How Do You Prepare Your Pool for Winter?
Winter is well on its way—is your pool ready? It might seem like the hazy, lazy, crazy days of summer were just yesterday, but now the leaves are changing and the temperatures are dropping.
If you’re lucky enough to have a pool in your backyard, you’ll want to ensure that it lasts throughout the colder months. Before closing up shop for the autumn and winter seasons, follow these steps and learn how to prepare your pool for winter. Whether it’s above or in the ground, staying on top of pool maintenance will help you get your pool ready for the next spring and summer months.
How to winterize your backyard pool:
When the weather is consistently below 65 degrees each day, it’s time to winterize your pool. Here’s what to do to prepare your pool for winter:
- Put away your toys and accessories: First, take out any toys or accessories that may still be floating around your pool. They can’t stay there for the inevitable winter freeze, unless you want them to get damaged by the weather.
- Give it a deep clean: Next, deep-clean the pool. This could involve using a pool vacuum or simply a skimmer, but your goal should be to remove all dirt, debris, silt and other unwanted substances. (Remember to use your pool cover to keep more debris from settling in.)
- Test and adjust water chemistry: Now it’s time to test your water chemistry. You want the alkalinity to be between 80 and 150 parts per million, the pH level between 7.2 and 7.6, the calcium hardness level between 175 and 225 ppm and the chlorine level between 1 ppm and 3 ppm.
- Lower water level: If you don’t have a skimmer cover, and your water is prone to freezing, you’ll need to keep the water level about a foot below the skimmer.
- Drain and store equipment: Draining pool equipment is important. When water freezes, it expands and can crack pool components. Drain water from all lines and pool equipment, and add plugs where necessary.
- Shock the pool: You may need to shock the pool, which kills bacteria. Algaecide kills algae. Doing this before covering your pool will help remove any extra unwanted substances, so your pool will be ready when spring and summer roll around.
- Cover the pool: Finally, cover your pool. Safety covers and winter covers both provide plenty of protection from winter weather. Choose whichever is right for you and your needs.
- In-ground pool extra tips: If you’re winterizing an in-ground pool, make sure to add an air pillow in the center of the pool. This will help prevent ice from building up during the long, cold winter months.
If you have questions about how to prepare your pool for winter, Royal Water Works, Inc. can help. Get in touch with us today to learn more about our services or schedule a consultation. We can help you test your water, get your pool ready for winter and a number of other solutions.
Categorised in: Pool Water