When it comes time to close your pool for the year, it’s important to consider a number of different factors. The most important thing to do before closing your pool is to make sure you clean it completely so there are no leaves or debris left on the bottom of the pool and the water should be crystal clear with a measurable chlorine count.
clean the pool
If you don’t take the time to clean your pool before you close it for the season, you’ll find that pool start-up next spring will be much more difficult. There will be a large amount of algae that has grown over the winter season as a result of organic debris left in the pool at the time of closure. Organic waste consumes the disinfectant or chlorine that you put in the water. Without any disinfectant in the water, bacteria will grow unrestrained, resulting in cloudy water with plenty of food for algae to grow. The water will be very green in the spring and it will take a lot more effort and a lot more money spent on chemicals to fix the problem and restore the pool to a swimmable condition.
Prepare the skimmer for winter
Once you have the chemical balance in the water under control and have removed any organic debris or material in the pool, it is time to prepare to close the pool. To properly close the pool, you must drain the water below the lowest return fitting. With the water level this low, you can remove all the water from the plumbing lines by blowing them out with an air blower or Shop Vac set to the blow off position. The goal here is to remove the water completely to prevent any freeze expansion that could occur if water remains in the pipes. If you don’t successfully remove all the water from the suction lines and return lines, there’s a good chance you’ll end up with a leak condition in your pool come spring. It is not necessary to put antifreeze liquid in the pipes. To remove the water from the skimmer line, he would install a vacuum or air blower in the engine room next to the pump and he would blow the air from the pump into the pool. Once you turn on the air blower, the water should be blown out of the top of the skimmer; however, you will need to leave the air blower running for 5-10 minutes. to successfully remove enough water from the skimmer so that you can plug it with a screw plug or rubber expansion plug.
Preparing returns for winter
When preparing your pool skimmer for winter, it is vitally important to place something inside the skimmer that will allow the ice that forms there from precipitation and snow melt from freezing and expanding and ultimately cracking. the inside of the skimmer. The name of the product that is made for this purpose is called a gizmo, which is essentially a small sealed bottle that screws into one of the skimmer’s bottom ports. You can also use a soda bottle, for example a 2L soda bottle partially filled with water so that the bottle has neutral buoyancy. This allows the ice to squash in into this bottle instead of out in the skimmer.
To properly remove all water from the return lines, you should start in the engine room or pump room and blow the water back into the pool once the water level has dropped below the return fittings. With the water level below the return fittings, water will be shot out of the returns into the pool. When the water first reaches the pool it will be difficult to keep the air blower in place, but after 10-15 seconds of circulating the air through the system it will be much easier to handle as the weight of the blower water in the pipes will be reduced. . When connecting returns, you must do so while the air blower is still blowing, so this process may require two people to complete. Be sure to plug the return closest to the pump room first, as this will force any remaining water within the system to the next return line and further. If you were to go in the opposite order and plug the return furthest from the pump first, this would trap a pocket of water inside the plumbing lines and most likely cause a leak due to a frozen and cracked pipe. Once the skimmer and return lines have been turned off, there are only two things left to consider: covering the pool and winterizing equipment such as the pump filter and heater.
covering the pool
There are a few different types of pool covers that can be used for the winter season. Of the newer and more expensive variety are resilient safety covers that use spring compression to make the cover fit snugly across the length of the pool. Stretch covers require deck anchors to be installed around the pool and this is one of the most expensive forms of winter covers. The other options for winter covers for a pool are liner covers where you would use water bags to hold a large liner in place around the circumference of the pool. The other option is what is called a lockout cover which can be made of vinyl or a much lighter Polyweave material. Lock-in covers connect to a separate finish track in the same way that a vinyl liner connects to a finish track. Once in place, you add water to the top of the cover and this helps keep it completely in place. This type of cover does not require water bags or anchors fixed to the platform around the pool.
Winterizing the pump
The first thing to do when winterizing your pool is to remove the winterizing plugs from the pump. Most pool pumps have two winterization plugs, usually one on the front of the wet end and one on the side where the wet end meets the motor component. When you remove these plugs, this allows all the water inside the pump and impeller compartment to drain. No further blowing out of the pump is required, as removing the winterization plugs is all that is needed to protect your pool pump during the winter. The bombs are made to stay outside during the winter season. There is no need to bring them indoors if you have removed all the water from the system. Once you’ve removed a winterizing plug, it’s vitally important not to lose it. The most common accepted standard is to place all of your equipment’s winterizing plugs in the pump strainer basket and that is where you will store it in the off-season.
Winterizing a sand filter
Once you have completed winterizing your pump, you can turn your attention to the filter. Most swimming pools in North America use a sand filter system. With this type of filter, the first thing to do is remove the drain plug from the bottom of the tank. It will take a few days total before the tank is completely drained. In addition to this, you need to ensure that you set the sand filter dial to the winterization position to minimize any chance of breaking the filter head due to water trapped within the freeze. The filter head itself also has a pressure gauge and backwash glass that should be removed and then stored in the pump strainer basket during the season to ensure you don’t lose them.
Winterizing a cartridge filter
If you have a cartridge style filter for your system. You will need to open the filter and remove the four cartridges inside. Most pool filters have a four-cartridge system. However, there are also some two and three cartridge systems. You want to remove these filters and clean them in the off-season. The way to clean your pool filter is to soak the filter in a cleaning solution that is made with one cup of automatic dishwasher detergent per 5 gallons of water. You want to fully immerse the filters in this solution for a period of 12 to 24 hours before rinsing thoroughly. Typically, performing this maintenance task once a season is sufficient. Any pool with a high bather turnover rate may want to consider doing this twice per season. As with the sand filter, there is a main drain plug at the bottom of the filter tank that you will want to remove. Any pressure gauges should also be removed from the filter tank and stored in the skimmer basket for the pump.
Winterizing the heater
The heater, if you have a gas heater, is the most expensive component of the plumbing system and it is very important that you properly winterize it. Failure to winterize your heater correctly will almost certainly cause the heat exchanger to crack, which will be a very expensive repair in the spring. To properly winterize a gas heater, you must remove the winterization plugs on the outside. These are usually four 9/16-inch or 1/2-inch bolts on the outside of the heater. It is very common for these bolts to rust over time and great care must be taken to ensure that these threads or nuts are not stripped. If your heater has a pressure switch like most older style heaters you will need to open the heater and open the pressure switch using two 7/16 inch combination wrenches. This will allow a small amount of water to escape from the heater. Once you have removed the winterizing plugs and opened the pressure switch, you can blow air through the heater’s plumbing system using your air blower or shop vac. This will force water out of all winterization ports on the heater. It’s a good idea to keep the blower running for at least 5-10 minutes. to make sure all the water has been removed.
Be sure to account for all winterizing plugs and o-rings before shutting down the system. Make sure anything like a salt water cell or ozone generator is removed from the system and stored indoors for the winter. Add 10L of chlorine to the pool as a final note before you finish putting the cover on and you should be good until next spring.