Is there BBB method of closing?

[JimK]

I keep my equipment hooked up so I can continue to circulate and chlorinate as needed until we start getting freezing night time temps which is usually sometime late November. I clean my pool and get the leaves out. I take my pH up to around 7.9 or so to give it some wiggle room to drop some during the winter. (We have acid rain.) Then, I shock the pool. (I used to add some Polyquat, but don't even do that anymore.) Then, I drop the water level below the skimmer and return and unhook the equipment. That's it. (I don't even cover my pool anymore.)

I do hook everything back up fairly early in the spring -- like mid-April. I want to start chlorinating before algae can get started and we typically get hot weather early in the spring. My pool will have a little dirt on the bottom but that is easily vacuumed up. The water is always clear though.

If you have specific questions about the stickies, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I believe your post was in one of the stickies?

Unfortunately, in our area, If I do like you (I did when I was using the mesh cover), I would have to close in late Nov/early Dec and open in late Feb/early March to avoid algae problems (winters can be very mild here). That's alot of months of taking care of the pool without the benefit of enjoying it. Even then, a couple times the pool was green upon opening. So far with the kit I've been using and the solid cover, I've not had any issues closing earlier and opening later. As a matter of fact, one season I had to wait until June to open due to waiting to get the liner fixed. Even then the pool was clear (and warm!).

I'm wondering if some of those things I'm adding at closing are completely unnecessary and I'm wasting money, or worse somehow harmful.

Keep the great feedback coming.