Making a Stock Tank Pool

This is the greatest project I have every worked on and today I'll be sharing how to build one EXACTLY like I did.

The entire project only takes a couple of hours - for the pool. I ended up adding a deck around half of it which really capped off the entire thing, but this is all about the pool itself because everything outside of the pool is completely up to you and your specific needs.

Enjoy!

• Metal Stock Tank Pool 8'
• Intex Pool Pump
• Intex Inlet/Outlet
• Intext Plunger Valve
• Hole Saw 2 3/4"
• Intex Pool Cover
• Caulk

The first (and maybe most important) step is to flatten the area you are wanting to put the stock tank pool.

• If you don't level the pool out now, you'll have to drain the water to level it later.

This is actually a simple step. Just lay down some paver sand, smooth it out, and use a level to check that the ground is level. If you don't have a long enough level, use a long piece of wood to stretch across the ground and set the level on top of that board.

I also cleared out some of the low hanging branches too. Anything to prevent leafs from getting in the pool, you know what I mean?

Now you are good to lay down the pool on top of the flattened area.

Once this is laid down, check the level again by placing a board across the rim and checking with the level tool.

The trick to making this all work is the placement of the inlet and outlet.

The inlet should be toward the bottom 2/3 of the tank side wall while the outlet should be towards the top 2/3 of the tank side wall (in the 1st image you can see the inlet on the left and the outlet on the right)

• The reason for this is that you want the inlet to suck in the colder water on the bottom of the pool as well as the debris on the bottom
  • The cold water will then be circulated towards the top of the pool and help keep the water cool
  • Additionally, the debris will now get sucked into the filter easier

To install these pieces, get a 2 3/4 Hole Saw and cut out the 2 holes where you want them to be placed. The smoother the surface you can find the better because this will eventually need to be water tight.

Then slip in the inlet and outlet into the holes and use the gaskets and plastic nuts to twist on to the ends and just hand tighten a little - leave it a little loose for now.

With these loose, go ahead and squeeze as much caulking as you feel comfortable with behind the inlet/outlet and then go ahead and tighten the nuts all the way.

Once tight, caulk around the perimeter of the inlet/outlet for a final water tight seal.

This is optional but it may be a good idea to fill up the tank with about an inch of water to test for leaks before you bust the caulking out.

The stock tank pool is pretty much set at this point - at least for the "hard" parts.

Let's finish hooking up the actual pump now.

Screw on the 2 plunger valves, 1 onto the inlet and 1 onto the outlet.

Screw on the 2 hoses, 1 onto the inlet and 1 onto the outlet.

Then screw the 2 hoses to the Intex pool pump. The process is easy - the inlet hose goes into the wide section of the pump (labeled with a red arrow) and the outlet hose goes into the tall canister (labeled with a blue arrow).

Don't plug in or turn on the pump until you have enough water filled in the pool to cover the inlet/outlet!

Another side note, the purpose for the plunger valves is so that you can stop the water from flowing through the hoses when you are changing out the filter or messing with the pump (if you ever need to).

After the caulk dries for at least 24 hours, you are clear to fill up the stock tank pool to the level you want!

Once the water fills up past the inlet/outlet, you can then turn the pump on and water the water circulate!

This tutorial is all about the pool, but I just wanted to demonstrate one of the many possibilities you can do once you have the pool up and running.

I thought it'd be nice to have something to sit up on and just dip my feet into the water when I don't want to get all the way in.

It's also a great place to set down a cold beer.

You may also be able to see in the background where we xeriscaped much of the area behind the pool, added a retaining wall, and re-painted the shed.

The maintenance on here is very easy - compared to a real pool.

I use a 3" chlorine tablet that I put in a chlorine floater. Once it runs out, I re-fill it with another tablet.

I also have a net for cleaning up the bigger pieces that won't go into the filter.

AND THAT'S IT!

I really appreciate you checking this out, please watch the video at the top of this instructables if you would like more details or comment below.

A FREE way for you to support me is by subscribing to my YouTube HERE