Pool after no winter cover

[cj133]

I just wanted to share the results of my first winter without a cover.

I kept the leaves out as best I could in between thaws and I needed to be very careful about maintaining the water vs ice level because I left my stairs in. I also learned that the stairs needed to be unbolted from the pool mostly and able to float freely.

Here's pictures from a few days ago when I raised the water level and got the pump running again. You can even see all of the air leaving the filter in the one picture as it had only been on for seconds at that point.


No vacuuming, no scrubbing etc.

 

[cj133]

I forgot to mention the water had just thawed that morning so it's a bit chilly.

As of yesterday pH 7.4, cya 30 and fc 10 ppm.

 

[cj133]

Here's a 4K 60fps video of it to show the dirt etc on the bottom. It's not spotless but it think it's very good for no cover. A quick vacuuming and it'll be good as new.

 

[an1vrsy]

That looks very good for uncovered all winter. I feel for the north east part of the country and the winters you go through. Here in Las Vegas, it is no comparison. However, I just moved to Las Vegas from Southern California and there it is like what's a winter?

 

[Pauls234]

After 8 or so winters I decided to go without a cover this winter for the first time, mostly as an experiment since I am taking my pool down and replacing in spring anyway. I have to say that it was a much nicer view all winter than with the cover so not sure what I will do in the future. I do wonder if having 8 months extra exposure to sun will fade the liner more quickly over time.

With a cover I would typically open to FC of 4 or more (cold water and no sun to burn it off) in the spring, but tested the other day at close to 0.0.

@cj133 , how are you at 10 FC? Did you add? It can't be left over from close with no cover, right?

 

[R6bbie]

After 8 or so winters I decided to go without a cover this winter for the first time, mostly as an experiment since I am taking my pool down and replacing in spring anyway. I have to say that it was a much nicer view all winter than with the cover so not sure what I will do in the future. I do wonder if having 8 months extra exposure to sun will fade the liner more quickly over time.

With a cover I would typically open to FC of 4 or more (cold water and no sun to burn it off) in the spring, but tested the other day at close to 0.0.

@cj133 , how are you at 10 FC? Did you add? It can't be left over from close with no cover, right?

why are you taking it down? looks more like Lombard than Chicago....

 

[cj133]

After 8 or so winters I decided to go without a cover this winter for the first time, mostly as an experiment since I am taking my pool down and replacing in spring anyway. I have to say that it was a much nicer view all winter than with the cover so not sure what I will do in the future. I do wonder if having 8 months extra exposure to sun will fade the liner more quickly over time.

With a cover I would typically open to FC of 4 or more (cold water and no sun to burn it off) in the spring, but tested the other day at close to 0.0.

@cj133 , how are you at 10 FC? Did you add? It can't be left over from close with no cover, right?

I added a pound of cal-hypo after getting the pump running. fc was 1.8ppm when I tested before starting things up.
I shut the pump down and drained things December 21 and I think my fc was 6ppm at that point and I had added bleach a few times when possible, but it spent most of the time froze.

 

[Pauls234]

@R6bbie it's got too much rust for my comfort so worried about busting and dumping 21k gallons into my basement.

Thanks for the info cj!

 

[cj133]

Like I said about the stairs.
I left them in this year, but I had to pay very close attention to what was going on with them and the ice and they cannot stay bolted to the pool. As the ice melts from the top down, that water goes around and under the ice lifting it up. So the top of the ice stays at the same height, but the bottom of it slowly comes up. The issue being, the stairs are connected to the ice, so they come up too.

At one point mine were a good 3-4 inches above normal. And when I drained water, no matter what I couldn't let the stairs go lower than original because I'm sure they couldn't support the weight of the ice, especially when it seemed like it was a foot thick. So when I drained I kept them floating about an inch higher than normal and then stopped my siphon. Or, I stopped it when the water was at a decent height, an inch or two below the return. I drained water on warmer days when I saw there was a gap all the way around the pool big enough for my fingers.

It worked, and nothing is damaged that I can tell but I'm still not sure if I'll be leaving them in again. It was another headache I wouldn't have had if I removed them.

 

[cowboycasey]

This is mine uncovered in Oklahoma from Nov 1 to Mar 10.. This is my 8th year without running a cover