when to close pool in oklahoma to avoid "greenage"

[gtnos]

after reading a bunch on here about when to close and open pool, i get that algea grows in +60 degree water, so closing late and opening early is my best bet to avoiding a green nasty pool. however, if anyone here is familiar with Oklahoma, its not uncommon to have a week of 75-80 degree days in the dead of winter or have fall temps linger in 70s until well after Christmas.

most folks are done swimming in thier pools around here from what i see at about the second week of Sept, when its getting too cool to want to be in the pool, but not yet below 60.

i have no problem running pool for a few extra weeks after we are done using it if it would help with an easier opening in spring, but how do I chose when to give it one last shock and button it up for the year?

 

[Charlie_R]

When the pool water consistently stays below 60? At least that's the reply I got from chem geek.

 

[danacc]

Have you thought about just leaving it open year-round? We get those crazy out-of-season days here in Dallas, too. Most folks leave the pool open and set a controller to run the pump any time the temperature approaches freezing. But maybe you have colder days where you are than we have here, making it impractical to leave it open.

 

[duraleigh]

Yeah, the cooler you let the water get, the best chance you have of opening to a clear pool. 60 degrees is sort of a mark, but I can assure you some forms of algae can develop below that.

The nice thing, you will know exactly how to SLAM it back to clarity if you have some green in the Spring.

 

[JasonLion]

Below 60 degrees is a good rule of thumb. I go for below 50 degrees, which is more reliable (but not perfect).

 

[bk406]

I lived in OKC for 30 years, born and raised okie.
If it were me, i'd button it up in mid november, and open second week of march

 

[BoDarville]

I lived in OKC for 30 years, born and raised okie. If it were me, i'd button it up in mid november, and open second week of march

I would have to agree with this assessment.

Here in DFW, we are close to the northern periphery of keeping a pool "open" (operational) year-round. Even here, it is not unusual for us to have several below freezing nighttime temps between mid-December through most of February. However, it is a rare day when the daytime high does not get above freezing. Sometimes it seems as though there is an invisible wall at the Red River. Seems like there is often a bigger difference in winter temps between DFW and OKC than the distance would suggest.

 

[Speedo]

With a solid cover and FC being at shock level during closing, I've never opened to any less than 6ppm FC. Normally I try to close in October and open in late March/April. It's usually not warm enough to swim until the end of May and too cool after mid September.

Oddly enough I'm not even dreading my last swim being less than a month and a half away. This summer has been the worst I've experienced yet.

Cheapest year for chlorine yet! I had a few cases left over from last season, don't think I bought more than 4 of 10% and I also got 2 12.5% on sale.

The whole season, opening in mid April and closing in mid October will probably cost me only $130-140.

 

[msgtdan]

I closed 10/3/12, due to a lack of trees I didn't cover. Mid March had the ice thaw and noticed the bottom had light algae, probably due to ground temp. Added chlorine and brushed, 2 days later pool refroze to 1" thick. End of March opened to same conditions, SLAMed the pool for 2 days and has been clear since. Ran the pump overnight on any night that was to get close to freezing.