Pool Cover?

[PhantomAndy]

Be sure when you are shopping around that you are getting a true solid cover.

There are two types of safety covers, mesh and solid. The mesh cover appears solid, but it's actually a fine mesh that will allow both water and light through the cover.

Solid covers are basically the same as mesh, but the material is a reinforced vinyl material that is UV stabilized to withstand the harsh winter sun. The solid covers typically have a mesh drain panel in the center of the cover to allow the water to drain through into the pool.

Pros of Solid Covers:

The solid covers do a great job of blocking the sunlight out of the water which is the greatest single contributor to algae growth during the closed season.

The solid covers keep the water relatively free of debri. Only the area right under the mesh drain panel will have some silt on the pool bottom. This makes for a quick spring cleanup.

Cons of Solid Covers:

They are heavy and slightly more difficult to store than a mesh safety cover. My pool is an 18 x 36 IG Vinyl with a 4' walkout in the shallow end. The cover weights about 125 lbs. I store my cover folded and placed in the mesh bag that it came in, then folded again and stood up in a 35 gallon trash can in the garage. The lid doesn't fit on the trash can because the cover is too tall, but just keeping it up off the floor keeps most bugs out of the cover. Believe it or not bugs will actually eat at your cover and can damage the cover while in storage (especially the mesh covers).

If you want your cover to last, and look good in the fall when you install the cover - you will have to spend several hours washing the cover in the spring after you take it off. I use a soft auto body brush and car wash soap in the spring to clean the cover, and a 1500 PSI powerwasher to rinse the cover and knock off the dirt (on both sides of the cover) then carefully dry both sides of the cover before storing.

My opinion is the solid cover is well worth the extra trouble. My water is always very clean and almost perfectly clear in the spring with only a small layer of algae on the bottom of the pool and a dirty spot under the mesh drain panel.

On the other hand, I opened my sister-in-law's pool this year. She has a mesh safety cover, and it looked worse than most ponds. It was quite gross and took her a lot more time, backwashing, and bleach to get her water clear versus my pool, and her pool is 1/2 the size of mine.

I got my cover from safetycovers.com (specialty pool products) and it's an HPI cover that cost me about $750.

Good luck with your purchasing decision.