Adding Chemicals Over the Winter Months

[dfiletti]

Folks-

Wanted to break this out as it's own topic as I gotta figure others will want to know more about how/whether/ when to address treating the pool over the winter. My contact from Aqivations, the plaster manufacturer for Hydrazzo, stated that;

"It is imperative to check and adjust chemicals in a covered pool during the closed months when ever the water isn’t frozen"

So this winter, I'm going to do this. I'll pull the cover back, and test the water every few weeks. What's next though? As experience suggests, my pH will likely rise. How would I treat it without the pump running?

Can't just throw MA into an un-circulating pool, can I? Even if I diluted it before adding it, that's still not going to distribute well, and possibly even sit in the bottom down by the drain, destroying my plaster.

How do others deal with this?

I'd be most curious to know.

Dan

 

[Peter_S]

I have always purchased the pool store closing kit - put it in according to the directions - cover and reopened to chrystal clear water. Somewhere on this site there was a suggestion of an algacide and something else. I was going to look at it again closer to closing time. But the short answer is that for the 7 to 8 months my pool is closed I don't look at it, test it, think about it, and I am always amazed at how clear the water is when it's OPENING TIME!!!!

 

[dorpo75]

Same here. This will be the first year closing with BBB and I know it will be stellar when re-opening in the spring of '11. It has been stellar so far this entire summer. No troubles only great water and wonderful swimming. Thanks BBB!

 

[Heckpools]

It really depends on the type of winter cover you guys are using. If an aboveground pool is closed clean,clear and with your standard "solid tarp" style cover, its going to open just the way you closed it. The solid covers allow zero sunlight, and debri to pass through it keeping the pool perfect. You also have no reason to test water and adjust chemicals with a solid cover.

I've never closed a pool that was beautiful at the time of closing and had it open green when closing it using either a solid safety cover, or a solid tarp cover.

Now... MESH covers on the other hand what a pain in the arse!
You get sunlight, dirt, pollen, dust, rainwater, and whatever else decides to land on the cover go right into your beautiful pool... so yes, if you have a mesh style cover, and you would like to keep the pool as clear as possible, pulling back the cover and adding some liquid chlorine every couple weeks is a GREAT idea.

Circulating the water- SUMP PUMP or 2 of them if you have them... place the pump down in the deepend of the pool, and place the feed hose at the shallow end of the pool. If you have 2 pumps place the second one in the shallow end and the feed hose into the deep end. Add your liquid chlorine, and let the pumps run for a few hours. If you have a liner in your pool, id also maybe throw the pool brush on your vac pole and brush the slopes and pool floor in the area you poured the chlorine to help mix it a little quicker.

If your sick of your mesh cover, once the pool is closed just place a solid tarp style cover on top of the mesh cover. If you dent open the pool yourself, be sure to remove the tarp cover before the pool guys get their. We tend to get cranky when there is added work for us that we didn't charge you for :-D seriously though, take it off lol. Hahaha

 

[bk406]

Now... MESH covers on the other hand what a pain in the arse!
You get sunlight, dirt, pollen, dust, rainwater, and whatever else decides to land on the cover go right into your beautiful pool... so yes, if you have a mesh style cover, and you would like to keep the pool as clear as possible, pulling back the cover and adding some liquid chlorine every couple weeks is a GREAT idea.

i'll disagree a little bit
A good mesh cover (Loop-Loc come to mind) will not let much if any light into the pool. I didnt see a lot of dirt in the pool either the fisrt year i opened after getting my Loop-Loc. In fact, my water looked as good with the mesh cover as it did with the tarp the previous year. The key with a mesh cover, or any closing cover for that matter, is timing of the close and open. IMO, a pool should not be closed until the water temp gets into the low 60's and can stay there. Columbus day is a good date to shoot for. Same with opening. Early opening in April will pretty much assure a non-green opening if the water was clear at close.
I will say that once you close the pool, you really dont need to mess with them. Close it up later in the fall, enjoy the holidays, shovel the snow, and think about April!

