the pool, filter pump, ladder, etc. I must say, I was very impressed with the level of detail in the instructions. (Plus there are plenty of videos online on how to set the pool up).

After a few hiccups, we (a friend & me) managed to put the pool on my terrace. It was pretty easy to set up. (Needed 3 people, since its quite heavy). Luckily I had a water-source close-by & all it needed was a normal hose-pipe to fill the pool. (Took a long time tho', since filling 15000 liters).

Seeing that the pool had been acquired at a reasonable cost (about 40k), I indulged myself with an artificial green screen wall & artificial grass along with a tensile roof for the pool. (I will let the pictures do the 'writing').

The moment the pool was filled, I took the plunge. (even though the pool needed the filter to run 24hrs since it was not exactly sparkling clean at that time. But could not wait!!). The swim-tether works really well.

Even a 20min swim is exhausting (since both - the water & the tether are resisting your efforts). Earlier, I usually swam 30mins in a regular 50m/ 25m pool (did 1Km in about 24 minutes), but with the swim-tether, 20 mins feels like a lot. Am able to swim free-style, breaststroke, & backstroke easily with the tether. Only issue is that side-breathing during free-style is a bit tougher with the tether. I also tried using a full-face snorkel mask, but felt that breathing was tough in that.

Having been swimming in my pool since last couple of months & am really happy. Its been money well-spent. Am learning a lot of things about pool maintenance on the go, but its not so tough.

Thank you,
AJ

[graaja]

Wow. This is really cool.

Using a tether is a fantastic idea it looks. Your swimming form with the tether looks almost like swimming in an open pool. Thanks a lot for sharing this idea. And Congratulations on starting your swims even when pools are locked.

Since I was down with plantar injury I had been off triathlon training for a couple of years now. Just started running again. And planning to add cycling and swimming in the coming months. With Corona lockdowns, this looks like the best alternate to a proper swimming pool.

The only drawback I find is we can’t measure the distance and pace parameters. But we can do time based training in this pool and then test the actual performance later once pools open.

Enjoy the new pool!

[AJo]

Originally Posted by graaja

Wow. This is really cool.

Using a tether is a fantastic idea it looks. Your swimming form with the tether looks almost like swimming in an open pool. Thanks a lot for sharing this idea. And Congratulations on starting your swims even when pools are locked.

Since I was down with plantar injury I had been off triathlon training for a couple of years now. Just started running again. And planning to add cycling and swimming in the coming months. With Corona lockdowns, this looks like the best alternate to a proper swimming pool.

The only drawback I find is we can’t measure the distance and pace parameters. But we can do time based training in this pool and then test the actual performance later once pools open.

Enjoy the new pool!

Thank you for your kind words!
Wish you a speedy recovery from your injury.
Yes - Its tough to measure the distance, at the moment. I am wondering if there are any fitness bands which can track 'swimming distance' in open water swimming? If yes - Maybe I can use this to track distance?

One observation I have is that its way too exhausting swimming with a tether (as compared to in a regular pool). I guess thats why a lot of the competition swimmers use tethers for training.
Thanks,
AJ

[graaja]

Originally Posted by AJo

Wish you a speedy recovery from your injury.
Yes - Its tough to measure the distance, at the moment. I am wondering if there are any fitness bands which can track 'swimming distance' in open water swimming? If yes - Maybe I can use this to track distance?

Thank you for the kind wishes. I have recovered from injury now and have started training for runs for the past 3 weeks.

Many Garmin models track swim distance in open water. But they use GPS for tracking distance. So, they will not be useful in a stationery pool. I can't think of a way to measure distance in this scenario.

But as you mentioned, the pros do train with tethers to improve their speed. So, it is good to train with tethers and later measure actual progress in a pool or in an open water swim.

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by AJo

I settled on a 15' diameter & 4' depth pool (Intex) & ordered it online. Had to make 100% advance payment of roughly Rs.39900. It included the whole kit - pool, cover, ladder, filter pump, base-cloth, etc (in fact each & everything needed) .

Hearty congratulations. What a unique hobby toy. I must say you are really serious about your swimming. It has come in time for the summer. All the best for the tether swimming. Time rather than distance is the measure. Very soon I can see you will be training for the Iron Man. All the best with your in-house pool. The grass decor looks neat.

[warrioraks]

Originally Posted by AJo

Having been swimming in my pool since last couple of months & am really happy. Its been money well-spent. Am learning a lot of things about pool maintenance on the go, but its not so tough.

