Manually scrubbing the floor and walls of your above-ground pool can be a pain in the neck and back. Instead of doing the hard work yourself, you can pick up an inexpensive above-ground robotic pool cleaner like the Hayward 900. This whale-shaped robot offers a lot more than just a playful design. Check out our review of Wanda the Whale below to see whether it belongs in your above-ground swimming pool.

Optimal Balance Throughout Cleaning Session
Wanda the Whale is a perfectly-balanced above-ground pool cleaner, meaning that you don’t have to fish it out and set it upright every five minutes like other automatic pool cleaners. Because of its reliable balance, it maintains even cleaning suction and performance from start to finish. All Wanda the Whale needs is a couple of hours to make the floors of 30-foot pools look absolutely spotless.
Frictionless Bumper Ring
Along the base’s circumference is a reliable bumper ring that protects your pool’s walls from when Wanda inevitably bumps into them. The frictionless bumper ring also prevents Wanda from getting stuck along the edge of your pool.

Floating Hose
What’s fascinating about Wanda is that it comes with multiple connection hoses that float while she remains fully submerged. Because the hoses float, there’s no way for them to entrap Wanda in a cocoon of hoses and stop her from patrolling your pool’s floors. If you notice the hoses sinking to the bottom, try linking more hose connections together.
Random Navigation
As you might expect from a simple, pump-driven automatic pool cleaner, Wanda moves in a random pattern around the base of your pool. It comes with a built-in turning mechanism that allows her to turn every few seconds. Over a period of at least 3 hours, your 30-foot pool should be absolutely spotless.
Requires 1500 GPH/25 GPM to Operate
Before you decide to purchase Wanda or not, make sure that you have the proper pool pump installed. Wanda requires at least 1500 GPH or 25 GPM of water flow to run optimally. Anything less and she’ll stay in place. You can certainly go higher if you want; that’ll help the whale move more and pick up debris more quickly.

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30-foot Reach
Wanda comes with a set of connecting hoses that provide a 30-foot reach, which should be more than enough for the average backyard swimming pool. However, if your above-ground pools are wider or irregularly shaped, then you might need to pick up additional hoses (sold separately). However, the more hose connections you use, the more powerful a pool pump you’ll need. We wholeheartedly advise looking at other automatic pool cleaner options if your pool measures longer than 30 feet from its two farthest points.

For Large Debris Only
Please note that Wanda the Whale doesn’t come with brushes or a skimming tail. Instead, it relies solely on the power of your pool’s pump to make it clean as it moves in a random pattern across your pool’s floor. Also, Wanda has no way of scaling walls, leaving the tedious task of scrubbing walls to pool owners.
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Last Update: 2023-06-08 | Affiliate links/Images from Amazon Product Advertising API