WHICH OF THESE INSTANT GARDEN POOLS WILL YOU SPLASH OUT ON?
STURDY POOL THAT SLOTS TOGETHER
Bestway Rectangular Steel Pro Frame pool, £499.99 (bestwaystore.co.uk)
WHAT? A fraction of the price of similar-sized pools, this has a thick liner held in place by steel poles. There’s a filter pump and ladder. HOW BIG? 4.11 m (13.5 ft) long, 1.82 m (6 ft) wide and 1.2 m (4 ft) deep. Holds 8,124 litres.
WHO WILL FIT? Four to six adults.
HOW EASY TO PUT UP? Slots together easily by hand but filling can take several hours. SPLASHING GOOD LOOKS
Deluxe Splasher pool, £599.99 (splashandrelax.co.uk)
WHAT? A wood-effect pool that can be free-standing or sunk into the ground. HOW BIG? 3.6 m (12 ft) in diameter, 1.07 m (42 in) deep, holding 11,000 litres.
WHO WILL FIT? Four to six adults.
HOW EASY TO PUT UP? Assembly takes three hours. Eight hours to fill it.
RENT-A-POOL FOR SCORCHING DAYS
Swimming pool to hire, from £1,200 per weekend (splashandtickle.com)
WHAT? Why faff about when you can have a goodlooking, octagonal pool assembled for you? This one comes with a filtration and heating system. HOW BIG? 4.5m (14.7ft) in diameter and about 1 m (3.2 ft) deep, holding 11,000 litres.
WHO WILL FIT? Four or five adults.
HOW EASY TO PUT UP? Three hours to assemble, several hours to fill.
NO-FUSS POOL IS GREAT VALUE
Intex easy Set pool, £82.05 (amazon.co.uk)
WHAT? This basic round pool is held up by the volume of water inside, so you can’t lean on the edges or you’ll flood your flower beds. But at under £100, it’s a great value way to cool off
HOW BIG? Just under 4 m (13 ft) wide, and 84 cm (33 in)
deep. The pool needs to be fairly full to work, and holds around 7,290 litres.
WHO WILL FIT? Two to four adults.
HOW EASY TO PUT UP? Ideal for those who hate DIY, this works like a giant carrier bag. Place it on level ground, inflate the top ring, then simply fill with water. Assembly takes five hours, including filling.
SPLASH THE CASH
Laghetto Dolcevita 520 pool, from £12,000 (agbudget.co.uk)
WHAT? The Rolls-Royce of garden pools, this is one of the biggest, most expensive on the market. The UV-resistant durable fabric and steel supports can be hidden by an optional wooden trellis or rattan-style frame. It includes a filtration system, skimmer to get rid of leaves and spotlights.
HOW BIG? A huge 10m (33ft) long, 5m (16ft) wide and 1.2m (4ft) deep. Holds around 60,000 litres.
WHO WILL FIT? Around ten to 15 people.
HOW EASY TO PUT UP? If you are spending this much on a pool, you will probably want to pay someone else to put it up for you! But expect to wait over a day for it to fill up.
FAMILY-SIZED FUN
Intex Small Family Frame pool, £177 (amazon.co.uk)
WHAT? A decent blue PVC liner suspended in a basic frame; this is a no-frills pool.
HOW BIG? The baby of the bunch, it’s 2.6m (8.5ft) long, 1.6m (5ft) wide and a
child-friendly 65cm (2ft) deep, holding just 2,282 litres.
WHO WILL FIT? Two adults, two children.
HOW EASY TO PUT UP? The fuss-free, slottogether construction means it’s ready for water in 30 minutes and takes around 90 minutes to fill.
PORTABLE POOL IS THE HEIGHT OF LUXURY
Laghetto POP! Portable Luxury Pool No 49 in seven colours, from £5,000 (agbudget.co.uk)
WHAT? Designed to be compact when packed away, this super-stylish Italianmade pool can be used short- or longterm. It can be customised, with optional filters, covers and colours. It’s made of UVresistant, PVC-coated polyester fabric and supported by blocks, A fold-up safety ladder and spotlights are included.
HOW BIG? Available in several sizes, this large model is 9m (29ft) long, 4m (13ft) wide and 1.2 m (4 ft) deep, holding a jawdropping 41,500 litres.
WHO WILL FIT? Often used by private swimming schools, eight to ten adults could swim comfortably inside.
HOW EASY TO PUT UP? It only takes two hours to assemble — but filling it can take more than a day.
MONSTER LETS YOU BATHE . . . AND SUNBATHE
Zodiac hippo Original rectangular pool, £6,995 (splashandrelax.co.uk)
WHAT? Uses the sun’s rays to warm the water. The tough, double-walled polyester outer ring is so sturdy you can sunbathe on it. HOW BIG? 6.85m (22ft) long and 4.85m
(16 ft) wide. Shallower than many pools, it’s only 60cm (2ft) deep but holds 19,000 litres.
WHO WILL FIT? If social-distancing rules were relaxed, up to 20 people could easily have a pool party in here.
HOW EASY TO PUT UP? Comes with an electric inflator to make your life simple but it needs plenty of space and will take more than half a day to fill up.
CURRENT FOR SERIOUS SWIMMERS
Wooden exercise pool, £5,489, plus Aqua Jet 50 Counter Current System, £1,495 (splash andrelax.co.uk)
WHAT? This attractive woodenedged rectangular pool offers a lot for your money, including internal and external ladders, a pump, filtration kit, water treatment kit and covers. If you want to swim laps, you will need to splash out on a counter-current aqua jet to swim against, costing another £1,495.
HOW BIG? At 3.6m (12ft) long, 2.1m (7ft) wide and 1.3m (4ft) deep, good for swimming, not paddling. It holds 10,240 litres.
WHO WILL FIT? One, if you’re swimming laps; otherwise three or four adults.
HOW EASY TO PUT UP? Easier than many. Takes seven hours to fill.