We are possibly having a very rare weather event (snow/extreme temps), i’m not sure what to do with my pool?

[Strawberryshortcake]

I’ve only been living in this home for about 2 years now and the two winters were very mild besides a very few 20 degree nights. We keep the pool “open” though it is unused. We just put some bleach in it once a month and keep the leaves out. That’s what we did this year.

Well, there is some weird weather in the forecast starting Sunday. The reports and predictions are all over the place but as of now over the course of a few days 17 inches of snow is possible and the temp is set to be 1 degrees Monday night. So... nothing even remotely close has happened like this here since 1999.

It’s been in the 20s here the past few days as well. Right now I have the pool pump running 24/7, it is filled up and I have the pump and exposed pipes wrapped in two thick blankets. What else can I do? Is that going to be enough for 1 degree weather??

 

[HeyEng]

There are a few threads that are current and speak to this:

Any risk in running pump in 10 degree weather without a heater?

Also, in regards to the water temp being below 32, I came across this post from Chem Geek (another fantastic poster here who really knows what he is talking about): I think what they mean is if it's a hard freeze that is VERY cold and where the pool water is already very close to freezing, then...

www.troublefreepool.com

Another freezing question - Oklahoma

Pool water temp is 30F...ice layer is up to 1 inch thick and that happened since yesterday after I removed all ice.

www.troublefreepool.com

3 day deep freeze, how to protect the pool

That is why you should have a contingency plan to drain the water from your pipes if you need. Since you said your equipment is in a shed, you will have a lot more wiggle room in terms of the rest of us. I still argue you should not be running your heater, but if you do, just make sure it is...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

Thank you.
Alright, I decided it wasn't worth the risk - I tend to lose power a lot at this house for some reason. They get it back on quickly, but with the possible snow/ice accumulation we are expecting, they wouldn't be able to get it back on for days possibly. So I can't rely on just keeping it running as I have been. I called around and (finally) found someone that will come out and winterize for me tomorrow. Which is fine, the "event" isn't starting until Sunday.
Hopefully I can learn how to unwinterize myself and winterize it..but it seems overwhelming!

 

[Newdude]

Hopefully I can learn how to unwinterize myself and winterize it..but it seems overwhelming

You have us if need be. A few pics and it can be figured out. Besides..... who could say no to Straberry Shortcake ?????

Ice storms are god awful. The weight of the ice can cause catastrophic damage to the utilities, with as little as a half inch coating. Whole streets worth of lines and/or poles can come down and it can be weeks to rebuild it all as out of state utility workers get called in to assist.

 

[AndyTN]

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

You have us if need be. A few pics and it can be figured out. Besides..... who could say no to Straberry Shortcake ?????

Ice storms are god awful. The weight of the ice can cause catastrophic damage to the utilities, with as little as a half inch coating. Whole streets worth of lines and/or poles can come down and it can be weeks to rebuild it all as out of state utility workers get called in to assist.

Right! I was only about 10 the last time something like this happened (if it actually happens). It is still talked about today. It was pretty wild. I don't know exactly how much snow and ice it was but it was deep and we did lose power then too, for days. It was actually kind of fun as a kid but now I have things to worry about! lol!

It hasn't even snowed here in years. Like. We used to get an occasional snow that would melt within a day or two... but it's been very mild for a very long time. I have no idea how accurate this forecast is, but it seems like several states are in for it. It doesn't look like temps will be above freezing for a WHILE... all the way until Thursday it is still not above freezing at any point...

 

[HeyEng]

Thank you.
Alright, I decided it wasn't worth the risk - I tend to lose power a lot at this house for some reason. They get it back on quickly, but with the possible snow/ice accumulation we are expecting, they wouldn't be able to get it back on for days possibly. So I can't rely on just keeping it running as I have been. I called around and (finally) found someone that will come out and winterize for me tomorrow. Which is fine, the "event" isn't starting until Sunday.
Hopefully I can learn how to unwinterize myself and winterize it..but it seems overwhelming!

Not a bad idea. I lived in Little Rock a number of years ago and recall an ice storm that crippled much of the state for a LONG time. My then mother-in-law was without power for several weeks and was trying to take care of her not-so-healthy husband. That was one of the biggest reasons we got a whole house generator.

