If you’re unfortunate enough to live in an area that gets harsh winters, you’ll need to close down your pool when the weather starts to get too cold. If you’re wondering when to winterize above ground pools, a good rule of thumb is when the temperature starts to consistently stay below 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The reason for this is that the cold weather prevents algae growth from occurring when your pool isn’t in use. Continue reading to find out the rest of the steps of winterizing your pool.
Clean and Balance
It’s important to give your pool a good cleaning and properly balance the water before shutting down for the winter. It’ll make opening your pool in the summer much easier and make it easier to balance the water before closing. Test your water and add the appropriate chemicals to bring all the various levels into balance one last time. You’ll also want to shock the water one more time to make sure there’s enough sanitizer to last the winter. Adding an overwintering algaecide is also a good idea.
Empty and Plug the Water Lines
Frozen water expands and can cause incredible damage to your water lines. For this reason, you’ll need to make sure they’re drained and plugged for the winter. If your winters aren’t too extreme you might be able to add swimming pool antifreeze to the lines instead.
Winterize Your Skimmer
You should store your skimmer basket in a warm place over the winter. You can use a winter skimmer cover to protect it from the cold weather which means you won’t have to drain your pool to a level below the skimmer intake. If you don’t use a winter cover, you’ll need to inspect the skimmer, especially if it rains, to make sure it’s able to drain.
Winterize Your Pump and Filter
You’ll need to drain the water pump, its plugs, and hoses and store them indoors. Depending on the types of filters you have, they’ll also need to be drained according to directions and stored indoors.
Draining the Pool
You shouldn’t drain your pool completely as it can cause your liner to dry out and crack. If you’re using a winter skimmer cover, you won’t have to drain it at all. If you’re not using a skimmer cover, drain the pool so the water level is below the skimmer intake.
Install an Ice Compensator
Also known as a pool pillow, this device ensures that your pool cover doesn’t end up sinking into the pool because of a buildup of ice and snow on its surface. The pillow will also protect the pool walls from being damaged over the winter while keeping debris out of the water. Don’t blow up the pool pillow to maximum capacity – 50% to 60% is ideal.
Cover Up the Pool
Now all you need to do is cover the pool for the winter. You’ll need to make sure it’s battened down tightly as you don’t want it flying off during a nasty storm. Don’t use heavy objects like stones or bricks to secure the cover as they can cause damage to the liner if they fall into the pool.
To learn more about above ground pools, download a brochure.