Only exception really is if you need to pump some water out over the winter

 

[dfiletti]

I've got a solid cover, and the water looks great when I open it, it's just that the pH is off the charts (this spring it was ~11!). I can only assume I'll have similar results this spring.

I guess I could drop in a submersible pump or two, as was suggested. Actually, thinking about it, I do not believe my water freezes solid, even in the shallow end. Maybe I should just drop in two pumps with a length of house attached to each capable of reaching from the deep end to the shallow end, submerse the entire setup, stretch out the hoses, and just run the power cords out. Test the water every few weeks, (while not frozen) add acid as indicated, and then simply plug in the pumps for a few hours.

Thoughts?

Dan

 

[Heckpools]

Now... MESH covers on the other hand what a pain in the arse!
You get sunlight, dirt, pollen, dust, rainwater, and whatever else decides to land on the cover go right into your beautiful pool... so yes, if you have a mesh style cover, and you would like to keep the pool as clear as possible, pulling back the cover and adding some liquid chlorine every couple weeks is a GREAT idea.

i'll disagree a little bit
A good mesh cover (Loop-Loc come to mind) will not let much if any light into the pool. I didnt see a lot of dirt in the pool either the fisrt year i opened after getting my Loop-Loc. In fact, my water looked as good with the mesh cover as it did with the tarp the previous year. The key with a mesh cover, or any closing cover for that matter, is timing of the close and open. IMO, a pool should not be closed until the water temp gets into the low 60's and can stay there. Columbus day is a good date to shoot for. Same with opening. Early opening in April will pretty much assure a non-green opening if the water was clear at close.
I will say that once you close the pool, you really dont need to mess with them. Close it up later in the fall, enjoy the holidays, shovel the snow, and think about April!

Only exception really is if you need to pump some water out over the winter

i should have said the regular mesh, not the extreme mesh or "better" mesh covers that most companies make. The cheap mesh covers dont open so pretty. But i couldnt agree with you more about timing. If you close the pool when its still 80 out and open it after a few weeks of 80 degree temps, oh boy.

 

[tbenton]

We have had a loop loc mesh cover for 11 years and the pool is a swamp when we open it and it takes 3 days of backwashing manually every few hours to clear it up. We use over a large bag of DE during this process. I put 2 winter shocks and 2 winter algaecides in the pool around Feb but it still resembles a swamp. No debris...just muck on the bottom from the road and whatever. Its gross but we have a well so having a loop loc assures that we will have plenty of water in the pool in the spring AND no nasty water bags and cover pumps to deal with. We have so many trees that we have to close the pool during mid-late September here in Northern Virginia. The leave situation becomes so laborious. We open mid May which is probably too late since it warms up before that. Just trying to save electricity I guess.

 

[linen]

We open mid May which is probably too late since it warms up before that. Just trying to save electricity I guess.

What temperature is the pool when you close and what temperature is the pool when you open? Is the pool clean when you close?

 

[tbenton]

The pool is probably around 70 degrees when we close or a bit colder. Depends on the weather here which changes every 15 minutes this time of the year. The pool gets no shade so when the sun beats down on it in the summer the water gets in the upper 80s. . When we open its about the same temp as when we close. The pool is crystal clear and clean when we close and thats the way I keep it all summer. I even use pool noodles under the edge of the loop loc to keep leaves from getting into the pool and it works. We have dozens of huge very tall trees and you can see many of them in the picture. I just keep thinking why do I pour all that 'money' into it and then lower the water. I am pretty sure that professional pool service people when closing pools do not sit around and wait for the shock to circulate for an hour or so and then for the algaecide. I would much rather have the chemicals all in the pool and not the yard.



]We open mid May which is probably too late since it warms up before that. Just trying to save electricity I guess.[/quote]

What temperature is the pool when you close and what temperature is the pool when you open? Is the pool clean when you close?[/quote]

 

[linen]

If you wait until the pool water is consistently below 60F, and open before the pool water goes above 60F, that will help a lot. If you do close to warmer temperatures, then definitely use a polyquat60 algaecide.

