Inground Stock Tank Pool Project - Updated June 9th

We decided to bury our 8' poly stock tank in the backyard to make it an in-ground pool or little spa really.  We bought the stock tank several years ago and have been using it as an above ground pool or spa.  First we had to take apart several raised garden beds to make room for the pool in the location we decided on. 

Then we dug, and we dug, until we finally called in a good friend with a tractor to help.

After that we still had to dig.  It was not easy, we were exhausted!

We lined the hole with old carpet scraps so that the pool would have a soft bed to sit in.  We leveled it as best we could and started out backfill.

We left room behind the pool to make an area to hold the pump, and hoses.  We then built a deck to level the whole thing out.  We built in a trap door so that the pump can be accessed from the top if necessary.

Then the rock came, 5.5 tons of 3" flagstone.  Boy did we have our work cut out for us!



Here it is really starting to come along, we put a little water in the pool only to find that our original pump and hose system wasn't going to work the way we wanted it to.


 We had started with an Intex pump 673R and the 1-1/4" hoses and the clamp on strainer and inlet.  It leaked, there just wasn't a good way to seal the connections well enough.  So, we had to come up with a better method.  We had an old used Hayward spa pump that would work if we went to the larger Intex hoses, strainer and inlet.  With these we were able to achieve a tight seal.  We did have to buy an adapter that went from the pump with standard threads to the "Intex threaded" hose.



All fixed and running like a charm.






These very small pools are tough to keep clean .  We use a siphon type vacuum that attaches to the hose for cleaning the pool, it's great for the big stuff but terrible at the fine silt. The super fine particulate matter was giving us fits; it would just flow through everything we tried because with our set up we don't have a proper filter.  I read some forums about how others were dealing with this problem and I came up with a couple of things that were far superior to the bags that come with the vacuum.  First, I used some gym socks slid over the inlet held on with a zip tie.  Then I learned about biodiesel bags that will filter to 1 micron from Duda Diesel.   I bought the poly felt filter bag #2,  7" x 32"   This is what you see in the picture.  Boy did that do the job, really filters out the fine stuff.  I had to modify the bag to fit around the inlet.  I tapered the bag with my sewing machine to make the opening smaller and then I stitched an old t-shirt sleeve to the open end of the bag so that I had something thinner to wrap around the inlet so that I could use a zip tie to cinch it on tight.


Now all we need is warm weather so we can get in and enjoy all of our hard work!

We added a metal pool railing to the deck to assist getting in and out as well as a concrete garden bench from Lowes that we painted with pool paint to act as a step and a place to sit.

UPDATE:

2 Months later, June.

Putting this pool in was one of the best decisions we have ever made.  We enjoy it nearly every single day.  We have not had any problems, even after a couple of 4" rains with heavy down pours.  Shortly after we completed the pool project we built a chicken coop.  We love to sit in the pool and talk to the hens.  The cantilever umbrella is awesome at keeping the water from getting too hot during the scorching Texas midday sun.