AG Pool Cover

Princesslisa · May 15, 2019

I have a 24 round above ground pool. As always here in Illinois, we had a horrible winter and spring. I have a ton of water on the cover. I did put a pillow in the middle when I closed it. I know these types of covers let water seep through, but I have a LOT of water. I've tried pumping it off, but the pool water gets lower. There is so much debris--leaves, dirt, etc. and I'm trying to scoop it off day by day. I'm at a loss as to how to get the cover off without dumping it in the pool. It seems like raising the water level and pumping it won't help since it will be pumping the pool water. In 17 years I've never had this problem. Our upcoming forecast is rain, rain and more rain so I doubt I'll be opening it anytime soon. How do others deal with this issue? I can't tell if there's a hole since there's so much water I can barely see through to the cover. Is my only solution to pull it off and let everything fall in? It will take me a week to get it clean, if not longer.
I appreciate any suggestions.

Fast7 · May 15, 2019

I had the very same problem a week ago. I've been pumping water out from top of the cover for 48 hours straight and the level of water on top of the cover seemed about the same but the cover kept sinking more and more into the pool. I came to conclusion there must be a hole or tear in a top cover and I stopped the whole process. At that point I decided to dump anything left on the cover into pool and deal with it later.
As I did that, I was very surprised not to find any damage on the cover. Water underneath was crystal clear. I guess I could have been more patient and eventually I would pump all that water from cover out but I was afraid of letting pool water drop too low. In the end it didn't turn out to be too big of a disaster. I put my robot in to start cleaning out all the leaves and other debris and started refilling pool at the same time. I took probably half a dozen of robot cleaning cycles over the course of 4 days but everything is great again and I haven't even had to SLAM it.

If you believe your cover should be fine you can probably continue to add water to pool and pump water out from cover for a day or 2 and see if that will get you somewhere.
Alternatively, dump water to a pool and start cleaning process. Test pool water and make sure you have recommended level of FC to minimize the chance of algae getting foothold in your pool.

Teald024 · May 15, 2019

I would take a leaf net on a pole and scoop out all the debris off the top of the cover. You won't be able to get all the fine stuff, but you should be able to get most of it. I don't see how adding water under the cover will help. Regardless of what you do, there always seems to get a little stuff in the pool water when you take the cover off. It's just part of the process.
You could hook up the main pool pump/filter to the vacuum hose and vacuum the top of the cover through the pool filter or to waste. Last year I did just this and let the water return to the pool through the return eye. I then tested the pool water added chlorine as need. Vacuum up any stuff that falls into the water.

Princesslisa · May 17, 2019

Thanks for your responses. I thought about it, and here's what I did: I have a 16 gallon shop vac with a large hose...about 3 inches. I taped a long piece of pvc (about 10) feet to the end of the shop vac hose. I put it in the water, started it up then shut it off and let gravity do it's thing. It took me a few hours mostly because it would lose suction and I'd have to start over. It even sucked up the leaves which is my biggest issue. My yard is lined with maple trees. However, once 99 percent of the water was gone, I used the hose with the pvc like a vacuum and cleaned off the cover while it was still on the pool. I don't know when I'll open it. I have the pump and filter hooked up and I started filling it, but I live in Illinois and we've had awful weather. It looks like the water is dirty just because of leaves deteriorating and getting through the mesh cover and into the water. Last night we had a brutal wind, rain and hail storm rip through here. My backyard looks like my trees went through a chipper. So, the pool cover is dirty again. Also, it's in the 40's at night, still. I'm glad I didn't open it yet because the cleanup would have awful after last night. It's a little early to open our pools here anyway. Typically it's around Memorial day assuming it's warm. Last year it was in the 90s so who knows what it will be like this year. Thanks again for your responses!

Teald024 · May 17, 2019

Good to hear you got the stuff of the cover. :party:

Neat way to do it.

Just pay attention to water temperature and open the pool when the water is in the 50's or lower 60's. Waiting too long will just allow algae to take hold and make it harder to clean. You are north of where I lived, but when I was in Columbus Ohio, I opened the pool the 2nd week of April. Weather this time of year is tough. :hammer:

Princesslisa · May 17, 2019

You're right...I don't want to wait too long. It's so hard to get more than one day where it isn't raining, storming, snowing...you name it. I like to have at least 2 days to start to get it clean. I don't want to take the cover off and it's day after day of rain. I'm hoping I can get it done by memorial day.

LFrankow · May 17, 2019

What I do is:
Put old solar cover under winter cover for floatation.
When ice stops forming on the winter cover, I scoops out as much junk as I can, then roll off the winter cover. Lots of junk heads into the pool, which is why I spent good $'s on a sand filter.
Wash winter cover and old solar cover and store.
Vac pool, I have to backwash about three times first day.
Wait until pool warms up to do vac from inside.

linda1 · May 18, 2019

I'm in western Pa, and our weather is very unpredictable too. I leave my winter cover on as long as possible, but in early April I bring up my water level and get the pump and filter going. I then keep an eye on my clorine level and add if needed. The winter cover comes off when I feel we are past the early spring mess of tree junk and pollen. We just took our winter cover off last week.

Princesslisa · May 20, 2019

I'm thinking about doing the same thing. I have the pump and filter connected and I started bringing up the water level..it's still in the 40's here at night. We're just starting to warm up this week. I can always peel the cover back a little to let the filter run, but I have so many maple trees which means TONS of the seeds all over so I really don't want to take the cover off just yet. If I can get start it and make sure all is running okay, then I can take the cover off soon.