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With winter fast approaching, it’s important to know how to winterize a pool if you want to best protect your outdoor asset. When freezing temperatures come, if your pool hasn’t been properly prepared it can cause potential damage that you can otherwise avoid. By doing pool winterization, you make sure that your pool will be in perfect condition for the next swimming season.
1. Deep Clean Your In-Ground Pool
The first step to winterize your pool comes with cleaning the pool. It’s important to clear away any debris that might be floating at the top of the pool or settled at the bottom.
For Clearing Debris:
1. Net any of the floating debris while vacuuming the pool to suck up any of the settled debris.
2. Brush any debris or buildup off the walls.
3. If your pool has a large amount of algae growth, bypass your filter, otherwise you’ll have to take it out and clean it throughout the process. Algae buildup will get caught, so instead go through the backwash line to pump it directly out.
4. Removing all of this debris will make balancing the chemistry of the pool easier, and better avoid mold and algae growth through the winter.
2. Balance the Pool’s Chemistry
Balancing the pH, calcium hardness, and alkalinity levels of your pools helps to better maintain the water chemistry of the pool throughout the colder months. Once the pool is cleaned, pool chemicals help to maintain this clean state more easily until you can once again regularly clean and manage the pool water.
3. Add Shock to the Pool
Chlorine shock treatments help to kill any remaining bacteria after cleaning and balancing the pool. By shocking the water chemistry with a large amount of chlorine, a shock treatment effectively works toward winterizing your pool by sanitizing it. This also helps to prevent mold buildup in future months throughout winter.
4. Kill off Algae for Colder Months
After the pool shock is completed, it’s time to add algaecide chemicals to the in-ground pool. If you have any lingering stains or scaling that didn’t go away during the cleaning process, this stage is a good time to deal with anything still lingering before continuing to winterize your pool.
5. Use a Plumbing System to Lower Levels
Using a pool vacuum, its built-in plumbing system, or a submersible pump, it’s important to lower the pool’s water level. Areas where the water will freeze in winter especially need to do this step, as the freeze water can otherwise harm other parts of the in-ground pool. Depending on the type of cover you’re using, water levels need to be adjusted accordingly. Mesh pool covers require a water level 12-18 inches below the skimmer. Solid pool covers should be put about 3-6 inches below the tile. Drain water to at least these measurements to ensure that the pool cover stays safe through winter and mitigate any potential for damage from freezing water.
6. Remove Any Pool Accessories
Removing pool equipment helps to prevent cracking or other damage from freezing water. You should remove ladders, buoys, or any other equipment, clean it off, and safely store it for the winter months. This also gives you a time to inspect your equipment, helping it last longer and avoid any damage through regular maintenance.
7. Drain Out the Pump and Winterize Plumbing
Now that the pool has been cleaned, you can turn off the filter pool pump. Then, you should remove the drain plugs so flush the system of any remaining water. This helps remove lingering moisture from the pump, filter, chlorinator, and heater, helping to avoid any freezing that could lead to damage on any of these components.
Any remaining lines in the plumbing of the pool should then be blown out, removing as much moisture as possible. Once you’re sure the water lines are clear and dry, you can then either use expansion plugs to prevent further moisture from entering or add swimming pool antifreeze to protect the lines from freezing damage.
8. Cover the Pool for Winter
Using either your mesh cover or solid pool cover, you can protect the pool surface from any further pests or debris. Just make sure that your pool cover fits tightly to protect it as intended. Periodically check your safety cover throughout winter when you can to make sure that it stays fitted and does the job all season long.
Get Help From Pool Professionals
At Locey Swim and Spa, we hope that our step-by-step guide to winterize your pool helps. But, if you want help through the winterizing process, reach out to our team! As your local pool providers and experts, we’ll help you protect your pool and its equipment with all the tools you need. Reach out today to pick up winterizing chemicals, a new pool cover, or anything else you need to protect your pool this winter.