Our pool is surrounded by trees so we always close it during the last week of October, before most of the trees lose their leaves. It is always a swamp when we open it each year because there is always a lot of leaves and debris in the pool, even though the mesh cover was on tightly the whole time. The leaves stained the bottom of the deep end last year so I’d like to minimize the number of leaves and debris that make it into the pool this fall and winter, if possible. Is there anything that can be put around the perimeter of the pool to keep leaves and debris from getting into the pool? I assume that it would be a bad idea to put bricks around the edge of the loop-loc cover so I'm hoping someone has a better solution for me.
preventing leaves and debris from getting into loop-loc mesh-covered pool
- Thread starter gwtw
- Start date
I have a few trees near the pool and dreading when they start falling. Waiting to close end of October. Water temp seems to be holding around 68 right now. This is my first closing. What I was thinking of doing was get every leaf as I possibly could before closing, note: some will still fall in while in process of closing. Leave a corner open then throw robot in. Maybe also consider placing water bags along the edge of cover to hold it down preventing leaves from entering? Others will chime in with more ideas.
Somebody posted a few weeks ago (sorry i forgot who for proper credit) about using a 3/4 inch (?) foam rope under the perimeter of the cover it held the cover tighter and stopped everything from blowing under.
Found it..... from @Pool_Medic
Mutual Industries 5/8 in. x 1550 ft. Closed Cell Backer Rod 625-0-0 - The Home Depot
Backer rod is an ideal non-absorbent compressible backup material inserted into a joint to control sealant depth. This creates a backstop to allow proper sealant tooling and proper sealant of the joint
www.homedepot.com
I also have a lot of trees and a mesh cover. high winds raise the cover and let leaves in. you can use water bags or water blocks between the tie down straps to help hold the cover down. i just use old chlorine jugs partly filled with pool water, but they are unsightly.
I use foam noodles (pipe insulators) around the perimeter to reduce the amount of leaves getting into the pool during high winds. I also have raised coping which helps. You can get noodles at home depot in the plumbing isle and I usually connect them together using 1" dia barbed pvc nipples used in sprinkler systems. I usually add black tie wraps to secure the noodles to the cover straps.
Everbilt 1/2 in. x 6 ft. Foam Pipe Insulation ORP05812 - The Home Depot
For an economical and energy efficient way to help prevent your pipes from freezing use the Everbilt Foam Pipe Insulation. This insulation is fire-rated helping ensure safety. This product has an R-value
www.homedepot.com
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Thanks for all of the advice, everyone. I think I'm going to try putting foam noodles around the perimeter to see if it decreases the amount of leaves that blow under the cover during high winds, since this can be done very inexpensively. If this doesn't work, is there anything that I could add to the water before closing to decrease the chances of tannin stains? I'm closing with polyquat, since water temperature is only at 65 degrees, but I'd be willing to add something else if it would prevent stains from the leaves. I'm also wondering if it would help if I tied a few cheap blue tarps over the section of the pool cover near those trees to prevent as many leaves from getting under the cover and possibly prevent leaves from sitting on the cover and leeching their tannins into the pool? Last year, there was a ton of leaves in the deep end at opening since there are three birch trees to the left of the deep end with small leaves. I'd like to do whatever it takes to decrease the number of leaves that get into the pool this time so I don't experience any more staining. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.