Service

The warm, beautiful, and fun summer days have slowly faded away, leaving you with chillier weather and a lot less pool usage. You shouldn’t overlook your pool just because you aren’t using it as much as it still needs your attention. 

While you may not need to close the pool for winter, you do need to follow a few maintenance guidelines to ensure your pool is well taken care of during the off season. Not only will this keep your pool operating efficiently and effectively, it will also make for a better season opener come springtime. 

Read on for the best tips for winter pool maintenance.

Lower the Water Level

It’s advisable to lower your pool’s water level before closing it down for the season. 

• Ensure you lower the water level to a few inches below the lowest intake point. Lowering the water level ensures no water circulates into your pool pumping system and freezes.
• Ensure the water in the pool is free of dirt, debris, and other foreign materials to allow for efficient water chemical balancing and prevent the growth of mold and algae.

Get the Water Chemistry Right

Water chemistry refers to your pool’s water composition in terms of PH, alkalinity, calcium, and cyanuric acid levels.

Before winterizing your pool, it’s advisable to get the water chemistry right. Here are a few tips on how to get your pool’s water chemistry right.

• Increase the PH level to between 7.6-7.8. The PH level naturally decreases in stagnant water over extended periods of time, such as when you leave your pool closed during winter. Increasing PH offsets natural decrease and counters effects of low PH such as damage and staining of your pool’s service or liner.
• Raise the alkalinity to between 150-175 ppm because, like PH, it decreases over time in stagnant water. Raising alkalinity prevents staining of your pool’s liners.
• Increase the calcium levels to above 200 ppm to prevent the erosion and weakening of your pool’s coating during winterization.
• Maintain the chlorine levels between 1-3 ppm to kill germs and bacteria that thrive in freezing conditions.
• Add a sufficient amount of algaecide to prevent the growth of algae when the pool is closed. Depending on the history of algae outbreaks in your pool, you may need to put additional algaecide.

Pool Equipment

Here’s what you should do to your pool equipment as you prepare for pool winterization.

• Remove pool equipment and accessories such as ladders, handrails, steps, skimmers, ducks, etc. This’s to reduce temperature and weather-related damage to your essential pool equipment and accessories.
• Wash all the equipment and allow them to air dry before storing them away for the season.
• Conduct a thorough visual inspection of the remaining equipment and ensure there are no cracks and openings that could be worsened by ice during winter. In case you notice any cracks or gaps, repair them before closing your pool.
• Ensure pool equipment is well-drained and don’t seal the drain plugs to allow for any residual drainage.
• Don’t put pool antifreeze in pool equipment as it can damage the seals and gaskets.
• Inspect to ensure that no rodents have nested on your pool’s equipment, especially the pool heaters.
• Ensure the power breaker remains off to keep it from turning on when the plumbing lines are empty. If it turns on, it can lead to the melting of the pump components.

Pool Cover

• Get a cover that perfectly fits your pool without leaving any spaces.
• Ensure you keep the pool cover’s surface clean, especially mesh pool covers, to prevent the entry of foreign material into the pool.
• Ensure the automatic cover pump remains in stable working condition and is free of debris to avoid pool cover damages.
• Don’t adjust your pool cover with a large weight load (ice) or sharp-edged ice on top because doing so can cause injuries.

Bottom Line

As the winter approaches, you need to forget the dips but don’t forget to take care of your pool. A perfect pool winterization ensures your pool remains in a sound state and lets you avoid expensive repairs. The tips highlighted above give you the best pool winterization insights to use come winter.