1. Stay Protected with a Pool cover
One of the simplest ways to protect your pool during the off season would be a pool cover. Most commercial facilities have pool covers to prevent leaves, pine straw, and other organic matter from settling in your pool. Another benefit of having a pool cover is for safety. A pool cover reduces the chance of personnel accidentally falling into the pool.
Maintaining a pool without a cover can be time-consuming and costly as well. Typically during the winter months, pool owners reduce labor and chemical cost. However, without a pool cover, labor costs will be similar to summer due to vacuuming, cleaning skimmers, etc. If your community or pool does not have a pool cover, we can assist; contact us for your free quote today.
2. Keep Pool Chemistry Balanced
Even if your pool is covered and without any swimmers present, proper pool chemistry is still vital in the off-season. Pool chemicals such as chlorine and calcium hardness play essential roles during the winter months. Calcium hardness plays a significant role in your pool surface’s health, which measures the hardness of minerals (calcium) in your pool water. The recommended range for calcium hardness is 200 ppm to 400 ppm. If the calcium hardness levels are too high, the water becomes “hard,” leading to cloudiness and scaling. If your calcium hardness levels are too low, the water will be “soft” which can cause corrosive water and dissolve the surface and metals in the pool water. Before winterization of your pool, always make sure to check all chemical levels to assess what chemicals need to be injected.
Algae has a difficult time producing during colder temperatures, but a trace of chlorine is still needed. We recommend a chlorine level range of 3 ppm to 8 ppm.
Weekly to bi-weekly routine chemical testing is recommended. This will increase the chances of a smooth spring season and well balanced clear pool water.
Take a look at the chemical chart for recommended chemical levels:
3. Bump Motor Pool Motors to prevent spring Seize
The off season can range from 5-7 months depending on your location. The motors being entirely off during this entire duration can lead to unknowing surprises in the springtime. To avoid, on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, turn on your pool motor and run for less than 3-5 seconds, and turn back off. This simple method reduces any rust or corrosion from the cold winter weather, leading to seized or damaged motors in the spring. Make sure to listen for any uncommon noises while running, and report to your pool technician to further diagnosis.
4. Watch the water levels
Checking water levels during the winter months is also a must. There are several reasons why, but the most important would be due to damaging of pool surface. Your pool should never be completed drained for an extended amount of time unless a planned project. If completely drained, this can lead to the possibility of “floating” which is where the pool shell lifts out of the ground. If the water level is extremely low, simply add water to adequate levels.
Final Thoughts
The purpose of winter tips is to have a smooth and clear spring season. Suppose you follow these simple tips of maintaining adequate chemical levels, installing a quality pool cover, occasionally run motors, and keep an eye on the water levels. In that case, you have a greater chance of having a successful spring with your swimming pool.
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