reusing water from the top of the winter cover

[Diver]

i have a pool that i cover with a solid cover for the winter. the cover has good number of small holes so it's not water tight.

2 years ago i pumped the water from the cover to the pool before opening. i opened to a bright green transparent color. with enough bleach it went to clean in a matter of day. oh, yeah - it also had 2 dead chipmunks half dissolved in the shallow area

last year, i got rid of the water from the cover and opened to slightly green still transparent water. the same shocking process brought it back to sparkly clean.

right now after a lot of snow i have a lot of water on top. maybe a foot or so. due to tiny holes in the cover i think i will open to greenish pool and will have to shock it anyway. so i'm wondering if i should pump it back into the pool right now while the water temp is barely above freezing? or will it make no difference?

 

[JohnN]

I don't know what is better for you, but I will tell you what I do. I do refill the pool using water from the cover, and every year I believe the pool has been clear. The reason I use cover water is because my fill water comes from a well, and contains a lot of iron. So for me, cover water is the better choice. I don't know anything about your fill water, so I don't know what is better for you.

 

[Diver]

my fill water is awesome and it's relatively cheap. but i do have a small leak so i have to refill often, so i have some appreciation for free water. i think i will use it anyway, i'm just wondering if pumping it in now would be worse than doing it right before opening

 

[mariane]

I'm curious. Do you filter the stuff out of the water before you pump it back into the pool? If you do, how do you do it this early in the season? Our cover has leaves and pollen floating in it and will soon have the "bird bath" remains. It seems like a bad idea to put that water back into the pool. But I have thought of it in the past. You have we wondering how. ;o)

 

[JohnN]

I use an old whole house water filter. I'll take pictures of the contraption later. Luckily my pool cover doesn't get too many leaves on it.

 

[Leebo]

Any chance you can pull back a small section and peak under?? If its already green I'd say go for it..... I know I have in the past.

 

[Diver]

i have some residue from old leaves from the fall. and i bet i have it under the cover as well. what works right now is the fact the water is barely above freezing, so i could pump it in before it starts getting all green on top and hopefully under a dark cover it would stay ok.

anyway, i pumped the majority of it in. no filtering. i did it once right before i opened and it was greenish when i opened. i feel i have to shock it one way or another, at least this way i get some free water

 

[JohnN]

Today when I pumped in the water I added 128 oz of bleach to get my chlorine level up. Hopefully that will help keep the pool clear. Just a suggestion for next time.

 

[pwrstrk]

This is the cover I use http://www.saveonpoolsupplies.com/Pool- ... ol-Covers/
I always open to clear water.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mariane]

THanks everyone. I am game for using a filter while pumping the winter cover water back in. Hubbie is not so sure. :-| We usually open to slightly green water in May anyway, so like "diver" I'm thinking "6 of one and 1/2 dozen of another". The water level is just below the skimmer inlet and the return outlet so I would have to make sure they are plugged first.

I will be starting a new thread on this northerner opening the pool "how early". I'm getting antsy reading posts from "those southerners" on the forum that have already gotten started. I guess there is some jealousy there.

 

[JohnN]

I know how you feel. People saying "Oh, my pool is 80 degrees, so I think I will go swimming." While mine is still in the 50's.

 

[Diver]

well, i opened the pool yesterday and here are the pictures. the water was transparent with a green hue to it. this is the same condition that i open to for 3 years. the cover that i have is not water tight and let some water in and out. so it seems that pumping the water in was a good choice.

 

[JohnN]

Even though I have a solid cover, it is old, and has been letting a lot of water evaporate. I have had to add a few inches of water, so I know that even though I have been using cover water, I am going to open to an iron filled pool. Hopefully it will be less than if I didn't use any cover water.