Thank you for the recent you tube video about closing pools for winter freezing conditions; Winterize Your Pool With Trouble Free Pool on Aug 28, 2021.
We are preparing to close our pool in Southern Ontario. We use a mesh cover; our CYA is 40; we have balanced the pool water, then slammed the pool (raised chlorine to shock level) and brushed the walls and bottom.
We have always closed the pool mid September and opened early to mid June depending on weather. In our area we are starting to get windy stormy fall conditions. Our pool is surrounded by gardens and trees. A lot of debris will soon start to collect in the pool requiring fairly extensive daily maintenance if left open. Additionally we do not use a heater and the water temperatures are getting too cold to enjoy swimming. I am aware of the advantage of opening when the pool temperatures drop below 60 degrees and this is not feasible for us.
I am also aware of the some of advantages of the solid cover versus a mesh cover but for us the advantages of the mesh cover outweigh the disadvantages of the solid cover.
When we close the pool we use a combination of slamming the pool, brushing and cleaning very well and letting the chlorine drift back down before adding PolyQuat 60. We generally let the chlorine drift to about 1/2 way between the high target level and the shock level based on our CYA level. (We only use PolyQuat 60 for pool closing)
From what I understand about the Chlorine / PolyQuat 60 compatibility issue, I suspect that the chlorine level perhaps should not be higher than your chlorine target level based on your CYA; and, this is a point I am trying to clarify.
Overall our method has worked fairly well for us. When we open the pool there is some debris at the bottom (a film of sand, pollen etc) from using a mesh cover. The water is not crystal clear but we can see the bottom of the pool. We can clean the pool fairly quickly with 2 to 3 days of slamming; and, a couple of good vacuums and brushing before we start using our Polaris pool cleaner. This year we installed a Stenner Pump which has greatly facilitated adding daily liquid chlorine. Pool has been crystal clear all summer.
We would like to tweak the closing technique regarding our chemical balancing a bit to determine what ppm chlorine should we let the chlorine drift down to before we add PolyQuat 60?
We would like to better understand what happens to the algaecide and/or chlorine that we have added. The combination seems like it must be doing some good as the chlorine levels are essentially non existent when we open; but, the water is not too bad in clarity.
Although we would like to tweak our closing procedure as best as possible I am not sure we can expect much better results given that we are using a mesh cover and we are closing and opening under less than ideal conditions.
In summary;
1. How much chlorine is too much to prevent PolyQuat 60 algaecide from working?
2. Once the chlorine drops a bit after closing does the algaecide then become active or unblocked?
3. Does the chlorine completely destroy the algaecide or just partly; and, does the answer to this question depend on what the chlorine level was when you added the PolyQuat 60?
4. Does PolyQuat 60 lower free chlorine; and, if so, does it lower it to a certain amount or completely?
4. I would like to have a better understanding of the mechanics of how the chlorine and PolyQuat 60 interact with each other to determine the proper level of chlorine to get the most effective benefit of both chemicals when closing the pool.
5. Based on the conditions discussed about what is the ideal pH for closing the pool.
Thank you.
We are preparing to close our pool in Southern Ontario. We use a mesh cover; our CYA is 40; we have balanced the pool water, then slammed the pool (raised chlorine to shock level) and brushed the walls and bottom.
We have always closed the pool mid September and opened early to mid June depending on weather. In our area we are starting to get windy stormy fall conditions. Our pool is surrounded by gardens and trees. A lot of debris will soon start to collect in the pool requiring fairly extensive daily maintenance if left open. Additionally we do not use a heater and the water temperatures are getting too cold to enjoy swimming. I am aware of the advantage of opening when the pool temperatures drop below 60 degrees and this is not feasible for us.
I am also aware of the some of advantages of the solid cover versus a mesh cover but for us the advantages of the mesh cover outweigh the disadvantages of the solid cover.
When we close the pool we use a combination of slamming the pool, brushing and cleaning very well and letting the chlorine drift back down before adding PolyQuat 60. We generally let the chlorine drift to about 1/2 way between the high target level and the shock level based on our CYA level. (We only use PolyQuat 60 for pool closing)
From what I understand about the Chlorine / PolyQuat 60 compatibility issue, I suspect that the chlorine level perhaps should not be higher than your chlorine target level based on your CYA; and, this is a point I am trying to clarify.
Overall our method has worked fairly well for us. When we open the pool there is some debris at the bottom (a film of sand, pollen etc) from using a mesh cover. The water is not crystal clear but we can see the bottom of the pool. We can clean the pool fairly quickly with 2 to 3 days of slamming; and, a couple of good vacuums and brushing before we start using our Polaris pool cleaner. This year we installed a Stenner Pump which has greatly facilitated adding daily liquid chlorine. Pool has been crystal clear all summer.
We would like to tweak the closing technique regarding our chemical balancing a bit to determine what ppm chlorine should we let the chlorine drift down to before we add PolyQuat 60?
We would like to better understand what happens to the algaecide and/or chlorine that we have added. The combination seems like it must be doing some good as the chlorine levels are essentially non existent when we open; but, the water is not too bad in clarity.
Although we would like to tweak our closing procedure as best as possible I am not sure we can expect much better results given that we are using a mesh cover and we are closing and opening under less than ideal conditions.
In summary;
1. How much chlorine is too much to prevent PolyQuat 60 algaecide from working?
2. Once the chlorine drops a bit after closing does the algaecide then become active or unblocked?
3. Does the chlorine completely destroy the algaecide or just partly; and, does the answer to this question depend on what the chlorine level was when you added the PolyQuat 60?
4. Does PolyQuat 60 lower free chlorine; and, if so, does it lower it to a certain amount or completely?
4. I would like to have a better understanding of the mechanics of how the chlorine and PolyQuat 60 interact with each other to determine the proper level of chlorine to get the most effective benefit of both chemicals when closing the pool.
5. Based on the conditions discussed about what is the ideal pH for closing the pool.
Thank you.
