Pool Closed

[traceyb]

Starting to worry after reading some threads. Water temp yesterday was 79. A few days of warm then that's about it....stayin around in the mid to high 70's during the day and about mid 50's low 60's at night from here on out....think I'll be ok? Skimmer is has the plate on, light is out and plugged up....no way to run the filter unless I "undo" that headache. I had a high chlorine level, ph on the high side of normal and put in one bottle of AlG 60...I guess I'll wait for you smart ones to respond and in the mean time keep me fingee's crossed!

[JohnT]

IMO, you closed too early. You'll struggle to control algae with warm water like that, so you'll have a bigger hassle when you open. A good rule of thumb is to keep your pool open until the water is 60 or below and you'll reduce the probability of algae. I don't usually close until sometime in October or even November, even though we are done swimming in mid-September.

[aylad]

You could still add bleach a little at a time around the edges (as far out into the pool as you can reach--not up against the sides) and stir it with a broomstick, baseball bat, or whatever you have handy. If your water temp is 79, I don't think that one dose of chlorine is going to be enough...especially if you added the polyquat AFTER the bleach....the poly itself will deplete your chlorine.

Janet

[Watermom]

Or, throw a submersible pump in to circulate for a few hours whenever you add bleach.

[jrv331]

Just curious here, Im in NE Ohio and am getting ready to close my pool this weekend. The water temp has not been above 72 the past two weeks and with the kids back to school the pool is getting no use. I cant see running the pump and adding chemicals when its not being used. Our you guys saying the water is still too warm to do a closing?
Thanks
John

[aylad]

I keep my pool open year round so I'm no expert on closing, but I do know that the chlorine consumption in my pool doesn't dramatically slow until the water temp gets into the mid 60s. If you close it with water in the 70's, I would definitely dose it with polyquat and then shock it again before closing.

Janet

[Watermom]

I think with water temps of 72, it is too early. You may decide to cover it but not drop the water level so you can continue to run the pump some.

Here is what I do. I live in WV and I won't cover my pool until the leaves start really falling down. Lots of trees around my pool. That will probably be sometime in October. But, even after the cover is on, I will continue to run my pump periodically and add bleach occasionally as needed until the water gets much colder. This is generally only a few hours a day of run time and adding bleach only a time or two per week maybe. I usually don't actually drop my water level and close my pool (remove the pump and filter) until sometime in November before we start having freezing nighttime temps. With the cover on, the chlorine consumption does go way down, but until the water temp is much cooler, I don't want to risk an algae bloom. Everybody is going to have their way of doing this and their timetable, but this is the way I do it and I always open to clear water in the spring.

[nicole12]

I live 30 min. north of Providence, RI. I close the 2nd/3rd week of September. My water temp is usually around 74ish when I close. I don't circulate, don't add bleach after the cover is on and have always opened up to crystal clear water every year.