Looking for some piece of mind.

[? D ?]

Hi all.

Went out to the pool today and as you've guessed, the top 2" of surface water is frozen all over - it didn't look like the water was completely frozen to the bottom. We usually don't close our pool for the winter - the pool has never frozen over before; usually we disconnect the pump and bring it indoors but this year all we did was make sure it was disconnected. So many bad things happened over the December period, our usual regime was forgotten. Even the steps were left in. So to see the mini-skating rink was ... interesting. (Pictures posted if requested :lol: )

Along with the 2" ice layer on the pool surface, there is ice in the skimmer, the pvc pipes and most likely the pump and filter.

Looks like from Monday onwards, for a good few days, the daytime temps will be between 47 - 57°F but nightime temps range between 21 - 29°F.

So I'm thinking that by Thursday/Friday that ski rink will be gone and the ice in the skimmer & pipes etc will have melted too.

Should I go ahead and drain the pool down to below skimmer level and remove the pump and filter and bring them indoors or leave things as they are?

Thanks for looking and for any thoughts given.
D

 

[polyvue]

Should I go ahead and drain the pool down to below skimmer level and remove the pump and filter and bring them indoors or leave things as they are?

Hello Almost Equal D,

Your plan sounds like a good one -- but I wouldn't wait very long to act upon it: daytime thawing followed by freezing overnight causes movement, formation and reformation of ice around and in all of that delicate and pricey pool apparatus. Whatever you can do meanwhile to prevent ice from pulling at the parts made of plastic or PVC (skimmer, returns, plumbing) would be good prevention.

 

[? D ?]

Thanks and much appreciated.

D

 

[geekgranny]

I guess I should take the PoolSkims out, huh? I didn't do that the day before the Big Freeze because I ran out of time. I did, though, take out the floating hats. When the ice has melted, at end of week, we shall see if they are cracked.

Luckily I purchased the 28" Aquarium gloves and they are roomy enough to use a glove liner so I probably won't go into shock working with my arms down in the cold water.

gg=alice