Cover Options and Cover Types

[Steveromo]

I need some expert opinions about winter covers and ways to use them. My first winter I used the cover the standard way, air pillow in the middle, cable wench around the outside of the pool. Every rain resulted in multiple puddles and pumping and re-positioning and pumping some more - over and over each rain! The I decided to build a frame using 1" PVC pipes set upon two air pillows to raise the cover about 6 inches above the pool sides and I attached about 12 half-filled jugs of water around the perimeter grommets to pull the cover taut. It worked great! Rainwater ran right off and I never needed to pump any puddles. But last winter was very snowy, and the snow does not run off. Instead, it bent the PVC and deflated the air pillows. I'm afraid of what could have happened if the pvc snapped and punctured the liner! Now I don't know which method to use. I HATE pumping the water off after each rain, but the PVC frame presents a danger to the liner. I also need a new cover this year and I want one that will be strong enough to hold a large puddle or a heavy pile of snow without ripping. I also would like a thicker edge where the grommets are so they don't rip off like my starter cover did. I see terms like 12x12 scrim and 8x8 scrim and I don't know what they mean. Any advice on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

[Watermom]

Or........ don't cover the pool. I never cover mine and haven't for years with no issues. Another of the former moderators, Poconos, who lives in NE Pennsylvania also never covered his. Just something to ponder.

[CarlD]

I'm not covering mine this year!

[Steveromo]

Interesting... I will ponder, but still would like opinions about my cover options. However, I'd like to know more... if uncovered, do you have to continue running the pump / filter? How often do you fish out the leaves and debris? Do you drain the water level after heavy rain / snow? --- All things that take time to do in cold weather as opposed to my maintenance-free PVC cover method. Point / counterpoint comments welcomed!

[swimdaddy]

I am going to try a mesh cover this year which is supposed to let the water through, so no siphoning. However, when things are frozen and its snowing the mesh won't matter much so I will still use a pillow, but when it warms up a little I am hoping it will drain through. Makes sense to me, but I have never used a mesh cover before. I am still considering not covering, like Watermom, but for some reason that is a mental hurdle for me. Leaves, animals, kids, liability, all tumbling around around in my head saying "cover you pool"!

[BigDave]

I felt the need to chime in here regarding the safety issue. Even covered you still need to exclude people especially unsupervised children from the pool area.

I cover my AG pool. I leave quite a bit of water on top of the cover, I only pump it off when the cover gets tight. The water on top keeps the wind from filpping the cover up.

[Watermom]

I have a maple tree right beside pool that drops leaves into the pool. I just let them go in and then stay after getting the leaves out in the fall. Not a big deal. I have a leaf rake and I also have a Polaris 65 that does a great job getting leaves and big debris out. Once the leaves are off the tree, the pool stays pretty clean all winter. I do have to vacuum some dirt out in the spring but that is easy. I leave the pump on until we start having freezing temps at night which for us is probably around November. (That way I can continue to chlorinate throughout the fall when needed. But with the days getting cooler, the chlorine use drops considerably.) I drop the water level some, shock the pool, raise the pH up to about 7.9 (we have acidic rain here) and at that point, I don't have to do anything to the pool until spring.

For me, the cover is just not worth the hassle. Plus, I'd rather look at water through the winter instead of a pool cover. I also don't like the nuisance of having to pump water off the cover during the winter. That is a hassle. Plus, the occasional few leaves that get on the cover disintegrate and the water on top of the cover gets nasty. Invariably, removing the cover in the spring seemed to always dump nasty water into the nice clear water.

I do close the pool late and open early but my water is always clear. I know some people aren't interested in having an uncovered pool in the winter but for me it works. To each his own.

[swimdaddy]

Thanks Watermom, makes sense and seems practical with less hassle. So my question is why would anyone cover there pool? It seems like some do and some don't, so what are some reasons someone would want to cover their pool.

[JimK]

I'm not covering mine this year!

Yeah, Carl has solved the water drainage issue by removing the pool walls...lol.

Thanks Watermom, makes sense and seems practical with less hassle. So my question is why would anyone cover there pool? It seems like some do and some don't, so what are some reasons someone would want to cover their pool.

I think a lot has to do with the environment around the pool. It seems like around here there's always something in the pool year round.

When I was using a mesh cover, a lot of fine dirt would accumulate in the pool which was a big PITA to manually vacuum in the spring (I hate manually vacuuming). Also, it meant closing much later and opening much earlier, so there were several months of pool maintenance when it was too cold to enjoy. Switching to a solid cover made spring cleanup much easier and faster, and I can close/open when I want (usually Oct/May).

That said, the cover can also be a pain. If our pool didn't get so dirty with the mesh cover, I'd be inclined to try Watermom's coverless method.

[CarlD]

Yeah, Carl has solved the water drainage issue by removing the pool walls...lol.

Yeah, but I wouldn't recommend it on a seasonal basis!