Local Pool Company Winterizing vs Recommendations on this forum

[pmaroun]

I have had two local pool companies close / winterize my pool for the last 5 years. This year, I took the advice given in this forum and attempted it myself.

I lowered the water to below the skimmer, blew out the lines, etc, etc.

However, whenever they winterized the pool, they did not drain the water. They just filled the lines with antifreeze and called it a day. I assume they did this by de-coupling the PVC by the pump and just dumping in antifreeze until it comes out into the pool then capping?

I usually had a $400 bill with a chunk of it going towards anti-freeze.

The net result of my closing is the water is much lower, the pipes are (hopefully) dry, and the automatic pool cover droops pretty low over the pool. Their closing would leave the pool full (and liquid for the cover to sit on). In fact, it was recommended to me to top the water off before closing to keep the water level high for the cover to have more support.

Is one approach better than the other? Im assuming they chose to use anti-freeze so they don't have to wait for the pool to drain? Or is there another reason?

 

[YippeeSkippy]

My only concern with how you did it is the lowering of the water so much that the autocover isn't as supported by water as normal. Since I don't close my pool I am not an expert, but I do know autocovers shouldn't be drooping down too much. Once rain and snow get on that cover it will weigh it down more.
I'm going to invite another autocover owners to chime in- @bmoreswim - He closes his pool so may have better input.

Maddie

 

[pmaroun]

I'm wondering the same.. here is a picture of the autocover. It normally droops a bit but I keep the water level pretty high throughout the season. However, the water level now is a couple of inches below the skimmer and right above the return jets.

 

[pmaroun]

A related question.. I would like to get anti-freeze into the return jets as an insurance policy as I am realizing that there is still some water in these pipes. However, without lowering my water further (2-3 more inches below the jet), this will be difficult. I dont have access to pour the anti-freeze into the supply line without detaching the pipes--which I would rather not do (I have attached a picture of the supply line pipes). Would it be possible / advisable to devise a pipe that replaces the existing plug that angles up out of the water for me to pour in some anti-freeze?

 

[Pool_Medic]

I do not remove any water on any of the pools I close.

Anderson duck plugs in the returns, super gizmos in skimmers, skimmer plugs in the mouth. I use 1 gallon of antifreeze per pool and I’ve never had one freeze issue. The northeast gets brutally cold, I’ve had 4’ of ice in my pool.