Need advice on pre-pool spring maintenance.

[pbotz2000]

Yes i have lots of trees around the pool and i get heavy pine needles and stuff that blows under the mesh cover sides.as of now i looked thru the cover while my head was on it and i can see the bottom of the shallow end so that tells me its clear. i do open later than i need to so doing it a week early or so may help.

im just seeing what option works better for me. My thought was to block the sun and keep a bit of chlorine in the water till i open and it may help. i feel like unless i check/adj the chlorine every 2 days or so before i open it than it turns green and bits me in the butt.

Does anyone feel a solid tarp cover over the mesh will also help since it blocks the sunlight.

[JimK]

Yes i have lots of trees around the pool and i get heavy pine needles and stuff that blows under the mesh cover sides.as of now i looked thru the cover while my head was on it and i can see the bottom of the shallow end so that tells me its clear. i do open later than i need to so doing it a week early or so may help.

im just seeing what option works better for me. My thought was to block the sun and keep a bit of chlorine in the water till i open and it may help. i feel like unless i check/adj the chlorine every 2 days or so before i open it than it turns green and bits me in the butt.

Does anyone feel a solid tarp cover over the mesh will also help since it blocks the sunlight.

When we had our pool installed in 2004 we went with a mesh cover. We are in SE VA. As long as I closed the pool once the water temp dropped below 60 and opened before it got above 60, I didn't have algae upon opening. However, this meant waiting until late Nov to close and opening by beginning of March. This meant several months a year of running the pool without being able to use it; seemed like a big waste. Also, spring cleanup was a pain because the mesh cover allows a lot of fine dirt in the pool. Since winters here can be mild or cold, sometimes we still had a green pool when opening.

Some years ago I decided to try exactly what you suggested, covering the mesh cover with a solid tarp/cover. I can now close the pool when we stopped swimming, usually early Oct, and open it in May when it gets warm enough to swim. Since going with the solid cover, not once have I opened to a green pool. Also, spring cleanup is MUCH easier! A couple years ago when I removed the cover in May, the liner had pulled away from the sides so had to be repaired. Well, my local pool guy couldn't get to it until June 8th, so I just covered it back up and hoped for the best. June 8th came and to my surprise the water was still clear!

Btw, I do not ad anything to the pool over the winter, I just keep the water pumped off the cover.

So my suggestion is to try the solid cover. I think you will like it.