This is one of the coolest things (metaphorically and literally) 40k can buy. The only contingent thing being availability of a roof. Thanks for sharing and wishing you many healthy nautical miles in your private pool!

[AJo]

Originally Posted by graaja

Many Garmin models track swim distance in open water. But they use GPS for tracking distance. So, they will not be useful in a stationery pool. I can't think of a way to measure distance in this scenario.

Maybe I can use number of strokes as a measure of distance? My fitness band did give me the number of strokes per lap, when I did the 25m or 50m pools? Probably should give this a shot, if my band can measure the strokes while doing a "stationary swim". (I have the earlier data - where I used to average 15-16 strokes per 25m lap).

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Hearty congratulations. What a unique hobby toy. I must say you are really serious about your swimming. It has come in time for the summer. All the best for the tether swimming. Time rather than distance is the measure. Very soon I can see you will be training for the Iron Man. All the best with your in-house pool. The grass decor looks neat.

Thank you Sir for your words of encouragement. (The Iron-man is way beyond me tho').
I learnt to swim pretty late in life, & hence probably am a bit more committed than most. I find swimming a very good stress-buster. Its almost like meditation, since for 20mins, all you focus on is the water, your breathing & strokes.

Originally Posted by warrioraks

This is one of the coolest things (metaphorically and literally) 40k can buy. The only contingent thing being availability of a roof. Thanks for sharing and wishing you many healthy nautical miles in your private pool!

Thank you for your kind words. I have seen videos of people placing such pools in their back-yards, lawns, stilt parking, even in their green-houses. So one only needs a 20' x 20' flat surface to place this (open-air or covered).
At 40k the pool is definitely worth it, (with a life of 5 to 7 years) & with the added advantage of being able to drain the water & store it, if need be.

Thanks,
AJ

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by AJo

Having been swimming in my pool since last couple of months & am really happy. Its been money well-spent. Am learning a lot of things about pool maintenance on the go, but its not so tough.
Thank you,
AJ

I feel this should be cross-posted to the home gym thread as well. You have the coolest home gym set up in all of tbhp now . I so wish I was in my hometown and had access to space for this setup.

[rrsteer]

Originally Posted by AJo

Having been swimming in my pool since last couple of months & am really happy.
AJ

Congratulations on a very neat setup. How do you drain the water, especially since the pool is sitting on the artificial grass. Also I believe the plastic inflatable walls get soiled very soon on the inside (I had an Intex pool for kids), how do you clean those?

[Vinod_nair]

Originally Posted by AJo

I am sure a lot of us swimming enthusiasts must be feeling terrible that swimming pools have been closed since last year.

Even a 20min swim is exhausting (since both - the water & the tether are resisting your efforts). Earlier, I usually swam 30mins in a regular 50m/ 25m pool (did 1Km in about 24 minutes), but with the swim-tether, 20 mins feels like a lot. Am able to swim free-style, breaststroke, & backstroke easily with the tether. Only issue is that side-breathing during free-style is a bit tougher with the tether. I also tried using a full-face snorkel mask, but felt that breathing was tough in that.

Having been swimming in my pool since last couple of months & am really happy. Its been money well-spent. Am learning a lot of things about pool maintenance on the go, but its not so tough.

Thank you,
AJ

Wow AJ, this is great.
Just an experiment from my side, have you tried swimming without the cord on the outermost side of the pool? It should be doable ( and if your head starts spinning, switch the other way).

[Miyata]

Originally Posted by AJo

having a pool (upto 20,000 liters) at a designated location on my roof.

Fantastic! Few of my friends and colleagues use such inflatable pools in their backyards. The ecosystem there is quite friendly towards such personalized, non-community pools. Few questions:

1> How long does one filling of water last before you need to replace?

2> Any mosquito issues with the standing water?

3> Any mold issues so far in your usage of this pool?

[arpanjha]

I am amazed to see the rooftop pool. It is truly amazing.
Just a question I wanted to ask experts here, we have a common swimming pool in our apartment complex which was closed all the while of lockdown but has recently opened up since February, and is almost without any swimmers at all these days. But often on sundays I do see a few kids or some adults swimming in the pool. I was often using the pool for my swimming around first portion of March, but have stopped going since then. But someone told me, since the pool is being regularly maintained and disinfected with bleach 2 times a day, and for most part of the week it stays without any users at all, just with the exception of a few hours on sunday noon, can I use the pool safely without risk of Covid on any other day after ensuring no one has been in the pool for atleast 2 hours prior?

