No more closing

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awtrizzle

awtrizzle

0
Apr 24, 2015
301
Chesapeake/ Virginia
Good morning/afternoon/evening to all,

I don't want to close my pool anymore. What do I need to know? Can I even not close it? I am in Sourthern Virginia. So temps aren't crazy low for very long and we do get some snow. I have heard of several people doing this but, I think they have a heater, which I do not!

I have a mesh cover and no matter how clean I get the pool before closing I always open to a green mess, and then have to SLAM.

So any advice on not closing would be much appreciated. Should I continue to close for certain reasons that I do not know about? Thanks in advance for your shared wisdom!
 
HI there, I'm a bit further south than you where freezing temperatures aren't a huge concern. We don't close our pool and we don't have a heater but our pump timer has a thermostat. It will kick the pump on when the temps fall to about 35 degrees because circulating water will help prevent freezing pipes. That's your big concern-freezing pipes. I'm not familiar with your winter lows and length of time below freezing but here it is negligible.

We also managed one winter without the timer by just watching the overnight lows and manually turning on pump to run all night when below 35 degrees.

You might be able to manage opening and closing better buy not closing until the water is below 60 degrees?
 
If you don't close, then you will need to continue to test and add chlorine as needed. Are you able with the cover on or would you skip the cover?

If the weather drops below freezing, you would want to run your pump to keep the water moving to avoid freezing in the pipes.
 
@AimeeH I do wait until the water temp gets below 60 and it does help. I would say that my mesh cover plays a big part in my green opening. Especially with all of the trees around me and the amount of pollen we get in the area. Also the non-consistent temps around here are a PITA. I almost opened in late January because we were getting high temps (I thought spring was just coming early) , and then we got a few more freezing nights. I am glad I didn't open up or I may have had ended up with some busted pipes. As well as a few dead tomato plants. :)

@jbizzle You just gave me an idea. Would I be able to put a sample valve (for testing purposes) on my piping, as well as a place to pour chlorine (and then turn the pump on to suck it out of a reservoir (venturi effect)? Not "closing" but leaving the cover on would be nice because of all the leaves and stupid gumballs that fall in my backyard, probably in the thousands on the gumballs. I am going to do some research on that.
 
Some equipment pads have a spigot right after the pump where you can get a water sample.

What you described for the bleach is effectively the Liquidator. But you might consider adding a Stenner pump to add your bleach year round.
 
We close in end of September when nights cool down. After cleaning pool and unattaching hoses, I add 2 gallons of chlorine and put the cover on. I open first week in May to a sparkling clean pool. Cool temps for opening and closing are key.
 
Can you pull back part of the cover to add bleach and then move it back? Or maybe rig up a funnel so it sticks out of the cover to add bleach? Kind of like a bleach bong for your pool!
 

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I live not far from your area (Virginia Beach) and since I've been following the advice on here I have never opened to a green pool. I close and cover after water temp drops below 60ish and open after the crazy pollen is mostly gone. Granted I did open late this year (water temp was closer to 65) but water was clear and clean. I have massive amounts of gumballs and pine in my backyard also. I do cover with a standard tarp with a pool cover pump. I make sure my water is balanced and raise to mustard slam levels before I close. 4th year and no issues (knock on wood)
 
I'm also in the Hampton Roads area.

There's no reason you couldn't keep the pool open. Of course you'd still have to maintain water balance, though with the colder water temps it shouldn't use as much chlorine. Also, for those times we do get freezing temps, you would want to run the pump to protect the pipes and equipment.

Our pool was installed in 2004 and included a mesh safety cover. Like you, I was frustrated with the amount of dirt getting in the pool and opening to a green pool despite closing late and opening early.

My solution was to add a solid tarp cover over the mesh cover. It keeps the pool much cleaner for easier spring opening and I haven't opened to a green pool in the spring no matter how late I open ever since. I normally close in October and open in early May (since adding the tarp cover) One spring we had an issue with the liner that delayed opening until early June, and the water was still clear (and 80 degrees!).

If you do not mind the maintenance during the winter, you could certainly go that route. If you don't want the maintenance during the winter, adding a solid tarp cover works great.

Hope this helps.
 
That's actually a really good idea and I'm not sure why I never thought about it. Not only is my cover mesh but it has two holes. I can't afford a new one so this might be the perfect solution. I think I will close like normal this year but add the solid tarp to the game plan. Thanks a bunch!!
 
You guys all say that leaving the pool open requires you to test the water over winter, but shouldn't you be testing your water anyway over winter to make sure the pH isn't out of whack or anything?

I left my pool "open" this past winter. Sometime around early December, I actually winterized my plumbing in preparation for the hard freezes (normally from 0 to 20F) we typically see in my area from late December to late Feb/early March. I do not have a timer with a thermostat, nor would I trust running water when it was 0 for very long. But I did leave my cover off the pool and test my water occasionally. I found that the colder the water got, the less chlorine was used and the less I had to add. I tested maybe once a month and added a gallon of bleach each time. I did that manually by just pouring in the pool and brushing around. I just bought a robot, so I plan to use that next winter to keep it clean rather than dipping leaves out with a skimming net like I did this year. I didn't keep it super clean, but I kept the big stuff out.

Anyway, my point is don't let testing and adding chlorine scare you. It isn't very frequent. And I say either leave it open or do what I did. The only reason to cover a pool when closing it, in my opinion, is to keep leaves out.
 
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