Freeze question from West side of Atlanta GA

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We are experiencing an unusual run of below freezing days here in the Atlanta area. Did not get above freezing yesterday and not expected to do so today. I am currently looking at thermometer outside and it is finally at 24 degrees.

I noticed a problem when I started to work around 0500 this morning. The pool seemed to be running, but no water circulating. Went out to check and had mucho ice in the skimmer and very little water getting thru. I set a heater below the deck beside the equipment to help warm things up and it has done nicely. I have things flowing nicely now, but a LOT of ice on top of the pool. Just wondering if I will be ok or should I try to drain this down today to prevent any problems.

I have to add that this is probably my fault as I did not clean out the skimmer basket and it had many leaves that obviously blocked the flow of water and led to the freezing condition. I will not make this mistake again!

The weather is supposed to be a bit better tomorrow, around 39 for a high, but possible snow on Thursday and down to around 10-15 degrees thru the weekend. Highs on Fri-Sat-Sun at or below freezing. Next warm day will be Monday of next week. We seldom have over a couple of days in the winter where the high is below freezing. Can't remember when we have had this many projected days with the lows in the teens either.

I have to get by the pool store and pick up a new skimmer basket later today as the ice wasted mine. Anything else I should see about picking up from there. This will be the first time I have actually bought anything from them since installation.

Thanks for all the help I have received from this board since we installed the pool back in July. Had a perfect summer with no problems, other than trying to get a deck built around the pool!

Thanks again,
Edd
 
Edd,

I think you're fine. Once you've got the water flowing in the system, these temps here in the South are not low enough to hurt us.

-9F in Minneapolis Yesterday AM!!!!! Now those pools better be winterized!!
 
I'm running our pump 24/7 right now until this cold is moderated some. We're just north of Mobile, Al and it was 18º this morning. Where's that darn global warming when you need it??? :)

Just keep your pump running and make sure the water stays flowing till it's above freezing and you'll be fine. It may cost a few dollars in power but that's cheaper than repairing plumbing and a whole lot more comfortable.
 
Bama Rambler said:
I'm running our pump 24/7 right now until this cold is moderated some. We're just north of Mobile, Al and it was 18º this morning. Where's that darn global warming when you need it??? :)

Just keep your pump running and make sure the water stays flowing till it's above freezing and you'll be fine. It may cost a few dollars in power but that's cheaper than repairing plumbing and a whole lot more comfortable.
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I'm in North Texas, and haven't been concerned about the weather until today. The weatherman is talking about up to 60 hours below freezing with overnight temps falling into the teens, starting Thursday. Supposedly the coldest stretch we have had here in a decade. I know that's kind of a joke for you Northerners, but we don't see that kind of cold down here often. I don't even own a heavy coat! :mrgreen:

Anyway, I'm thinking if I throw a tarp over the equipment pad, the pump should keep it warm enough under there to protect the exposed pipes without wrapping them. Or should I wrap the exposed pipes as well?
 
Re: Freeze question

I have the same concerns as you Bama Rambler. I live in south Louisiana. I wish some of these Northerns would help us poor southern folk out. I'm not quite sure what's safe or not. All the pool stores are closed right now. Let me know if you find out anything.
 
I'm sorry I meant to address Beez. I'm concerned about what to do about the pipes coming out of the ground to the equipment. I've been having a little leak the last couple of weeks. Enough to where a little puddle of water collects around the pipes by the end of the day. It's just where my skimmer near the pump is dripping. I'm concerned on what to do about that standing water around. I plan to leave my pool pump on for quite a few days. The temps are not going to be right until Sunday probably. But, I'm concerned about that standing water. I wonder if salt or something like that in the standing water would absorb it enough. Would the salt hurt the pipes coming out of the ground to the equipment if it was just near where it meets the ground?
 
