Newbie anxiety over winter water loss

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leanner977

Member
May 1, 2019
9
Hobart, IN
How much water loss is normal over the winter? I live outside Chicago and so it was cold and snowy and I know there is displacement of the water out of the skimmer because of the buildup on top of the winter cover...but how much is normal? I've convinced myself that we have a gaping hole in the liner. The pool is new last summer and we had a professional do the close for us mainly due to having a bottom filter/drain and my paranoia of us not doing it right and that cracking...figured if I hired someone and that did happen it would be on their dime to repair it. But now I'm scared to remove the cover to see some crazy disaster requiring major repairs of our one season old pool.

I assume the anxiety will be better next year when I know what is typical....right? Please tell me it gets better...
 
I don't have pictures as the winter cover it still on...best I can tell we lost at least a foot...which seems within the realm of "normal" I just needed some reassurance of that since I honestly no nothing. I know I won't know what's going on for sure until we actually get it opened, I'm just trying to set my mind at easy for a few more weeks.
 
I've lost a foot or more below the return when I cover. Just shove a hose in it and fill up. If you had puddling around the outside of the pool, then you can have an anxiety attack. Losing water to displacement is normal.
 
This will be our 3rd time opening our pool after the winter. We do not drop the level when we close it. We have not needed to add water yet and this year looks about the same. We have a lot of minerals in our well water so I have avoided using our hose at all costs to fill up the pool.
 
leanner977 said:
How much water loss is normal over the winter? I live outside Chicago and so it was cold and snowy and I know there is displacement of the water out of the skimmer because of the buildup on top of the winter cover...but how much is normal? I've convinced myself that we have a gaping hole in the liner. The pool is new last summer and we had a professional do the close for us mainly due to having a bottom filter/drain and my paranoia of us not doing it right and that cracking...figured if I hired someone and that did happen it would be on their dime to repair it. But now I'm scared to remove the cover to see some crazy disaster requiring major repairs of our one season old pool.
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  • This is our personal experience (after discovering a lowered water level our first winter)
    • We now leave the bubble solar cover ON under the winter tarp, it's main function is to keep the "new" water and the pool water separate
    • Having that physical barrier between the pool water and the precipitation addition, allowed us to siphon off the 'winter' water (sometimes, we didn't regularly) without lowering the pool volume
      • The weight of the siphon (even though it's light or a hose in our case) pushes the winter tarp into the pool water as you are trying to drain the cover ;)
    • Our 3rd winter we used our pool noodles under the winter tarp, no displacement that winter! And rarely siphoned!
leanner977 said:
I assume the anxiety will be better next year when I know what is typical....right? Please tell me it gets better...
Click to expand...
It gets better! :D
 

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Teald024 said:
Hello and Welcome to TFP!!
Your 1foot loss is within range. If the level is holds steady, I’d relax until you fill it and actually see it loosing water.
I’d actually be more concerned that you aren’t open yet. Get that pool open before the green monster (algae) attacks. :alien:??
Click to expand...
I wish it were open, trust me...but locally it doesn't make much sense. We literally had a few inches of snow just a couple weeks ago (admittedly that was a fluke). I was able to peak under the tarp and the water is still clear and actually still smells like chemicals so I think we're okay for another week until we get it open.
 
Thank you all for the tips...I may try the solar cover trick this fall. I'm also going to be more diligent about the water on top of the tarp. Not much you can do once it becomes an ice rink covered in snow, but I certainly could have been pumping it off before that point...and earlier this spring as well. Lesson learned :)
 
I lived in Columbus Ohio area for a number of years. I opened my pool in mid April. The key is to open early before the water warms too much and before the algae has a chance to take hold. If your water is clear then it should be fine for another week.
The chemical smell is from combined chlorine’s (stuff that’s left over after chlorine has done its job). I would definitely do it next weekend if at all possible.
Not much chlorine is used up when the water is cold and I’d rather pay for a few extra gallons of bleach than to fight through green water.
 
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