A few months back we moved into a place with a swimming pool. In ground, about 20,000-25,000 gallons.
The weather has now turned to fall and it has been too cold to heat the pool and swim. I guess it’s time to consider shutting it down for the winter as I see no hopes of one more nice week where we can dive in.
So now what?
I’ve read a few different things about prep’ing a pool for the winter. One site said to shock it double hard, cover it and shut the pumps/filter down. Another place said I should shock it and turn the pumps/filter on only once a week for a few hours.
I thought I’d ask everyone here on what I should REALLY do.
I’m in Portland Oregon so the winters here aren’t solid ice and 20 foot snow drifts. Mostly rain and cold and a few weeks where there is snow and ice.
We currently don’t have a cover for the pool. The filter is one of those big round sand filters.
Also, I’ve gone swimming in a heated pool once before when it was snowing and quite cold out. The first time it snows real good here I would like to fire the heater up for the day and dive in (once the water warms to a point so my head doesn’t explode). Is this possible with most winter treatments for pools?
I think you should run the pump / filters for three or four hours a couple of times each week. Check the chemicals three times a week. Brush the walls and vacuum at least every other week.
Shock occassionally. The main thing is to check the chemicals regularly. In this area, we have problems with mustard algae growing on the pool wall.
I am uninformed about heaters and how this might change the routine. Maybe you should check with a local pool company.
Good luck.
I recommend covering it up. If you don’t, all of the leaves and gunk will gather in the pool, evaporation will continue, chemistry will continue to need monitoring, all for a quick dip during a January hot spell. If I can’t swim in it, I don’t want to be maintaining it!
In addition, you still have the danger of ice damage (even in Portland) to the skimmer and pump lines during a cold spell.
The standard process (or, what I’m going to be doing this evening…):
[ul][li]bring the chemistry in spec[/li][li]backwash the filter[/li][li]add winter shock and algicide[/li][li]Some say to drop the water level below the skimmer. I don’t.[/li][li]Blow out the filtration system lines and plug them (use the exhaust of a Shop Vac for this). Some say to put anti-freeze in the lines (I suppose it’s a special non-lethal type), but I just leave them with air in them.[/li][li]Remove drainage plugs from pump and filter. Remove gauges and plug gauge holes.[/li][li]Put some sort of crushable object in the skimmer to prevent ice damage. I have a special hollow plastic doohicky like a soda bottle that has a cork on the end that fits the suction.[/li][li]Put away all pool ladders and stuff.[/li][li]Put on the cover, usually a thin plastic tarp with nylon threads going through it and water bags on the edges to hold it in place.[/li][li]Try to pump the water off the top as it accumulates. (they sell a beautiful little $90 pump that does this quite well)[/ul][/li]From experience:
[ul][li]Be sure that you weigh down the cover completely in the direction of the prevailing winds.[/li]Make sure your cover doesn’t have any holes, otherwise it sinks down into the pool.[/ul]
my uncle had a pool put in his back yard and was told to drain it, because pools will only last 10 or so years. the chlorine in the water cracks the concrete or the marble
Oh, honey, double what the Pool Advice People tell you about covering it. If you don’t do anything else to it this winter, at least cover it.
We don’t have a pool, but the guy next door does (it’s a 4-foot above-ground pool), and for years now we have watched what he goes through every spring. If he covered the pool the previous October, he has minimal maintenance to do before the kids can swim on the first hot days in May.
But if he didn’t get around to covering it, then it’s all…black and brown and green and gunky and… ewwwwww …We can see into his pool from our upstairs back bedroom window, and some winters we watch it fill up with leaves and trash and slowly turn black, and some winters we don’t.
Also, the years when it’s uncovered, kids walking down the alley seem to take particular pleasure in throwing pop cans and sticks into it.
Go buy a cover, save yourself a LOT of misery next April or May.
I would highly recommend talking with the installer or manufacturer before draining a pool for an extended period of time. If the water table is high (e.g. your basement’s sump pump is a necessity), the pool can be damaged if there is no pressure inside to counteract external pressure. If I ever have to drain mine, I was told that there is a special fitting (buried) next to one corner of my pool where they would attach a pump to keep groundwater out while the pool is empty.
Shocking involves dumping an extra-strong dose of chlorine in the pool. You buy pouches of powder that you dump in the pool on a midnight mission so that the chlorine level drops down by the time the kids get in the next day. You do this every week or so (or immediately after fishing out the dead squirrel) as an added weapon against pool ickiness.
You can always call a pool store and they will come and close it for you. They will even cover it for a little extra. They will do the job right, and it isn’t that expensive.