Re: Freeze question

poodlegirl said:
I wish some of these Northerns would help us poor southern folk out. .
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Sorry, us northerners have had the lines blown out, pool covered and put to bed since late October. :wink: The heater and multiport valve on the filter are covred with a tarp and I wont even look at much of anything until the first part of April.
 
poodlegirl said:
I'm sorry I meant to address Beez. I'm concerned about what to do about the pipes coming out of the ground to the equipment. I've been having a little leak the last couple of weeks. Enough to where a little puddle of water collects around the pipes by the end of the day. It's just where my skimmer near the pump is dripping. I'm concerned on what to do about that standing water around. I plan to leave my pool pump on for quite a few days. The temps are not going to be right until Sunday probably. But, I'm concerned about that standing water. I wonder if salt or something like that in the standing water would absorb it enough. Would the salt hurt the pipes coming out of the ground to the equipment if it was just near where it meets the ground?
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I answered your same question here, probably best to ask something only once and give people a day or so to answer.
--paulr
 

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poodlegirl said:
Sorry Paul R. Was in a hurry. Didn't mean to waste your time.
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Welcome to the forum, poodlegirl :wave:

Although I do not want to speak for a member, it seems that PaulR was trying to direct you, gently, to Site Rules and Forum Etiquette :)
Please take a few minutes to read :wink:

We mods may be a little sleepy during the slow time, but Spring will be here soon :-D
 
poodlegirl said:
Sorry. Didn't know that it was a rule to post twice. I was desparate and was just trying to get answer as soon as possible so I would know what to do.
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That's what I figured, you were feeling anxious, understandable. Your precious, not to mention expensive, gear sitting out there freezing itself into a disaster, anybody would worry. (But actually the rule is not to post twice. :-D )

Welcome, and be sure to report back what you did and whether it worked out!
--paulr
 
Update on my situation here in Atlanta. Everything was flowing well on Tuesday afternoon and into the evening. Got up Wednesday morning and had ice forming and partially blocking skimmer. Went out and cleared that and got things running very good again yesterday morning. Highs did not get to almost 40 as predicted, instead hovered around 35 or so. I still have about 60% of pool covered with a sheet of ice but the pump is running and water is moving. Last night I pointed the return so water is now flowing toward the skimmer instead of away from it. My thinking was this would prevent the freezing situation I saw yesterday morning.

Sure enough, this morning when I went out around 0330, all was well with the pool. Changing the direction of the return has kept the skimmer from freezing up again. Of course, the low this morning was above 20, not around 17 as it had been the last couple of days, so that probably helped too.

My question from all this is "Am I going to be OK?" I am off work tomorrow and could go out and try to remove as much of the ice covering as possible if that might help. Temps for the weekend are predicted to be back down around 15 or so with highs not above freezing from Fri-Sun. Highs are slated to head up to the mid 40's next Monday and beyond! Does anyone think removing a bunch of the ice covering would be a helpful idea?

Just as info, I heard on the radio weather that it had been about 20-25 years since we had had this many days of sub-freezing weather here in Atlanta area. Just my luck, I install a pool in what is one of the coolest summers in years and now one of the coldest winters to boot! I must say, this could all be my fault!

Thanks to all on this forum for the helpful advice and information.

Edd
 
If you've got it set so that your skimmer isn't freezing over I wouldn't worry about removing ice from the body of the pool. Our good neighbors to the north have their pools frozen each year. Keep running your pump whenever the temps are below freezing and you'll be fine.

I probably won't go back to timed operation until next week sometime when the temps stay above freezing for several hours a day. Until then the truck gets plugged in every night and the pool pump runs 24/7. :)

On a side note: My cat loves it when I plug my truck in. He sleeps on top of the engine where it's good and warm.
 
Hey Edd, I have to give you my THANKS (capital letters necessary) for this tidbit:

Last night I pointed the return so water is now flowing toward the skimmer instead of away from it. My thinking was this would prevent the freezing situation I saw yesterday morning.
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We are in mid-Alabama and had basically given up last night, deciding to just let things freeze and deal with the fallout and expense because we were having to go out every 10 minutes to clear the skimmer basket of ice (and I'm not exaggerating at all- nightmare). It just kept freezing over solid no matter what. After dinner I checked this forum and saw your post and had a "duh" moment. Husband redirected the return flow and it worked! He had a sleepless night checking and clearing every hour or so, but at least the dang pump is running.

It figures that Alabama gets its coldest snap in 25 years our first winter with this dang thing. I don't care how mild our winters usually are- we're closing it in the future!
 
Glad my learning experience has helped someone else. I am also planning to enclose my pump/filter at some point. Although, I have a deck all way around the pool, I discovered that there is still a lot of wind getting to the pipes under there. I plan to use some plywood to build it in using the existing structure of the deck and put doors on it I can leave open in Summer or close in the Winter. Can also add some type of 'heat lamp' to keep it warm in there when we have another Winter like this in about 20 years.

You sound like my wife, she keeps telling me we are closing the pool next year and not worrying about all this!
 
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