Opening without opening

[TimS]

This spring will be my first opening this pool using BBB. I don't know what my FC level might be right now, because the pool's been frozen since mid-December.

I'm assuming that my chlorine level will be pretty low, and if I let it get too warm out, I'll have a green mess. I'd rather not deal with that, but DW would rather not spend the money to run the pump either.

Although I'd love to open it early, just to look at it, does it make sense to:
1. Fill it back up
2. Add chlorine to a normal level or maybe a bit on the high side
3. Run the pump until the chlorine is well distributed
4. Turn the pump back off
5. Leave it covered (winter cover) until I'm ready to actually use it.
6. Optionally, since the pump is on a timer, run it a couple of hours a day just to keep it stirred up, even though that isn't long enough to turn it over.

I should be able to do all of the above without removing the winter cover. If I do this after the end of March, I shouldn't have to worry about freezing. Does anyone foresee any problems with this? Has anyone else ever tried it?

(Last year I was forced to open it quite early, due to a leak and having the liner fall in. It was beautiful then, but I wound up running the pump and the heater for about 45 days before anyone would get in the water. $$$$)

Of course, all of this assumes that I'll be able to resist opening it up anyway. :lol:

TIA,
Tim.

 

[AnnaK]

You don't say where you are but since it's frozen, you're northerly.

I'm in eastern PA. Here's how I "open":

Wait for the ice to thaw. Scoop out what debris I can reach with the net. Dump in a large jug of Clorox. Swish it around with the brush. Try to entice my husband to seat the wedding cake steps in 33° F water without freezing off his arms. Open the gate to let the dogs in. If they want to swim, fine. I'll scoop the dog hair out with the nets since the water level is still too low to run the pump.

From then on I'll check the chlorine levels once a week. This will be about the end of March/beginning of April. Once the water temp gets to 50° F I'll add water so I can run the pump. I don't cover my pool over winter or any other time. By now there'll be plenty of pollen on the water surface and I need the circulation to catch it in the skimmer and PoolSkim. I manually skim and scoop what I can; there's no point in running the pump until I need regular circulation.

By the time the pollens fly I'll be testing chlorine daily. Somewhere along the line I will have checked for CYA—which will be zero—and I will have put some amount of it inside a floating frog designed to be used with trichlor tabs. It'll dissolve eventually. At this point, I really don't care yet because the water is still pretty cold and not much is growing to consume the chlorine.

We'll be in full swing by Mem Day: pool refilled, plumbing hooked up, pump running, chems perfect. Until then, it's all manual and kind of tossed together. This is NOT rocket science.

 

[PaulR]

(Actually the sig says Central Missouri. Cold enough.)

Doesn't hurt to run the pump with the cover on; those of us with solar covers or safety covers normally run that way. As long as you keep the skimmer adequately supplied, or turned off, you should be fine. My pool temp is currently in the low 50s, I'm running the pump about 4hrs/day. Other than that, what AnnaK said.
--paulr

 

[polyvue]

(Last year I was forced to open it quite early, due to a leak and having the liner fall in. It was beautiful then, but I wound up running the pump and the heater for about 45 days before anyone would get in the water. $$$$)

Just curious why you ran the heater when no one was swimming? If I ran my heater for 45 days... I'd have to sell the house to pay for the electric bill!

 

[TimS]

Just curious why you ran the heater when no one was swimming? If I ran my heater for 45 days... I'd have to sell the house to pay for the electric bill!

DW's idea was to get the water warm enough to entice the family to swim. My kids are hothouse flowers, though, and thought 82 degree water in 70 degree weather was too cold to swim. (I got in a few times.) My electric rates are low enough that it wasn't horrible. My house is all electric, and the bill holds fairly steady at $225 - $250 per month year round, (with the exception of last December, which was $350.) Last year, I wound up with either the house heat pump or the pool heat pump running, but usually not both.

This year, I'm not planning to start the heater as early, and if I only partially open, I'll only run the pump a couple of hours a day. Hopefully I'll be able to lower my electric bill for a couple of months.

(I'm also planning to get a solar cover. Last year I tried the "Solar Pill." It seemed to help some, but I don't have enough experience yet to know for sure how much effect it really had.)

Tim.

 

[bk406]

thought 82 degree water in 70 degree weather was too cold to swim.

Wow, we will swim in 82 degree water, at night, when the air temp is in the upper 50's! New Englanders are a hearty lot!

 

[TimS]

Wow, we will swim in 82 degree water, at night, when the air temp is in the upper 50's! New Englanders are a hearty lot!

Darling children complain that any water below 85 degrees is too cold, particularly when the air temps are below 80, but refuse to wear actual coats to school when the temp is below 20, (No, Dad. Nobody wears a coat. We all just wear hoodies. Coats are too annoying. :blah: :blah: ) but then complain about how cold it is walking home from the bus stop (about 500 feet.)

Oh, well.