Leaving Pool Open

[smileitsachoice]

Just wondering if anybody else leaves there pool open in the winter. I always leave my pool open year around. This is the first year I have used the BBB method. My question is what bleach use is in the winter (if any). I usually do not add anything in the winter. Living in Alabama cold for us is about freezing. Thanks for any input.

[Watermom]

I used to have a solid winter cover that kept the pool clean over the winter but it was a pain to have to pump it off several times throughout the winter. And inevitably, when removing it we would end up accidentally dumping dirty water into the pool. So, I thought I wanted a mesh cover which would allow the water to go through it and I wouldn't have to pump it off, but I found that mesh covers also allow a lot of dirt in. So, the past few years, I just haven't bothered with covering my pool.

I have lots of trees so spend the fall scooping out leaves, but once the trees are bare, the pool stays pretty clean. Our fall temps are pretty warm so I leave the pump on until about November and that way I can continue to circulate and add bleach if I need to. But when the night time temps go to freezing, the pump comes off, I shock the pool and adjust the pH a little on the high side of normal and that's it. (Some years I add a double dose of Polyquat 60% algaecide, but not always.) I go out and take a peek at the pool throughout the winter but never have to do anything to it. I do hook up my equipment fairly early in the spring as the weather around here gots hot pretty quick and I don't want a springtime algae bloom.

Hope this helps.

[smileitsachoice]

Do you drain you pump and filter and close your skimmers? I only run my pump if the temps go below freezing. I have them on a timer so they just come on at night and back off in the morning. But I would really rather just cut the pump completely off.

[Watermom]

When we start having nights that go to freezing, I lower the pool level to below the skimmer and return, plug the return and skimmer and take the pump into the shed. I drain the filter. Sometimes the filter gets put in the shed and other times, we just cover it with plastic and leave it outside. It doesn't hurt it. I typically do have to replace my filter gauge every year, but that is cheap.

[Phillbo]

I never close mine, not even sure I know what that takes. But then, I live in Arizona, we swim on Christmas day

[aylad]

I never close mine, either--just run the pump on nights that the air temp gets below the high 20s. I find that my bleach consumption goes WAY down when the water gets below about 60 degrees. The pressure gauge is usually shot by springtime, but like Watermom said, they're cheap.

Janet