My logic being, if any corona virus was left behind in the pool, it should have been taken care of by the bleach (sodium hypochlorite) combined with hard sunshine for the entire day, and I can safely assume there is no left behind corona virus when I use the pool alone?
It is difficult to hold myself back, hope my logic seems sensible to more knowledgeable people here.

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by arpanjha

can I use the pool safely without risk of Covid on any other day after ensuring no one has been in the pool for atleast 2 hours prior?

My logic being, if any corona virus was left behind in the pool, it should have been taken care of by the bleach (sodium hypochlorite) combined with hard sunshine for the entire day, and I can safely assume there is no left behind corona virus when I use the pool alone?
It is difficult to hold myself back, hope my logic seems sensible to more knowledgeable people here.

There is no scientific evidence to prove that Covid spreads through water. So with all the disinfectant and regular cleaning there is no chance for it to spread through the pool itself. The problem is with common areas like shower and parking and while you are just standing in the pool. On any Sunday a Public pool in Bangalore has an attendance of around 1000 people who just want to splash around. So even if it is a private pool, just avoid it for some time and when situations improves take a dive.

PS : All public pools in bangalore are closed for at least a month. I doubt if it would open even at end of May. They opened in Feb and closed down a month later. Just my luck.

[AJo]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

You have the coolest home gym set up in all of tbhp now .

Thank you for your kind words.

Originally Posted by rrsteer

Congratulations on a very neat setup. How do you drain the water, especially since the pool is sitting on the artificial grass. Also I believe the plastic inflatable walls get soiled very soon on the inside (I had an Intex pool for kids), how do you clean those?

- The pool has a small drain outlet near to the bottom. Just need to open the plug to drain it. Have not had to drain it since the 2+ months I have been using it tho'. (Since its a small outlet, it will be an awfully long process to drain, I guess. I would probably use the filter pump, to drain)
- I regularly use a vaccum-brush (right word?) (The brush is connected to the filter-pump & it sucks up all the loose dirt) on the bottom & a regular brush (rarely tho') on the side-walls. Haven't seen any dirt/ algae on the side walls at all. I also use chlorine granules frequently, to keep the water clean.

Originally Posted by Vinod_nair

Wow AJ, this is great.
Just an experiment from my side, have you tried swimming without the cord on the outermost side of the pool? It should be doable ( and if your head starts spinning, switch the other way).

Hi VN, not sure I understand exactly. Please could you elaborate. I assume you are talking about the side-breathing issue? I have tried to position the tether at several points around my waist as well as my chest. Side-breathing is a bit difficult as compared to doing it in a regular pool. I also read that since one is stationary, there is no trough created beside the face (which happens usually when you are in motion) & hence the difficulty in breathing.

Originally Posted by Miyata

Fantastic! Few of my friends and colleagues use such inflatable pools in their backyards. The ecosystem there is quite friendly towards such personalized, non-community pools. Few questions:

1> How long does one filling of water last before you need to replace?
2> Any mosquito issues with the standing water?
3> Any mold issues so far in your usage of this pool?

1) I have had the same water (with a little top-up) since 2+ months & its pristine clean (at the moment). (Probably due to regular chlorine doses & the vacuum-pump cleaning). As far as a full replacement of water - I suppose its going to be a bit of "learn as you go". (I do check the pH of the water sometimes, but mostly visual inspection is what I go on).
2) Absolutely no issues with mosquitos since the pool is covered when not in use. (The cover was supplied with the pool).
3) No issues within the pool. Use of chlorine & a vacuum-brush with filter pump seems to have saved me from the algae/ mold etc. The filter pump circulation pipes are transparent plastic & I did observe a bit of greenish color within these. Immediately cleaned them out & they are as good as new now. I make sure that these are disconnected & kept dry when the filter pump is not in use, now. This stopped the green tinge within the pipes. I also run the filter-pump daily for about 6 to 8 hours.

Arpanjha - Thanks for your kind words.

Cheers,
AJ

[GTO]

Originally Posted by AJo

I am sure a lot of us swimming enthusiasts must be feeling terrible that swimming pools have been closed since last year.

Thanks for sharing this amazing post, AJo! It deserves a new thread, so moving out. Will also go to our homepage on the weekend .