Closing? in California - Bay Area

[kne]

Do those of you in the Bay Area close your above ground pools? The weather fluctuates from under 60 to over so much that I am not sure what the proper procedure would be. This will be the first year of closing, I was planning on balancing, shocking, putting on the cover. Since there will be many days over the winter that are over 60, and a couple where the temps are in the low 40's (brrrr, I know) should I still remove all the equipment drain to under the strainer, etc? Or am I risking an algae bloom because of the warmer winters we may have?

 

[Isaac-1]

Many people in warmer climates such as yours keep their pools open all year round, and just run in a semi-dormant mode in the off season, you will find that when the water temperature drops below about 60 degrees that the chlorine consumption will drop considerably if you have the pool covered.

 

[mas985]

I wouldn't close here. I never do. You would probably end up with a mess to clean up.

However, that doesn't mean you don't need to make some modifications in how you run the pool. As the sun gets lower in the sky and temperatures drop, you won't need to add as much chlorine. Run time can be reduced a lot too if you don't care about leaves on the bottom of the pool.

 

[atttech-2]

I did not close last year, pool was finished in late Oct my chlorine consumption was about a gallon a month if I recall correctly and being new I over did it a couple of times. I also noticed when it got cold my CSI was more in range running the pH on the high side of the recommended range. There were a few nights below 30 but never long enough that anything froze. I did wrap the pipes for insurance but I don't think it was necessary.