As for wasting pool chemicals, it is probably only one gallon of 12.5% LC that you would lose when draining (assuming you drain about 1/4 of you volume and your cya level is about 50 ppm)...so no big deal. If you do use polyquat60, you can add that after you drain if you want, but make sure you use a brush and work it around real well.

 

[tbenton]

I would love to be able to wait until the water is colder but the leaves are already an issue falling into the water more and more every day and when there is a breeze.....rut roh. In the spring it would be March if I wanted to open with water below 60...lol. Your advice is sound but not always practical. This is the time of the year when I can't wait to get it covered. We use polyquat equivalent and I add two more bottles in Feb along with more winter shock

Let me ask one more question. Should we use scale and stain preventive when closing? We always use it when opening but all of a sudden I am questioning the timing. Its never too late to learn.

Thanks so much
Terri
========

If you wait until the pool water is consistently below 60F, and open before the pool water goes above 60F, that will help a lot. If you do close to warmer temperatures, then definitely use a polyquat60 algaecide.

As for wasting pool chemicals, it is probably only one gallon of 12.5% LC that you would lose when draining (assuming you drain about 1/4 of you volume and your cya level is about 50 ppm)...so no big deal. If you do use polyquat60, you can add that after you drain if you want, but make sure you use a brush and work it around real well.

 

[samt]

I have a loop lock cover also. When I close I put the cover on first and leave the pump attached until the water is at 50. i maintain the pool with 3" pucks for a month. I never add anything to the water after I remove the pump. When I open in the spring , sure there is dirt that filters through the mesh but the water is pretty clear. Takes about 24 hrs to clear.

 

[tbenton]

You don't lower the water?

I have a loop lock cover also. When I close I put the cover on first and leave the pump attached until the water is at 50. i maintain the pool with 3" pucks for a month. I never add anything to the water after I remove the pump. When I open in the spring , sure there is dirt that filters through the mesh but the water is pretty clear. Takes about 24 hrs to clear.

 

[samt]

You don't lower the water?

I have a loop lock cover also. When I close I put the cover on first and leave the pump attached until the water is at 50. i maintain the pool with 3" pucks for a month. I never add anything to the water after I remove the pump. When I open in the spring , sure there is dirt that filters through the mesh but the water is pretty clear. Takes about 24 hrs to clear.

Yes I lower the water 2" below the skimmer and maintain it at that level with a siphon hose if it rains and starts to fill up to the skimmer mouth.

You can lower the water if the tarp is on. You need to remove the eyeballs on the returns and plug those.

unsnapping the cover is no big deal in those areas

 

[tbenton]

Very interesting about running the pump and using pucks after putting cover on until the temp is low. I have never heard that before. Your weather is mostly like mine so I will have to think about your method for us. Takes 3 days to clear our water. We live near a major road and even though we have a 10 foot basket weave fence its amazing how much road dirt gets in the pool in the winter.

What about blowing out the lines to prevent freezing? How do you do that after the cover is on?

You don't lower the water?

I have a loop lock cover also. When I close I put the cover on first and leave the pump attached until the water is at 50. i maintain the pool with 3" pucks for a month. I never add anything to the water after I remove the pump. When I open in the spring , sure there is dirt that filters through the mesh but the water is pretty clear. Takes about 24 hrs to clear.

Yes I lower the water 2" below the skimmer and maintain it at that level with a siphon hose if it rains and starts to fill up to the skimmer mouth.

You can lower the water if the tarp is on. You need to remove the eyeballs on the returns and plug those.

unsnapping the cover is no big deal in those areas

 

[samt]

I just hook my little compressor up to the pump and turn it on. There is a screw near the filter basket , I remove that and screw in a 1/4 inch fitting that I snap my compressor hose on. Turn it on and air goes through all the lines and pushes the water out,

As each skimmer bubbles I plug them. Then the returns will bubble, plug those. Last will be the main drain,when that bubbles use the valve near the pump to close that and create an air lock.

 

[tbenton]

Very Interesting. Our process/ DE filter/equipment is not set up to do it that way.

