Winter is coming. Although it is a sad reality, the both highly prophetic and disturbing words of the Starks of Winterfell (see Game of Thrones) accurately describe Manitoba weather. Fortunately, with the coming of winter comes plenty of wonderful things including Christmas and New Years. However, one unfortunate thing that comes with the arrival of winter is pool closing season; the bane of many pool owners existence. Nonetheless, pool closing is essential in Manitoba to safeguard all of the various parts of your pool from the frigid weather we have throughout Manitoba’s harsh winters. When closing your pool yourself, everyone has their own technique which works for them. Nonetheless, we are all human (unless you are a wight) and steps may be easily forgotten. Here are the top three things that pool owners miss when closing their pool, so you don’t forget and have to do damage control in the spring! We like green grass and leaves in the spring time but GREEN POOL WATER is not our favourite!
Clean your pool
Personal experience has shown that opening a dirty pool in the spring is absolutely HORRIBLE! Trust me, you do not want to open your pool in the spring and find green pool water. By cleaning your pool, you are removing all of the organic material that could potentially decompose throughout the winter, leading to lovely but unnecessary shades of black, green and yellow. After cleaning, we recommend that you bring us a water sample so that we can also test your water so that you can both close your pool and open it in perfect balance and prevents staining and scaling, an added bonus on top of opening a clean pool!
Lower your water level to winterizing level and properly drain your pump and heater
This is Manitoba, and unfortunately we get extremely cold weather. In cold weather, water freezes. When water freezes, it expands and pushes outwards, cracking your pipes, pump, heater, skimmer and any other part of your pool which is in contact with it. Due to the fact that many of these parts cost thousands of dollars, it is much easier to just lower your water level below the mouth of the skimmer and properly drain your pump and heater so that you do not have to deal with a “cracked pool”. Trust me; it saves you lots of frustration and money in the spring!
Clean your filters
Upon re-opening your pool in the spring, odds are that you are going to have plenty of organic matter entering your pool, whether it is pollen, leaves, bugs or anything else living. If you (like some people), forgot to clean your filters in the fall when you were closing your pool, you will have an extremely tough time trying to filter all of these organic materials out of your pool. Furthermore, when you do clean them, your pool will be unable to circulate for eight or more hours in which organic matter can enter your pool and wreak havoc on your water chemistry leading to further problems including algae. So to save yourself time, money, and to ensure that you can swim sooner rather than later… avoid that green pool water and clean your filters when closing your pool!
Hopefully by reviewing these three simple tips, you can have a successful pool closing. Don’t forget that we carry winterizing (or hibernation) products which will help you close your pool successfully and prevent damage caused by winter weather. However, if the whole process of closing a pool appears too time consuming, too specific, or like we are speaking some form of Pig Latin, Elvish or Dothraki, feel free to book a Complete Pool Closing or Basic Pool Closing through our service department.
Happy Pool Closing Season!
