Ice on cover of inground pool

[mitch08]

Hey guys,

Can ice be harmful if it sits on the cover of an inground pool too long?
I don't have one of those cool covers you can walk on. this is an old school cover that floats on the pool and is held on by water bags

I live in NY and we had so much snow and ice this year that it won't unfreeze. So Ive had about 6 inches of frozen water on the cover all winter. Normally this wouldnt bother me cause it melts and I pump it off. But this time it never melted.

I guess my question is, can the ice expand and put constant pressure on my liner, doing damage? Is this a concern?

Thanks,

 

[jschapansky]

I have little to no knowledge about this but I would think that the pressure of ice expanding wouldnt even be comparable to the pressure or 20000 Gallons of water pushing on the sides.. I think its fine. but I am no expert

 

[JasonLion]

The ice isn't a problem as long as you have the cover adjusted so that most of it's weight is supported by the water. If the cover is held up above the water, the weight of the ice can occasionally damage the springs. While everything is frozen you should lower the tension on the springs and allow the cover to be supported by the water/ice in the pool. As long as you do that everything will be just fine.

 

[launboy]

If the pressure around the edge is enough greater on one side, the walls can fall over.

On an Inground pool? That would be disasterous, do you mean on an Above ground pool?

Adam

 

[JasonLion]

Sorry, somehow I read in-ground as above ground. Corrected information is above.

 

[PaulR]

I have little to no knowledge about this but I would think that the pressure of ice expanding wouldnt even be comparable to the pressure or 20000 Gallons of water pushing on the sides.. I think its fine. but I am no expert

An inground pool is mostly braced by, well, the ground; the sides of the hole it's in.
Pretty strong. The situation at the top of the walls is a bit different, I'd think
a thick enough ice sheet could potentially crack something.

The cover would suffer first, though, which I think was the original question.
If there isn't enough play around the edges, it might split.
--paulr

 

[allaboutcovers]

Water or ice on any type of cover be it an above ground pool or in-ground pools will displace the water in the swimming pool (imagine taking a full glass of water and then putting ice into it) causing it to rise and drain off into the overflows or even onto the decking. Any water or ice on the surface of a pool cover should be removed as soon as possible to eliminate any damage to the cover as well as keeping the swimming pool area safe.

 

[JasonLion]

Any water or ice on the surface of a pool cover should be removed as soon as possible to eliminate any damage to the cover as well as keeping the swimming pool area safe.

I mostly agree about water, you don't want too much accumulating. But with snow and ice there usually isn't any practical way to remove it without risking more damage than the snow/ice is likely to cause. A snow shovel is far more likely to go through the cover than snow alone is. And anything that is solid enough to deal with ice is even more likely to cause damage.

 

[PaulR]

Water or ice on any type of cover be it an above ground pool or in-ground pools will displace the water in the swimming pool (imagine taking a full glass of water and then putting ice into it)

What, you don't lower the water level before putting the cover on? That's what we
did with our inground pool when I was a kid. The winter's accumulation typically
wasn't enough to get back up to the normal water level.

Also the ice-in-a-glass-of-water analogy isn't really correct, as the glass of water
doesn't have a cover on it.

But with snow and ice there usually isn't any practical way to remove it without risking more damage than the snow/ice is likely to cause.

I think I remember using a big push broom for snow. Ice was hopeless.

--paulr

 

[reindeerboy]

OK, We have 3 feet of snow ontop of my cover and I did remove most of the snow but you cant remove all the ice and snow on the cover. It will not hurt the liner. As Jason stated, you are more likely to cause damage with a shovel than the snow/ice itself. I use a shovel until I get about a foot left. Then I pulled out the broom and pulled off as much as I could. There still is about a foot in through the middle, but that wont hurt it any.

You should be fine.

 

[mitch08]

Thanks everyone!!!!!

We of course lowered the level of the water. My only concern was the ice expanding and putting so much pressure on the pool that it would damage the liner. Not the walls or anything.

Anyway after reading everything I am no longer concerned about this.

Thanks again!