Thanks
Terri
---

quote="samt"]I just hook my little compressor up to the pump and turn it on. There is a screw near the filter basket , I remove that and screw in a 1/4 inch fitting that I snap my compressor hose on. Turn it on and air goes through all the lines and pushes the water out,

As each skimmer bubbles I plug them. Then the returns will bubble, plug those. Last will be the main drain,when that bubbles use the valve near the pump to close that and create an air lock.[/quote]

 

[uloset]

I also have a mesh cover and am following a similar process as mentioned above. Our yard has many trees and I would spend an hour every night taking out leaves, so I just throw the cover on in early/mid Sept. Instead of pucks I still use liquid chlorine and just detach a few of the anchors which gives me enough room to add the chlorine via a 2.5 quart pitcher in front of the returns. I run the filter everyone few days just to circulate things or whenever I add chlorine. I have an older loop lock or that's at least what the original owners paper works states, either way lots of light gets through it. Even with it being far from total light blocking my chlorine use around this time of year is less that 1ppm per day. Though the pucks also sound like a good solution, a few will last a long time and the small amount of CYA added will most likely be negated by the water that you remove open totally closing the pool.

On a side note I've had an idea to just rig up a short length of pvc with a 90 degree fitting and a funnel and just shove it under the cover near the the deep end return. This way you would not even need to touch the cover just pour the chlorine into the pipe with the pump running and that's that. I've just been to lazy to actually glue the pvc together.

 

[tbenton]

AH HA....MacGyver! Years ago I rigged up a 3 inch diameter semi flexible black rubber hose that I found in the garage and used a funnel with a long neck auto funnel. Put it over the skimmer Weir to add winter algaecide in the shallow end BUT ended up having to prop it way up on buckets in the deep end to get the correct flow angle under the cover to avoid taking straps off (they are very difficult/ tight at the deep end). Very awkward and difficult when adding granular shock and I would have to run the water hose down the hose to flush the shock out OR mix the shock with water and pour it that way but still awkward. NOW thanks to you I can modify my process with 90 degree pvc. I just bought pvc and cement for my hubby to repair an angled pvc football flag pole. I have extra pvc and just need the 90 degree elbow. BRILLANT.....and thanks and I should have figured that config out for myself. I will be using liquid chlorine this winter to make it easier. After the initial dosing of winter shock before cover goes on....good old cheap bleach will work every now and then this winter plus algaecide.

The pool is all 'mine' to take care of after we open except for putting the cover on. We have tall trees galore and right now I am itching to get the cover on next Tuesday. Its an older loop loc and like yours lots of light gets thru. Next time we will get the modified loop loc with the mesh flap pocket in the middle and solid everywhere else.OF course perfect timing with our Polaris cleaner acting up and it can't seem to stay off the walls most of the time so I have to get leaves and hickory nuts off the bottom TOO! I will take it apart and check it out after the pool is closed...too late and too lazy to do it now that its time to close.

We sure work at this stuff don't we?
------------
quote="uloset"]I also have a mesh cover and am following a similar process as mentioned above. Our yard has many trees and I would spend an hour every night taking out leaves, so I just throw the cover on in early/mid Sept. Instead of pucks I still use liquid chlorine and just detach a few of the anchors which gives me enough room to add the chlorine via a 2.5 quart pitcher in front of the returns. I run the filter everyone few days just to circulate things or whenever I add chlorine. I have an older loop lock or that's at least what the original owners paper works states, either way lots of light gets through it. Even with it being far from total light blocking my chlorine use around this time of year is less that 1ppm per day. Though the pucks also sound like a good solution, a few will last a long time and the small amount of CYA added will most likely be negated by the water that you remove open totally closing the pool.

On a side note I've had an idea to just rig up a short length of pvc with a 90 degree fitting and a funnel and just shove it under the cover near the the deep end return. This way you would not even need to touch the cover just pour the chlorine into the pipe with the pump running and that's that. I've just been to lazy to actually glue the pvc together.[/quote]