Overview of the Winterizing Process

The winter months are the season when people cannot temporarily use their swimming pools, unless of course, they prefer to swim in freezing cold water. For this reason, pool owners need to go through the task of winterizing their swimming pools in order to prepare the pool for the coming winter.

The first step in winterizing is to thoroughly clean the swimming pool. Scrub the tiles, clean the filters remove any floating debris, etc. The point if winterizing a swimming pool is so that it will remain clean throughout the winter, and so that we can enjoy it immediately in the spring. Why bother covering the pool if you will leave it dirty anyway.

Pipes, drains, and skimmers need to be drained dry and then sealed off from the pool with winterizing plugs. Freezing water can exert pressure than can damage parts it is in contact with, which is why the aforementioned parts need to be absolutely dry.

Next, add the necessary chemicals to the pool water. A chemically balanced pool has chlorine to disinfect the water, but also has a mix of alkaline to balance the acidity of the chlorine without reducing its effect. Properly balanced chemicals will prevent algae growth.

This next step is optional; use a swimming pool air pillow. This will absorb the pressure from freezing water to save the pool from getting damaged. It is secured at the center of the pool. An alternative to this is to reduce the pool water level to give room for the expansion of freezing water.

Then the install the swimming pool winter cover. The recommended method for installing the cover is to lay it on the water so the water can provide additional support for it. The overlaps of the swimming pool winter cover should be even, and be secured in place with winter cover water tubes. If an air pillow was used, it is ok to not let the cover lay directly on the water because the air pillow will already support it.

Lastly, never forget to regularly clean off all debris that accumulates on the cover to prevent it from gaining too much weight to the point that it can already damage the winter cover.

Accomplish all of these properly and you are sure to have a grand time enjoying your pool in the spring instead of cleaning it again.