It doesn’t matter if you’re located someplace that’s covered with snow or in a city where the sun beautifully rises as you’re getting your tan while lying on a beach – getting your pool ready and maintained during the cold winter season is important. You don’t need to wait for the next winter season to do this. In fact, you should get your swimming pool taken care of in preparation for spring, and at the same time, help prevent your pool from getting damaged or stop water from contamination during the winter season. This post will talk about the key points of keeping your swimming pool covered, ensuring that your equipment is well-maintained, as well as learning how to properly balance the chemicals on your pool during the cold winter months.
Covering Your Pool
If you’re situated in areas that are cold most of the time, covering your pool needs to be done immediately after the summer season. This is to ensure that your pool is protected from the harsh weather conditions such as snow debris. It also keeps your pool away from animals – which is why you must always cover up your pools once the season is over. With that being said, you also need to make sure that your pool covers are in good shape, and here are a few tips to make this happen:
First and foremost, make sure that the winter pool cover is attached to your pool securely. For pools that are above ground, this can be achieved by inflating the air pillow, securing your pool’s cover clips and/or keeping the cables tight. For inground pools, on the other hand, you have to ensure that all of the water bags or blocks are safe and secured, ensuring that all safety components stay in its place.
Upon taking out your winter pool cover, make sure that it is free from debris before placing on your pools. You can get rid of the leaves and twigs with a hose, and a wet vacuum cleaner for water or any other wet surfaces.
If your pool cover is covered with snow, take out your roof rake to pull it off. Make sure that any weight in excess on your covers can cause damage – and this holds true especially for above ground pools. Remember, it’s faster and a lot easier to get rid of the snow if it’s still fresh rather than taking it out a couple of days later.
Pool Equipment Maintenance
When not in use, your pool parts are often stored somewhere out of sight, which means that it’s usually forgotten when it’s time for maintenance. Regardless of where you live, your pool parts require periodic maintenance to make sure that they perform and are running in great condition. Here are some things that you can do to keep those pool parts in tip-top shape:
Some of the important pool parts that you should regularly check may include but are not limited to your filter, pool pump, and heater. If one or more of these parts aren’t well-maintained, you’ll find yourself spending more fortune than you’re supposed to.
Whenever you’re doing a periodic check on your pool parts, there must be no excess water to prevent them from freezing your pipes during the winter season. When your pipes start to freeze, there’s a tendency that they could crack – which results in an even bigger problem.
Whenever you’re not sure about anything, always get in touch with a local pool professional that you trust to help you with pool maintenance before and/or after winter.
Proper Pool Chemistry During Winter
While draining the water is ideal, some people prefer not to – and that’s completely okay, as long as you make sure that your water is chemically balanced. This ensures that your swimming pool water remains clean and is free from algae, waterlines, bacteria and other contaminants. All of these things will make it easier for pool owners to get their pool ready after the winter. Here are some tips on how you can properly maintain your pool water whilst it’s still covered or closed:
This first tip applies not only during the winter months but also during those times that the pool isn’t being used. Every 1-2 months, make sure that you check your pool water’s chemistry to ensure that the water’s chemistry is still properly balanced. As mentioned earlier, this prevents the growth of bacteria and algae. Always remember not to use the chemicals that you’ve used for this season and save it for the next as they tend to lose their potency.
Always get rid of the extra pool chemicals and get a new one every season. You can always purchase an enzyme product that helps break down all types of contamination that could for a waterline ring on your pool. While an enzyme product isn’t required, this helps you save a lot of time and helps you skip the scrubbing part of your pool tiles before the spring.
Some people who are situated in warmer areas tend to leave their pools uncovered during the winter season. That’s okay – but you have to always remember that you always decontaminate and clean your pool especially before using it in springtime or summer. You’re not just ensuring the cleanliness of your pool, but you’re doing this to make sure that everybody’s swimming on it won’t experience health problems.
Winter Freeze Prevention
We can’t prevent the pool area to get affected by the freezing temperature, but you can always do preventive measures to keep your pipes in tip-top condition and prevent cracked pipes and leaks. If you know that you’re living in an area that requires you to prep your pool during freezing temperatures, having an in-depth understanding of when you should do these preparations will spare you from any potential damage.
You may want to get a digital timer that has a built-in sensor to help you keep notified once the temperatures are moving beyond the red line. Additionally, you can always use your phone and set up app alerts on your favorite weather forecast app to make sure that you’re informed on when the freezing temperatures will be. This gives you enough time to prepare and make arrangements on ensuring that your swimming pool is ready for the freezing temperatures.
Doing all of these things may seem tedious, but in fact, these will help you maintain your swimming pool especially during the winter season. This doesn’t just save you time, but it also even saves you money and prevents you from doing unnecessary repairs during spring. As always, if you’re not sure, if you have questions or if you feel like this is something that you can’t do on your own, contact your reliable local pool specialist. Aside from the tips we’ve discussed above, do you have other pool winter maintenance tips and hacks? We’d love to hear them in the comments section below!
