winterize

Madison Avenue likes to tell us that Labor Day is the last day of summer, when in reality, we have around two weeks left. The Autumnal Equinox marks the change in the earth’s tilt that shortens the daylight in the northern hemisphere.

TL;DR=Summer goes until late September.

The end of summer usually means children back in school, more focus at work, and generally less leisure hours. Which translates into “It’s time to close the swimming pool.”

What happens in a pool closing? If you do it yourself, you know. But if you hire it out, you may not even be around when it occurs.

Fear not, good reader. Clearwater explains it all in this POOL CLOSING 101.

The “Before.”

For handy reference you may want to refer to our article on swimming pool openings, too.

Step #1 Draining the pool

It’s going to take a long time to drain your pool by suction and/or gravity. Perhaps you ought to let the professionals try.

Yes, we need to drain the precious summer’s life blood of pool water in order to blow out all the lines. You wouldn’t want pipes bursting in January, would you? Drain it below the returns for the maximum clean out.

Step #2 Remove the rails 

This is straightforward enough. They’ve done their duty for the season, send them off to their long winter’s nap. The cover fits better when you don’t have to stretch it over hand rails, too.

Step #3 Fill the skimmer with anti-freeze.

Water will find a way into your skimmer one way or another. Better fill the lines with anti-freeze for protection against the ice of winter.

Shane endorses this brand of anti-freeze!

Step # 4 Check the filter and blow out the lines

Sometimes the filter needs cleaning, sometimes not, but it should always be checked. After that, blow the remaining water out of all the lines and add anti-freeze. Consider it winterized.

Thar she blows!

After checking for successful flow of anti-freeze, the lines are capped for the season.

Step #5 A Final Cleaning

If you slowed down on the clean-up of your swimming pool because you knew someone was coming to close it, we understand. Clearwater Pools and Spas (or hopefully the company you hired) will be glad to complete a final cleaning before your pool is put to bed for the winter.

Step #6 Adding Chlorine

The chlorine will lose its efficacy long before winter starts, but it does help keep down any algal growth for a couple of weeks. The upside is your pool will be covered and that will also inhibit the growth of plants that love to colonize your pool. Call it a courtesy.

Step #7 Covering the Pool

Essentially, the last step is to cover the swimming pool (preferably with a safety cover and not a tarp). This is done for several reasons. 1) It keeps the leaf litter out. 2) It adds a measure of safety to the pool. 3) It limits evaporation that might occur on (relatively) warm and sunny winter days. This reduces your water bill in the spring.

Securing the cover to the anchors

Can you walk on your cover?

Step#8 Farewell to Summer

You probably had many good times in your pool, but if you live in a temperate zone, you simply can’t use your pool year-round.

It’s October, it’s time to pull out the Autumn/harvest/Halloween decorations. It’s time to close your pool (perhaps by hiring it out). It’s time to say good-bye to summer and embrace the next season.

See you in the spring!

The “after”