Winter cover issues

[mithesaint]

After fighting with my winter cover ever since closing the pool this fall, I lost the battle yesterday. We had a big Storm with lots of rain and wind come through and when I got home from work my winter cover was floating in the pool.

I live in a high wind area and had been considering going without a cover for awhile but now I have to decide. It gets very cold here and there is potential for the pool to freeze. My questions about going cover-less for the winter:

1. Water level - water level is currently just below the skimmer due to the water from the cover and rainstorm. I assume I want to pump some water out...maybe to 6 inches below the skimmer? I'm worried about continued precipitation and ice expansion after freezing.

2. Chlorine levels - do I need to worry about this? I assume the sun will use up the chlorine faster without a cover but its too cold for algae so...?

Any other words of advice? This is my first winter with a pool so I am a bit unsure what to expect. Thanks!

 

[Nectarologist]

I live in NY so we too get freezing temps. Is your pool above ground? I have read here and my closing company does not lower the water level. They put in a gallon sized jug with gravel in it to weigh it down. I was apprehensive at first but felt better when a pool pro on here (from NJ) said he always closes pools this way (thanks to this person; I forget their handle). If it's above ground you can leave the skimmer hose open ended so any water entering the skimmer drains out.

I don't know about #2 in the very cold months but once temps warm up you'll have issues (though not warm enough to swim).

The above being said I would not leave it uncovered if there is any chance you'll get leaves or other debris in the pool. They will rot over time and when when you try to clean it out it will break up into tiny particles when you try to vacuum that only your filter will be able to clean. You'll put a lot of wear and tear on the filter if it's a cartridge at worst, at best you'll make a lot of extra work for yourself at opening for sand/DE filters. This is speaking from experience (above ground pool, cover blew into pool with a lot of leaves that I left until late spring). If you had a company close it for you call them back.

I feel for you. As said, I've been there.

 

[mithesaint]

Oops. Forgot to mention that it is an above ground pool. I have a few leaves already from the cover dropping in but shouldn't get many more. Tried to skim those leaves out but it was too windy and I couldn't see the bottom of the pool well enough. Thanks for the advice.

 

[nacymar]

About #2 it should be a deal if you have temperature over 39ºF. But you could keep it under control easily with winter products and chlorine. In my opinion the winter cover is essential for a cheaper maintenance. A trick to avoid damage on the pool by freezing... you should left some plastic barrel floating on the water. This way barrel withstand the pressures and no the pool.

 

[wjr75]

My parents above ground we drain about 6 inches below the skimmer which has a skimmer plate installed. We have a solid cover which doesn't leak water into the pool until it may get really old in which it needs to be replaced. We use a large pillow in the center which we use some string attached to opposite sides of the pool to keep it somewhat centered. We then actually add water on top of the cover around the pillow to keep it from blowing around. In the spring we skim off any debris and siphon off the water.

 

[mithesaint]

Just to finish up the thread, I put the winter cover back on the pool. I couldn't bear to leave it uncovered, so I popped it back on. Sure is a lot easier to put a cover on a pool that's already frozen! Much less fight, and I had a light breeze that even pushed the cover across the frozen pool for me. Maybe I'll get this cover thing figured out at some point...