Pool was winterized in mid October this year. To avoid the issue I am having I took a little more water out this year than in the past. I would say it was a good 12 inches below where I normally keep it in the summer. Up here in New England we have had a very cold winter thus far starting earlier than normal. When I checked the level in early December it was creeping up very little, but was already frozen so I could not pump any out. When I looked a couple of weeks ago I was about 4 inches from reaching the coping. Lots of rain and a blizzard filled it up fast. Earlier this week we received 2+inches of rain over the course of two days. The water would instantly freeze at it fell on the frozen pool. Today may water/ice level is about 2/1.5 inches from reaching the bull nose paver coping. Is there anything I can do other than pray we get little to no precipitation until it thaws and then pump some out? What kind of damage I am looking at if and when it overflows and freezes?
Pool is a block of ice, but is ready to overflow
- Thread starter rmclain73
- Start date
Grabbed a pic through the mesh cover. Actually surprised it came out. The brown on the bottom is the bull nose paver and the water/ice line is at the leaf.
If that block of ice is floating you could try to pump out some water. If it is solid and frozen to the liner/walls you do not want to do anything other than pray.
Worse case could be coping being pushed up from the freeze thaw process. Some people around here with mesh covers leave the water down a couple feet to avoid this issue. Good luck!
Worse case could be coping being pushed up from the freeze thaw process. Some people around here with mesh covers leave the water down a couple feet to avoid this issue. Good luck!
borjis
LifeTime Supporter
I had that happen last year. We had a major snow storm like we do every 3 or 4 years.
It had warmed up quickly though, but there was about 4 inches of water on top of the ice,
but it wasn't freezing. I was concerned the water would get behind the liner.
If I had a small sump pump I could have pumped the water off (I do have one now just in case)
What I ended up doing was using a chisel and hammer to make a hole about 1 foot away
from the edge, and after the equipment thawed, I drained down to waste using the hole
I cut in as an indicator of what the water level was. I kept draining until the water
was level with that.
There was a thought in my head that if I drained too much there would be no water
to float the 5 inch thick ice around the pool which had me picture in my head, the
ice coming down and ripping the liner off the tracks.
Since it's rare to have sustained freezing for days in a row where I live I always
keep my pool open year round, but drain all the equipment and use the small
pump to drain any rain fill. I did lose the heat exchanger to freeze damage
so that's another good reason to drain equipment and have it offline from DEC 1
to mid late Feb.
In your case being in MA, you should probably close for the winter in the future
and drain about a foot below your returns. Seems less risky.
Good luck!
It had warmed up quickly though, but there was about 4 inches of water on top of the ice,
but it wasn't freezing. I was concerned the water would get behind the liner.
If I had a small sump pump I could have pumped the water off (I do have one now just in case)
What I ended up doing was using a chisel and hammer to make a hole about 1 foot away
from the edge, and after the equipment thawed, I drained down to waste using the hole
I cut in as an indicator of what the water level was. I kept draining until the water
was level with that.
There was a thought in my head that if I drained too much there would be no water
to float the 5 inch thick ice around the pool which had me picture in my head, the
ice coming down and ripping the liner off the tracks.
Since it's rare to have sustained freezing for days in a row where I live I always
keep my pool open year round, but drain all the equipment and use the small
pump to drain any rain fill. I did lose the heat exchanger to freeze damage
so that's another good reason to drain equipment and have it offline from DEC 1
to mid late Feb.
In your case being in MA, you should probably close for the winter in the future
and drain about a foot below your returns. Seems less risky.
Good luck!
Yeah, I agree. Thats why I winterize my pool and drain about 12inches below normal level.
Borjis makes a good point about making his hole about a foot from the edge... you don't want to accidentally hit the vinyl and make a tear with either a tool or moving sharp edges of ice.
Be careful .
Maddie
Be careful .
Maddie
It’s a liner pool. & will weep through the 1084 or 1085 skimmer risers, this is why they are not sealed & seated below the liner extrusion.
& if you pump down with ice in skimmer throats, the skimmer throat acts a s a fulcrum & the ice a lever.
& as an aside liners don’t tolerate impact in this weather, particularly in radius or change of planes
“Cold crack” sounds like breaking glass.
Let it ride, you will be fine.
& if you pump down with ice in skimmer throats, the skimmer throat acts a s a fulcrum & the ice a lever.
& as an aside liners don’t tolerate impact in this weather, particularly in radius or change of planes
“Cold crack” sounds like breaking glass.
Let it ride, you will be fine.
Snow melted today so I peeled back the winter cover some. Pool is a block of ice. Water level is up past the liner track and into the coping. It’s only 2 inches away from completely overflowing. I have my submersible pump on stand by. Just waiting for a thaw. Lots of rain in the forecast over the next few days has me concerned.
I understand your concern. First year with IG vinyl pool in Pittsburgh. Drained to about 14" below loop loc mesh cover in fall, but had extremely cold/wet winter. Coming close, about 2" from top. Frozen as well. I keep telling myself to leave it alone. I would think lowering the water level while frozen is definitely not worth risk. We are expecting rain at the end of the week. Tired of looking at the weather forecast. Hoping for thaw, but honestly dont think that will happen until March.
We finally had a couple of days in the 50s without temps getting into the 30s at night. Took back winter cover some today as I could tell there was thawing, and what do you know? Exactly as PoolguyinCT said, water must have seeped out the skimmer riser. I lost a couple inches. Either that or a leak, which I doubt is the case. It’s not that I didn’t believe what poolguyinct said, it’s just I didn’t think we would get thawing before I overflowed. Just in time for a rainy and snowy week.
Still raining here in Pittsburgh and close to overflow, but temperatures are warm for this time of year. The ice is about 2" thick and not frozen to the sides or skimmer throat. Appears to be floating with 1/2" space around edges. Is it safe to lower water level now since it has floated up about 3" from the rain we had? I would like to bring it down before additional rainfall end of this week and temperatures drop again. Or is this a bad idea?
laprjns
LifeTime Supporter
- Aug 14, 2012
- 577
- Pool Size
- 30000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pureline Crystal Pure 60,000
I am now going though my 13th winter season with my pool and every year I drain it down to below the returns at closing and every year I have to pump out water when I open. It freezes ever year into a block of ice and I never have had problem. Here what my skimmer looked like on Friday.
I'd say it up to about 2 to 3 inches below my coping. This is pretty much what happens ever year. As Poolguy says, water will weed out of the skimmers risers.
I'd say it up to about 2 to 3 inches below my coping. This is pretty much what happens ever year. As Poolguy says, water will weed out of the skimmers risers.
Thanks for the pictures. I guess that's what i couldn't figure out. Although i did not measure, it appears that the water level in the pool would exceed the coping before coming out of skimmer riser. Just looks close. With more rain expected here this week, I thought I would be safe in draining 2-3". The ice floated up anyway with the rising pool level from the rain over last weekend. Have water issues in my backyard and wanted to avoid adding to the problem.
I have the same question....where exactly in my skimmer will teh water weep out?