Hurricane Irene....and my pool.

[KRommel1015]

So, I just spent the last month getting my pool to the "sparkly" level and maintaining fabulously. Went through the shock process and all and here comes a hurricane to
ruin it all. Seriously though, here's my thoughts. I am in coastal NJ. Inland enough that we won't have to evacuate but in the direct path either way. We are going to lose power. For how long is anybody's guess. Can I, at least, delay the eventual "swampitis" if I bring it to shock level or above. I also plan to put the safety cover on to prevent debris from entering the water. Of course it's hot here and the water temp is in the upper 80's. I am just trying to delay it for, say, maybe a week?

thanks guys.

 

[Lana537]

Hi Kristyn~

Regarding the cover, DH and I had an alternative thought: we are leaving our newish Loop Loc cover off because we would rather have a mess in the pool than to have a branch come off one of our many trees and stab a hole in the cover. Do you have anything near your pool that could trash your cover?

Others will be along to advise about the chlorine. We've stepped ours up to Boost in anticipation of power loss. We also have jugs of chlorine standing by.

Good luck!

Lana

 

[257WbyMag]

I would consider how much chlorine you go through per day, and then I would add enough chlorine to maintain the pool for the amount of time that you could reasonably expect the power to be off. For example, my pool loses 2.5 ppm of FC per day. If I expected the power to be off for say, 5 days, I would add 12.5 ppm of chlorine at a minimum. In fact, I would probably add a bit more because my pump won't be working and I'll be getting lots of rain. In any event, raising your baseline FC ahead of the storm can only benefit you in the long run. You may still end up with some algae but you might not have as much algae to deal with as you would if you were to do nothing.

 

[anonapersona]

You might think about leaving the cover off while the wind is blowing. That cover would make a heck of a sail should it come loose.

Then after any debris is raked out of the pool, top off the chlorine and cover it up.

 

[257WbyMag]

You might think about leaving the cover off while the wind is blowing. That cover would make a heck of a sail should it come loose.

Absolutely a good idea. Anything that can blow through the air most likely will and therefore, poses a safety hazard.

 

[KRommel1015]

what about damage to the liner if something should get into it that's pretty big, scratchy or glass??

 

[zea3]

I don't know if anyone here covered their pools during Ike, but I do know the wind from a hurricane can weaken fabric very quickly. On an in ground pool that is completely flat to the ground using a safety cover may work just fine to keep out debris, but on anything elevated, even a spa, the cover will either shred or fly off. It just takes a little bit of an opening for the wind to get under and create havoc. A solar cover will be gone, a tarp style winter cover will be destroyed.

The biggest risk to a vinyl pool is debris ruining the liner. It happens even with heavy thunderstorms or snowstorms that down trees. The best thing you can do is make sure any potential "flying objects" on your property are removed or secured in a house or sturdy garage.

 

[Pisces]

Good luck, Kristyn..just keep you and the family safe...do as much as you can ahead of time, but you can get the pool in order afterwards...great advice from everyone! We are 25 miles from Galveston and stayed here in the house through Hurricane Ike (interesting night but we were OK - strong house and higher ground), but it was right before we started the pool build, so unfortunately I don't have any really great input on that score, but have had the pool overflow a couple times with rainfall. You guys are in my thoughts and prayers up there.

 

[anonapersona]

A reminder to all those in hurricane prone areas that are not lined up for Irene right now.... this is the time to look at trimming your trees to remove weak branches and to prune to let the big winds blow through safely.

Just as Hurricane Rita was heading toward Houston all my neighbors were in their front yards watching my tree trimmer at work, wishing they could get him to come to look at their trees. It is too late to get those appointments once the storm is coming, I had that day booked a week earlier right after returning from post-Katrina New Orleans. We were just lucky that it got done.

 

[Pisces]

Yes anonaperson....very timely advice. We are in a fairly young neighborhood without big mature trees thankfully. I really don't want big trees around the house now. Glad the front two oak trees are fairly slow growing. We trim the branches some every year. But yes, it was the bigger trees falling that caused a ton of damage around our area and especially north of here.

 

[mynewpool]

I would consider how much chlorine you go through per day, and then I would add enough chlorine to maintain the pool for the amount of time that you could reasonably expect the power to be off. For example, my pool loses 2.5 ppm of FC per day. If I expected the power to be off for say, 5 days, I would add 12.5 ppm of chlorine at a minimum. In fact, I would probably add a bit more because my pump won't be working and I'll be getting lots of rain. In any event, raising your baseline FC ahead of the storm can only benefit you in the long run. You may still end up with some algae but you might not have as much algae to deal with as you would if you were to do nothing.

From what I have been told on here that will not work. I have been told you lose a percentage of your chlorine. So at higher FC levels you may lose more than the 2.5 you lose daily. I have tried to recommend this for people going on vacations, but have been told it will not work due to losing a percentage of it per day not an amount.

Example

2% of 20 is more than 2% of 10.