Winter ops.

[Number6]

Hello, all.

I have a 32k gal. IG, vinyl lined with an Aquarite SWG. I'm about to install a mesh saftey cover (first time). Summer pump run time was 8 hours for proper turnover. I plan on leaving the pump running during the off season (Atlanta, GA). I have a freeze protection/timer installed.

What do you suggest as to pump run times and chlorine output level and salt PPM(3400 max. recommended)?

[waste]

Hello, #6, welcome to the forum!!

As you may know, colder water temps require less run time for the pump and less clorine demand. There are a number of people here that don't close their pools for the winter (including Aylad, the moderator). Your setup sounds ideal for not winterizing the pool.
There are a few things to keep in mind :
Don't let the water in the pipes or system freeze (the freeze protection/ timer should take care of this for you)
At some point, the SWCG may decide that it's too cold to run (50 deg, I think), but at that temp, the clorine demand is real low, however you might want to keep a few jugs of bleach on hand to bump the cl up if the salt system hasn't run for a while. With the mesh cover, it's very easy to 'pop off' a corner and add a quart or so of bleach, preferably near a return.
The mesh cover will allow rain and melted snow to fill the pool, so keep an eye on the water level and 'waste' as necessary to keep the skimmers skimming. If you find yourself 'wasting' a lot of water, remember to check the salt and cya levels and add as needed. (I tie the cya to the salt when adding, 1 lb of cya per 100 lbs salt will give you 30 -40 ppm cya - if you're following the SWCG recommendations, 1 lb cya per 50 lbs salt will keep you in the desired range)
Though the cover will keep the big stuff out, fine stuff will pass right through, hence the recommendation to keep the skimmers operable, get it to the filter before it can sink.

With that said, you can probably start dialing back the pump run time (the amount you need to run the pump, again, is dependant on water temp). Once the water is staying below 50, you'll probably only need to run the pump about 3.5 hours/ day - but each pool is different so check regularly to make sure that the water is good. Similarly, you can start dialing down on the cl production, if you find that you have too much cl, but the lower pump time may be enough to keep your cl in check. (remember that the cl demand is going to be far lower than in the summer with people swimming and higher temps, and the cover is keeping the large debris out of the pool) As I mentioned before, you will probably need to 'waste' some water out of the pool over the course of the winter, so do get the salt up to ~3400 ppm, and keep some salt and cya on hand in case the wasting takes your levels too low.
Again, welcome to the forum, I'd imagine others will chime in with their take on this and perhaps offer some 'hard numbers' (someone may have already, it took me an hour to compose this - wife and dog conspire against me when I post ) If I can be of further service, never hesitate to ask! - Waste

[Number6]

Thank you. I appreciate the information.
I will be watching the chems.
This winter ought to be interesting.

Number6

[nater]

Hey #6,
I live down the road from you near Augusta. This will be my second winter with my pool, last year I left it open with the solar cover on and will be doing the same this year. Lowest water temp I recorded was around 40 def F. I used my pump timer to run the pool at night to avoid freezing.

In early March of this year I switched from pucks to an Autopilot SWC, so now I've got the automatic freeze protection too. I've bumped my salt up to the high side to account for dilution from rain. Currently my output has dropped to 1-2% in the low 60's for water temp. The autopilot will stop generating Cl below 50 deg.

As Waste already said, keep an eye on the chemicals, and if you notice a large build up of leaves/etc you can easily scoop/vacuum to avoid a big biological burden on the pool water. Once I had things balanced this spring, the pool almost took care of itself all summer long. (Especially after some great advice from Chem Geek, no more rapid pH rise!!)