no winter cover this year

[spf30]

I think I posted at the end of last season that we were going to experiment with no cover. So we did! After losing lots of $ to torn covers (strong winds, even when tied down), and the pain of removing all the 'gunk' that falls into the pool when you try to remove the cover...

Anyway, we shut down all the plumbing as we normally would, but then just drained the water to just below the skimmer (didn't need to go lower since we didn't have to avoid the rising water levels as snow/water pushed down on a cover). If I recall, we closed it in Oct, so the weather was still mild. But all I did over the season was dump in a couple gallons of bleach if things started to look the slightest 'off' and stirred it a bit with the leaf net. And since it wasn't covered, I was able to go out and skim leaves,etc over the course of the winter. Once things warmed up, I was careful to start up the bleaching again. Another positive was that since we had a very heavy snowfall end of March, then lots of rain so far, we barely had to add any water, so that expense will be minimal. All told, I think we may have added 30 gals of bleach since Oct till now, at a total cost of around $30! And all I had to do was run the vacuum, and it's ready to go! So just wanted to update you all on the no cover experiment! Doubt we'll ever cover it again, so saves us $400 plus!

 

[duraleigh]

Good post. what city and state do you live in?

 

[Siamese]

I've always wondered whether this was a viable opton too.

Dealing with the pain of putting on and taking off the cover and having to deal withstuff falling in anyways seems to not make it worth it.

Has anyone else "gone topless" over the winter in a cold climate?

What water temp is too cold to run the vacuum?

 

[spf30]

Live in the central IL area. Had a mild winter for the most part, but the top 1 or 2 did freeze solid for a couple weeks, then light freezing on and off. We disconnected all the plumbing, so we weren't able to vacuum. But I did get out there now and then to fish out leaves, etc. It really wasn't too bad. Closer to spring, I didn't do too much digging on the bottom of the pool as it seemed that if the leaves had been there awhile, they just sort of turned to dust when I tried to scoop them out, which was creating 'dirt clouds'! So I just left them alone till I could vacuum. Key is to toss in bleach when the weather warms up enough to promote algae. I was just tired of spending $$ on covers that didn't last/work, then working to get all the gunk out anyway! I like the 'gone topless' reference, btw!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I've "opened" countless pools in the Chicago land area that were not winterized/covered or the tarp fell in. Other than a few cracked return/shut off valve combos, I've yet to see any side effects other than leaf stew.