Winterising your pool might be a task, but it is crucial if you live in a cold climate area. Winterizing is necessary to prevent your pool from severe damage from the snow, frost, and freezing temperatures.
In this article, we will discuss how to get your swimming pool ready for the winter properly. Winterizing a swimming pool does not mean completely emptying the water from the pool. On the contrary, the swimming pool structure requires constant pressure exerted by the water in the direction of the walls (the famous thrust of Archimedes). By completely emptying your pool during the winter, you risk altering the stability of the structure and degrading the liner, which must remain constantly submerged.
The fundamental variable determining when a swimming pool is ready to be winterized is the temperature of the water. Indeed, when the water reaches a temperature equal to or less than 12°C, you can begin the process of winterizing. If you start the process too early and the water is too hot, you can run the risk of microorganisms(algae) growth in the water.
Table of Contents
Steps To Winterise the Pool
Remove Pool Accessories
The first step is to remove all the pool equipment or accessories like ladders, skimmers, and cleaners. Store them safely during the winter season.
Gather Your Pool Storing Essentials
Before anything, you must ensure you have all the equipment to close the pool. These are:
- Pool Air Pillow
- Water Bags
- Expansion Plugs
- Winterising Chemical Kit, Ph Increaser, Pool Shock, and Algaecide
- Pool Cover
- Cover Winch and Cable
- Cover Clips
- Return Line Plugs
- Clarifying Enzyme Supplement
- Pool Skimmer Cover
- Pool Slides
- Swimming Pool Antifreeze
Thoroughly Clean the Pool
Before storing your pool for the whole winter, clean it for one last time to maintain it throughout. Clean the surface, walls, and pool stairs, neutralize chemical levels, and eliminate debris or dirty water. Clean water prevents your pool from developing scum, algae, or bacteria during the winter.
Follow this guide to clean the bottom of the steps. To make this process more effortless, you can use pool robots to clean the bottom and the walls.
Perform a Water Shock Treatment
Depending on the products used to treat the pool water (chlorine, bromine, active oxygen, etc.), the shock treatment will allow the pool water to be 100% healthy and clean before storing it for a long time!
You can do it by using water testing kits or strips. Or else you can take a water sample from your pool to the pool store for testing.
Once you’ve tested the water, you can adjust the chemical levels accordingly. It is necessary to consider adjusting the water’s pH to be constantly balanced. After this shock treatment, the filtration must run continuously for at least one day.
Add Poising Winter Chemicals
Balanced water will prevent your pool from damage to the liner or equipment during the off-season.
Use a winter closing kit available online or at pool stores to balance the water and properly store your pool. It includes chlorine neutralizers, water cleaning, alkalinity poising chemicals, etc.
It helps maintain the pH, poise alkalinity, and chlorine level.
Note: also, add Algaecide a few days before closing the pool to kill bacteria and algae
Lower the Water Level
To prevent the pool water from freezing and damaging the pool’s structure or the pipes (as the water expands when frozen).
It is essential to lower the water level approximately 10 cm below the discharge nozzles(The water should have a lower level than the skimmer). Then, it’s time to clean the skimmers, discharge nozzles, and broom sockets!
Warning: In winter, you should never empty your pool: to keep the pool structure intact.
Drain the Equipment
Drain the equipment properly after removing them, and store them in a safe place till the winter fades away. It would be best if you also cleaned all the pumps, filters, and heaters to prevent damage from cold temperatures.
Clean and Stop the Filtration System
We recommended cleaning the swimming pool filter with descaling products and closing the filter valve.
After putting the swimming pool filter’s multiway valve to the “closed” position, properly drain the pump, the filter, the skimmer circuits, the discharges, etc.
This step is crucial because if water freezes in these circuits, it could cause the pipes to burst.
Leave Only the Bare Minimum
To prevent the cold and frost from damaging the equipment, do not hesitate to remove the pump and filter from the technical room and dismantle the diving board and the swimming pool ladder to store them under cover.
Cover the Pool
The final step is to cover up the pool and close it for the winter. Make sure the cover you use isn’t torn out or contains holes. Cover the pool tightly and carefully. The pool cover is the last rampart to protect our pool against rain, snow, cold, and impurities!
Pro Tips
- If the water temperature exceeds 12°C, you need to return to “normal” operation; else, the microorganisms will start growing in the pool.
- Don’t use a salt chlorinator if the water temperature is below 16°C, as it might damage the electrolysis cell.
- If there is a known risk of frost, operate your filtration pump in forced operation (24 hours a day, throughout possible frost). Moving water will prevent the formation of a layer of ice on the surface of the water. Also, remember to open the skimmers and the bottom drain. The hottest water is at the surface of the pool; opening the bottom drain will bring it to the surface and heat the colder water on the surface.
- If you have an All-Season heat pump, you can maintain the water temperature by setting a trigger threshold at +5°C.
- Covering the pool will protect the water from pollution by external elements and reduce the labor of cleaning the pool. Furthermore, an opaque pool cover will prevent photosynthesis and limit algae growth. We recommend using a suitable netting cover for regions prone to heavy snowfall.
FAQ
Why Winterize Your Pool?
Wintering consists of a few simple steps that allow you to protect your pool from the risks caused by the winter season, particularly the formation of frost that can cause significant damage to your installation. It also preserves water quality to avoid unnecessary and costly annual water renewal.
When to Winterize Your Pool?
Winterizing is to be done when the water temperature is consistently below 12°C. At this temperature, bacteria, algae, and microorganisms no longer develop. Therefore, it is important not to start wintering the pool too early, at the risk of seeing germs and microbes increase and complicate the normal functioning of the pool.
