First ad somtime pool owner with a few questions for winter

[jerzeyrep01]

Ok so i have been montoring my pool over the winter months. I live in NC and we have had some cold days and hot days. I closed my pool in October of 09 and now my water lvl is about 7 to 9 inches below the skimmer, is this type of evaporation normal in winter? The cover i have appears that it is not allowoing any water to get back into the pool and i have been pumping it off the pool for the past several months. I am worried that i might have a leak, its so hard to tell because it has been raining and snowing here forever so the ground is wet from the weather. On a side note; looking in my pool i would say that with the BBB method my pool is cleaner closed then most are when they are open. Any help with this would be greatly appreicated. I cant wait to OPEN its killing me!!!!!!

 

[duraleigh]

I live in NC and we have had some cold days and hot days. I closed my pool in October of 09 and now my water lvl is about 7 to 9 inches below the skimmer, is this type of evaporation normal in winter?

I'm not quite sure where your pool level was when you closed but if your pool level has dropped noticeably this winter, a leak is possible. In Raleigh, my pool has probably gained about3-4 inches of water this wet winter and I asssume your rainfall has been similar.

I would suggest just waiting 'til Spring and then, when you uncover and refill, if you lose more than a 1/4" daily, that probably is more loss than normal evaporation would account for....even in the summer.

 

[carolina pool]

There are several possibilities and these are the two most common.
1. The cover might allow water to migrate from the pool to the top of the cover and when you pump the water off the cover you are also removing some of the pool water.
2. The water on the cover is displacing water in the pool and pushing it out of the skimmers through the open plugs in the pump.

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

Properly winterized pools are plugged. Assuming your pool was properly winterized, there are several possible causes.

If you have a water bag style tarp cover, it has a hole in it. You probably pumped the pool water out.

Other possible things:

Liner has a hole

Liner bead popped out and sagged below the water line.

Any Pool:

Main drain wasn't sealed well and the trapped air escaped. Water may have frozen in the pipe and cracked at that depth.

Leak where return pipe meets wall.

Leak where drain meets floor

Gunite

Settlement crack .


Without pulling the cover, nothing can be verified. If its a tarp cover,manipulate it to look for holes or signs of deterioration (lots of pin holes). A single hole or two can be patched with Gorilla Tape. It's like duct tape but stronger. Deteriorated covers need to be replaced/

Scott

 

[bk406]

My pool is winterized, all lines plugged, and a loop loc cover installed. I've lost about 6-7 inches since October 16th. We have snow, but not a lot of rain over the fall and winter. My top step has white powder all over it indicating salts, etc. I chalk mine up to evaporation since i dont lose more than an inch a week when the pool is open. I would think evaporation is the culprit here.

 

[jerzeyrep01]

should i add water? I am planning on opening in late april...what can happen to my pool if i dont fill?

 

[polyvue]

should i add water? I am planning on opening in late april...what can happen to my pool if i dont fill?

I would monitor it for a couple of days. Mark the current level of the water and see if it goes down more than a half-inch or so over a 48 hour period. If you do have a leak and the water stops dropping, you'll have an idea where it is. If that's the case, then little is achieved by refilling unless you're to the point where you can troubleshoot it.

Postponing a repair, unless it's leaking like a sieve, probably makes the most sense (unless you enjoy working in inclement weather). How many inches between the cover and the water? If you expect a snow load or heavy rain you might for that reason try filling it if the level is far under the lowest point of the cover. But I can't think of any other problem that you'd encounter with a water level at 7 - 9 inches below the skimmer.

I recently convinced myself that my pump had a pressure side leak at the equipment pad (of course, I decided this to be the case while standing over the pump with a mini mag light at 10 pm in the rain!) A more sober inspection yesterday, with the sun shining, showed all was well; but if I had had to disassemble the pump at least I would have been warm and dry. Rescan the comments and advice you've gotten so far in this thread. You have plenty of options.

 

[jerzeyrep01]

Just want to take a moment to say thanks, everyone here is so helpful. I feel like after all the comments, I have been pumping the water out of the pool as well as off of the top. I forgot to mention that my pillow did not stay in the middle ( i guess i am not the first pool owner on his first closing that this has happen too) so my cover is sagging in the middle. I think next year i will go with 2 pillows. Anyway thanks again for the replies.

 

[Casey]

When I winterize, I drain to the bottom of the return line and then cover. By the time I open, my water level is always below the return line by several inches.

I think, it's because of rain water and snow melt accumilating on the cover, pushing the pool water out of the return when the water weight accumilates on the cover. I don't use plugs and hardly ever pump water off the cover when I'm suppose too. I have spent many days, after covering my pool, watching water drizzle out of my return from the weight of water on my cover.

Now, after confessing my sins, I must get the foot or more <most definately more> of water off my cover as soon as it melts!