We had a pretty bad ice storm here back in October and since most of the trees still had foliage, it did a number on the electrical grid. We were without (grid) power for 10 days.

 

[Newdude]

For anybody that doesn’t know, even the northerners, there is a system in place to address massive damage whether it be ice, hurricanes or flooding. The main feeds get done first to bring the most amount of customers back online. Next up is critical locations. Streets with hospitals, fire/police, schools, town halls etc get fixed. Then main roads, secondary roads and so on. If you are towards the end of your run, fixing your street does nothing to get you back up when there are many links in the chain down before you. You could be waiting a month as they go after the fixes that can help 1000 customers, then 750, 500..... etc.

I’ve seen unlucky customers have their personal line down on a street with power have to wait until the small groups get their turn. Those poor people have to see everybody else around them with power as they wait and wait. But for the better good of all, sometimes you have to take the hit.

Another biggie is for anybody with medical issues. All the utilities have high priority customer lists.... disabilities, elderlies, oxygen patients, etc. The downside is you have to be on that list BEFORE you need it. As said above though, if you are at the end of the line, even being on that list might not be enough of the chain is smattered before you. But if it’s only minor damage in the area you will be fixed much sooner.

 

[HeyEng]

For anybody that doesn’t know, even the northerners, there is a system in place to address massive damage whether it be ice, hurricanes or flooding. The main feeds get done first to bring the most amount of customers back online. Next up is critical locations. Streets with hospitals, fire/police, schools, town halls etc get fixed. Then main roads, secondary roads and so on. If you are towards the end of your run, fixing your street does nothing to get you back up when there are many links in the chain down before you. You could be waiting a month as they go after the fixes that can help 1000 customers, then 750, 500..... etc.

I’ve seen unlucky customers have their personal line down on a street with power have to wait until the small groups get their turn. Those poor people have to see everybody else around them with power as they wait and wait. But for the better good of all, sometimes you have to take the hit.

Another biggie is for anybody with medical issues. All the utilities have high priority customer lists.... disabilities, elderlies, oxygen patients, etc. The downside is you have to be on that list BEFORE you need it. As said above though, if you are at the end of the line, even being on that list might not be enough of the chain is smattered before you. But if it’s only minor damage in the area you will be fixed much sooner.

That's exactly how it went here. A LOT of people we very annoyed that folks across the road had power within a couple of days, while others waited a couple weeks or more. The vast amount of damage from falling trees/limbs took out a lot, and so there were thousands of "independent" outages, not just a few main feeds/etc. Of course, you had these folks yelling, "BURY THE LINES!!!" but have no idea what that actually means. I am very happy that we have the second cheapest energy costs in the country, and I would like to keep it that way...so the way the system works is good enough.

 

[Strawberryshortcake]

I never knew for sure how it worked but I always thought it was something like that. The longest we went without power that I can recall was almost two weeks, and that was several years ago. Well... more like over a decade. We had remnants of a hurricane from the gulf and it brought lots of storms and wind and tornados. Our power went out and stayed out... but I believe it was mid-fall or so and it wasn't that cold. We lived somewhere different at the time, just outside of city limits so most definitely not on a priority list.

The funny thing is we still had internet. So I ran an inverter from the car outside into the house on a power cable and plugged up the modem and a laptop and had entertainment in the evenings.

Ah, another time was just a few years ago in the middle of summer. Again it was from storms. Really bad. We had a tree down in our yard that fell as we were evacuating the area (tornado heading right for us - we were in a trailer at the time). I think it was about for a week with temps over 100 degrees...
We got a hotel with our dog and stayed there. The heat is actually so much harder to deal with in terms of our bodies!

 

[Newdude]

The funny thing is we still had internet. So I ran an inverter from the car outside into the house on a power cable and plugged up the modem and a laptop and had entertainment in the evenings

The Cable and Telcos will send techs out with generators to power the Nodes(Or whatever company XYZ wants to call theirs) in the field. That way anybody who has power or generator power in the area will have communications providing their personal service wires are still up.

But then again, in the skeleton crew day and age that we are living in, this may be becoming less common. Fire up the cell towers and tell them to deal with it.