New to Forum - Use Winter Cover for Texas Summer???

[Mark IT]

Hi, I am new to the forum. Our pool is brand new (opened Mid March 2022). I have been learning about pool chemistry. First water test our Phosphates were beyond the pool store test at 4,000 ++. It has taken me a month to get the phosphates into a reasonable teritory around 200. Never did find out why the phosphates were so high.

As a result of some recent storms, I decided to buy a winter pool cover. I went with a winter cover because with a 20-year warranty they should last longer than a summer cover and the summer covers are fragile at a similar price. I put the cover on and Sunday we had a good storm. The white objects are Sand Bags I bought to hold the pool cover in place, instead of using the water tubes. You can see in the pictures several inches of water from the Sunday storm that passed through the Dallas/Fort Worth area Sunday, April 24th, 2022. I put my submersible sump pump on the cover to send the water down the side yard drain to the front of the house.

I plan on using the cover when we are not swimming. I also bought a pool cover reel set that makes it very easy to wrap up the pool cover when we want to swim and then we can just drag it back across the pool when we finish.

I have an SWG pool and I had to turn off the SWG. I had the SWG working just fine and then covered the pool. After a couple of days, the chlorine jumped from around 3.5 to 11. So the cover made a huge difference in keeping the chlorine in the pool, stopping evaporation, and keeping the dirt and rainwater out of the pool. Very pleased with the result.

Does anyone know if the summer Texas weather would be too hot for a pool cover like this?

Mark

 

[Texas Splash]

Not so sure it makes a huge difference that it's a winter cover. Might let the water get a bit warmer. But keeping the TX sun off the water is always a good thing - debris too. As you already noticed, it will preserve some FC as well.

But here's the big problem .... you are following pool store testing and protocol. It won't work here at TFP. That's like oil & water, they don't mix. While the pool store spits-out generic (old) chemistry levels across the board, TFP tailors their recommended levels for each specific pool and condition. It's a science the pool stores haven't gotten yet. The sooner you test your own water with a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C test kit the better. Plus, you'll save a ton of money. The link below is a great resource.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[AK-]

I took my winter cover off about a week ago… while with the winter cover the pool was getting a lot of sun and we had some reasonably warm days (for northeast spring)… put the solar cover right after removing the winter cover and in about 8 days water went from hellish cold (38F) to just cold (58F)… So, based on my experience and assuming you want to avoid getting your water too hot (not a problem I have here) I think you may be better of with the winter cover.

 

[Mdragger88]

I can see it being a pain to keep moving the bags & pumping off the cover - also I like looking at the water. I am removing my winter cover this week but have been running my pool for a couple weeks & I am already tired of dealing w/ the cover especially since rain on the cover displaces water in the pool & I don’t have alot of play w/ my water level. I prefer it to be dry & debris free when removing so crud doesn’t get in the water but it’s a delicate dance w/ the weather lol

 

[Mark IT]

Hi I have been using the winter cover on my pool. At first my pool showed little or no change in the chemical make up. This weekend I tested my pools and was shocked by the drop in Chlorine. The water showed almost zero evaporation. but the CHL droped to almost zero.

	5/8/22	5/4/22	5/1/22	4/29/22
FCL	0.16	3.98	5.33	7.5
TCL	0.45	4.02	5.34	7.5
PH	7.2	7.5	7.4	7.5
ALK	37	52	49	55
CHD	230	234	237	219
CYA	66	66	66	72

 

[Mdragger88]

The pool will consume fc every day- even with the cover on although at a lower rate.
Is your swg on ?

 

[Mark IT]

yes but I lowered it to below 5 almost to zero. with the pool cover on the SWG was generating too much chlorine.