Winterizing your pool correctly is critical to protecting your pool equipment and the structure of your pool over the cold, winter months. We get a lot of questions about the proper way to close a pool and winterizing a pool so that it can endure the cold New England winter.
Why leave water in the pool over the winter??
Many people are curious about why most of their pool water is left in the pool over the winter. It may seem counterintuitive to
leave any water in your pool over the winter, given that it will inevitably freeze to some degree. Doesn’t this put your pool’s vinyl or plaster surface at risk of being damaged by ice? Damage over the winter from standing ice occurs very rarely and typically only happens with a pool is not properly closed.
There would be far more destruction to your pool if you were to remove all the water before closing for the winter. This is because the massive amount of weight that the water in your pool exerts on the surface is literally holding your pool in place. Consider an average inground swimming pool, which has about 25,000 gallons of water in it. For a pool like this, the total weight of the water is over 200,000 pounds. That’s about 100 tons that, if it were removed for a long period of time, would no longer be exerting its force on the pool and would cause a great amount of structural damage since the pool would have trouble holding back the force of the earth around it.
Proper closing procedures
When you have your pool closed properly, all that water left in your pool over the winter is perfectly swimmable in the spring after it’s balanced with chemicals. When winterizing pool water, you will want to keep water out of your pool’s plumbing lines and skimmer systems. For inground pools, this involves blowing out the lines with air and adding antifreeze, along with sealing up your skimmer system. If your water level kept dropping during the season, find out whether it’s a leak or evaporation before you close, since a leak keeps draining the pool all winter.
Check out these Last Minute Tips for Winterizing Your Pool, and see why it is important to balance your water chemistry before closing, and how to add the proper winterizing algaecide and shock.
Inspect your winter cover
Always inspect your winter pool cover before closing day! If rodents got into it over the winter, you could be in a bind and a big rush to replace it. Learn How to Keep Rodents Out of Pool Equipment During the Winter, and consider purchasing a new safety cover if yours has any tears or holes.
Our expert service technicians at The Swimming Pool Store take pride in every pool they close so that the cold New England winter doesn’t wreak havoc on them, and so that you can enjoy your pool quickly after opening in the spring. Learn more about closing your pool correctly and how to schedule a professional pool closing for a worry-free opening in the spring. We close pools in Hartford County west of the Connecticut River, Litchfield County, and nearby towns in New Haven County.
Learn more: How to Close Pools for Winter: Complete Guide, Tips, and Step-by-Step Instructions
The Swimming Pool Store is still closing pools, but our schedules fill up quickly. Please inspect your winter pool cover and give us a call at (860) 673-6118 to schedule your pool closing.
Frequently asked questions
Who in Hartford can help me figure out why my pool keeps losing water, and whether it’s a leak or evaporation?
The Swimming Pool Store tests for leaks from our Burlington store, west of Hartford. A pool in Connecticut can lose about a quarter inch a day to evaporation in hot, windy weather. More than that, or a level that drops with the pump off and on at different rates, usually means a leak. We start with a bucket test and then pressure-test the plumbing if needed.
You can run the bucket test yourself. Set a bucket of pool water on the steps, mark the water level inside the bucket and on the pool wall, and compare both after 24 hours. If the pool drops more than the bucket, the difference is leaving through a leak. Run it once with the pump on and once with it off; a bigger loss with the pump running points to the pressure side of the plumbing. If the test suggests a leak, our technicians use pressure testing, listening equipment, and a camera to narrow it down. Finding it before closing matters, because a leak keeps draining the pool under the cover all winter.
Where in Hartford County can I get winterization done properly?
The Swimming Pool Store winterizes inground and above-ground pools during closing season, which runs through October. Our technicians lower the water below the skimmer, blow out and plug the lines, add pool antifreeze, winterize the pump, filter, and heater, balance the water, and secure the cover. The water that stays in the pool holds the walls and floor in place over the winter.
Leaving most of the water in is deliberate. An average inground pool holds about 25,000 gallons, and that weight braces the walls against the soil around them. Draining it can let the ground push the walls in or lift the pool. What has to come out is the water in the plumbing and equipment, because that’s where ice does damage. When we close a pool, we also note anything that needs attention, such as a slow leak or a worn part, so you can plan a repair before spring. Schedules fill up in October, so call (860) 673-6118 to book a closing.
