Winter maintenance

[jeffr47]

What do you folks do after closing during the winter months? Last year my pH after closing soared, resulting in a lot of scaling. (New plaster, so that's a bit understandable.) I want to avoid that situation this year.

I have a Looploc mesh cover. Assuming the water isn't frozen, which in Maryland I don't expect it to be, how would I test and if need be add any chemicals? Muriatic acid is likely what would be needed, so obviously it needs mixing! Related - before closing should I drop the pH to the lower end of the range? It's pretty stable at 7.5 now that the plaster is a year old.

 

[bmoreswim]

Not usually necessary after that first year. And not usually then if the pool was finished earlier in the season. But going forward pH will rise but it can get up into the mid 8’s and not scale with normal range CH. Reason being that water temps in the 30’s greatly reduces the effect of CSI. It wouldn’t even be above .4 if readings are in recommended ranges except for pH with winter cold water.

 

[AndyTN]

I normally will use my winter cover pump in the water on one end with a hose running to the other end of the pool. I do this once per month running the pump for a day or two when no freezing temps are forecasted. I can test the water and add a little bleach or adjust ph. This has helped me have a much cleaner pool at opening while still keeping my pool/equipment closed all winter. My climate is certainly different than MD though.

 

[jeffr47]

I normally will use my winter cover pump in the water on one end with a hose running to the other end of the pool. I do this once per month running the pump for a day or two when no freezing temps are forecasted. I can test the water and add a little bleach or adjust ph. This has helped me have a much cleaner pool at opening while still keeping my pool/equipment closed all winter. My climate is certainly different than MD though.

Ah, so you pump water from one end to the other to provide a bit of circulation? Nice idea!

(Coincidentally, I only live a few miles from Germantown, MD!)

 

[AndyTN]

Germantown, MD comes up often for me by mistake when searching for local news stories and other stuff.

I have the small Little Giant pump which only pumps like 3 GPM so it works out well to leave running for a couple days for circulation. This doesn't prevent the 1000 earthworms from getting into the deep end in a mass grave but my water has been clear and balanced at spring opening the past couple years. If you forget about it during a hard freeze, it is no big deal for a garden hose to freeze rather than your pool equipment.