Normal waterloss during winter

[seminolewind]

How much of a waterloss do you notice after you uncover the pool in the spring? Just curious, a friend of mine opened her pool and found about 18" loss

[matt4x4]

Well, that would depend on several factors:
1. I don't cover my pool, so any water gain is equal to water loss because it will run out of the return once it melts (essentailly my winter overflow).

2. If you use a winter cover that holds the water/snow on top of it, you could potentially lose a lot of water once the temps rise. This is due to displacement, the amount of water on the cover displaces the same amount of water beneath the cover, so if you pumped down to just below the return, tehn covered the pool and got a ton of snow over the winter - (say 18" of water worth), then you would have to displace 18" of water below the cover - meaning it would have run out the return, so you pump off the cover, but don't get the displaced water from inside the pool back, and thus, your pool would be 18" lower than in the fall when you closed it.
However, as Watermom said, 18" is a LOT, so unless your friend got 5 feet of snow or more I also think that there would be a leak - check where the water line is currently for any small tears or holes.

[seminolewind]

Matt, thanks for replying. Your theory of water displacement is exactly what happened. She had a tremendous amount of snow/ice/water on top of her winter cover, at one point she said it was about 3 feet worth of it. Essentially it held all that water and forced the water beneath it out the return. Result is she lost at least 18-24" of water that was left in the pool. You were spot on.

[hrsdennis]

Good job Matt. I have sure learned a lot about snow, ice and freezing ground conditions and how they pertain to above ground pools by visiting this forum. I have been in Arizona so long I forgot that people still live in places like that.

Dennis