How are my fellow Texans doing this morning lol

[mjpohl]

NW Arkansas here, 6 degrees, snowy and wind chill in negative double digits.
Pool surface is iced-except where return valves pointed to. Skimmers are getting water too.
pump holding strong - double tarped equip pad, exposed pvc wrapped with insulation and small heater going. Every couple hours I go around and break up the ice in pool.
Praying to get out of this unscathed!

 

[ajw22]

Would having pool lights on help at all with temp?

No.

 

[ajw22]

Every couple hours I go around and break up the ice in

Breaking up ice is ok with a plaster pool. Do not touch the ice in a vinyl liner pool. The sides of ice can be sharp and can tear the liner if disturbed.

Really better to leave a pool alone once the water freezes.

 

[JJ_Tex]

For all of the Houston folks, my air temp is about 15 degrees and has been there all day. That is similar to what your low will be tomorrow. I have been fine with just running freeze protection for the past few days. I've seen a little ice forming on the surface this morning, but since I bumped up the RMPS to 2500, that ice is now gone. I would expect that you will be fine with freeze protection only.

Since we in the Dallas area are going to be flirting with negative temps tomorrow, I have also put heat tape on the pipes at the equipment pad and covered the pad with a tarp. That took about 30 mins to do and was good insurance since we are all dealing with unprecedented temps for our area.

I dont know that lights would really help. There are lots of questions on heaters, but the short answer is no do not use them as it can corrode your heaters. Unless you really know what are you doing with the heater, that should not be used for freeze protection. Your best protection is to keep the water moving so it doesn't freeze in the pipes or equipment.

Lastly, if you are in Houston, Dallas, or really the majority of the state always know your contingency plan in case your equipment fails or your power turns off. Here is mine:
1. Flip the breaker so the pump cannot come on
2. Undo the drain plugs on my pump, heater, and filter
3. Loosen the pump basket lid
4. Open all valves and the filter pressure release valve
5. Cover everything back up.

Hope that helps and good luck to everyone.

 

[Mdragger88]

1“ of rain creates 10” of snow.

I learned this the hard way when my water line to my house busted. We had alot of snow that year & I thought I could melt snow to flush the toilet- after gathering 5, 5gal buckets & transfering them to a pot on the stove i gave it up....

 

[mjpohl]

Breaking up ice is ok with a plaster pool. Do not touch the ice in a vinyl liner pool. The sides of ice can be sharp and can tear the liner if disturbed.

Really better to leave a pool alone once the water freezes.

Thanks! All plaster here so no issues but nerve racking to see my surface with so much ice!!

 

[dkinfowlkes]

Any thoughts on icicles hanging from pvc fountain jets? Jets running fine, just ice hanging off pipe. About 12-18 inches long.

 

[ajw22]

Any thoughts on icicles hanging from pvc fountain jets? Jets running fine, just ice hanging off pipe. About 12-18 inches long.

Leave it alone and watch it melt next week.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Took the kiddo for a walk and here is proof that keeping the water moving keeps it from freezing, at least here in Texas:

Kiddo next to the creek where the water is moving:


Kiddo standing ON top of the creek where it is not flowing very much:

 

[dkinfowlkes]

Took the kiddo for a walk and here is proof that keeping the water moving keeps it from freezing, at least here in Texas:

Kiddo next to the creek where the water is moving:
View attachment 175776

Kiddo standing ON top of the creek where it is not flowing very much:

View attachment 175777

 

[Jimrahbe]

JJ,

You might want to get your kid an appointment with the eye doctor...

If I were your kid, I'd be more upset by what you did to my face than I would because you posted my pic on line..

Jim R.

 

[JJ_Tex]

JJ,

You might want to get your kid an appointment with the eye doctor...

heck no, they charge by the eye so it would cost a fortune.

 

[HeyEng]

1“ of rain creates 10” of snow.

As dry as it is and as cold, the ratios have been forecast to be 15:1 and even 20:1. It's madness, for sure.

No idea how much snow we have gotten because of the 30+ MPH winds have created some pretty impressive snow drifts. However, one of the drifts has piled up about 3' up my equipment pad shelter and there is a good 2' on top of the shelter resulting in a nice insulating effect and the equipment pad temp has increased to 39 degrees in spite of the excessive wind and 5 degree ambient temps. Not sure how long it will stay that warm, though. I have turned off the pool heater and the negative temps are now forecasted for the 3 nights in a row. Blah...this isn't much fun!

 

[TexasBR]

Yikes, I just put insulation over the spigot that controls the water going into the pool.
Was that I bad move, since many people are experiencing excessive evaporation?

 

[lardo5150]

What's everyones plan if there are any rolling blackouts?
People in our subdivision are talking about how that might happen. At what point or how long of outage do you throw the towel in?

 

[HeyEng]

Yikes, I just put insulation over the spigot that controls the water going into the pool.
Was that I bad move, since many people are experiencing excessive evaporation?

We have NOT had that issue (evaporation) as of yet. I ran the heater for about 24 hours and got the temp up to about 80. The water temp is now 75'ish and while there is quite a bit of steam coming off, the pool level has not dropped too much. Granted, it has snowed ALL DAY, but the moisture content of this has been fairly low. The rain sensors are frozen around the state, so I don't know what the "liquid amount" has been. Forecasts showed between .75" and 1.5" which would obviously help with the evaporation a bit. Tonight will be the tell all as the temp is forecast to get down to -5 with winds still howling around 30 MPH.

 

[JJ_Tex]

What's everyones plan if there are any rolling blackouts?
People in our subdivision are talking about how that might happen. At what point or how long of outage do you throw the towel in?

I've heard the blackouts will only be for 15 mins, so if that holds true we should be fine since that is also the freeze protection duration. 30 mins or more, and I might be out there flipping switches and draining the equipment.

I also just checked on my pool since it is snowing like crazy, and I had some slushy stuff forming even at 2600 rpms. Gonna be an anxious 24 hours for me. I stirred it around as best I could with the pole and upped my rpms. I'll probably do that again before bed.

 

[lardo5150]

Interesting. Mine has been running at 2500.
I just turned high speed on, which kicks it up to 2750.
Is it safe to run all night at that rpm?

 

[JJ_Tex]

Interesting. Mine has been running at 2500.
I just turned high speed on, which kicks it up to 2750.
Is it safe to run all night at that rpm?

It should be. When mine was started up the builder ran it full blast at 3400 for the first 3 days.

 

[melodyanne]

The big ticket items will be the heater, the pump, and the filter. Also if any underground lines that are covered by your deck get damaged. Those are less likely. Not draining the pool equipment puts them at great risk. Not much you can do now.

So if my pool is running fine now (no freezing anywhere) and I want to make the best choice to protect everything, are you saying draining the equipment is the safest thing to do? If so, I’d rather be miserable for half an hour doing that and be at peace these next few days. Currently equip is blanketed and tarped with a 40 watt bulb.