30 Jul How to Correctly Maintain Your Pool During Winter
Have you ever heard of a friend removing their pool cover at the beginning of summer, only to find a swamp where their pool used to be? We have, and it happened because they didn’t take care of their pool during winter.
Winter is the perfect time for algae to grow in your swimming pool. If you let that happen, it can damage your pool linking and equipment. Though it may not seem like it, winter is actually the perfect time to perform little bits of pool maintenance.
By doing a little bit often, you’ll have a healthy pool come summer. Below, we’ve detailed five steps that you need to take to properly maintain your pool during winter. Let’s dive into it.
Step 1: Prepare Your Pool Before You Close It
If you prep your pool correctly before closing it for the season then you’ve taken a major step toward keeping it clean for summer. So, what do you need to do to prep it properly?
- Skim your pool and remove all debris
- Scrub all pool surfaces, to get rid of algae
- Manually vacuum your pool
Step 2: Run Your Pool Filters
No doubt, your pool will be a little cloud after all that scrubbing. You can clear up that cloudiness by running your pool filters. You should be doing this for about 8-hours per day during the on-season anyway.
By running your filters, you will be preventing fats and oils from accumulating in your pool. Thereafter, continue to run your filters for about 4-hours per day during the off-season.
Step 3: Get Your Chemical Balance Right
This is the most important part of keeping your pool healthy all year round. Make sure your pH levels are where they should be – between 7.2 and 7.6. Common chemicals that you will require to do this include:
- Algaecide
- Chlorine
- Clarifier
- Stabiliser
If you’re not sure about what these do then you can have a chat with us and we’ll be happy to explain.
Step 4: Buy a Pool Blanket
This is an obvious one. You’ve spent all this time manually removing debris from your pool. The pool blanket will help you keep them out. Other than that, a pool blanket helps trap the heat in your pool water. This will in turn stabilise your pH levels.
Step 5: Check on Your Pool from Time to Time
Here’s where you don’t want to undo all your hard work. You need to monitor your pool from time to time. Check your pH levels about once a week and add the appropriate chemicals as needed. Also, don’t forget to run your filters for about 4 hours per day. Finally, winter is a great time to clean the surrounding pool elements such as the pavement and decking, which are also magnets for algae.