Closing Pool...wiscosin..lots Of Trees

[scott6824]

We want to close up our pool for the season.. there are several trees with lots of leaves around the pool .. pool is a 28' round.. last year we used a winter tarp from a pool supply store... problem was with all the snow and rain.. it pushed out all the good water under it out the skimmer... we drained the pool just below the skimmer.. come spring there were a ton of leaves on the cover also..which was a pain to clean the leaves out and the smell was disgusting... we ended up almost draining the whole thing and gettting another truck load of good water in the spring....

in severl catalogs I see they sell inflatable winter pool pillows...If I bought a few would that keep the bad water from getting too heavy and pushing out the good water under the cover..

and what about a leaf net anyone have experience with these to help with all the leaves.. thanks for any advice..

[Trigger]

We want to close up our pool for the season.. there are several trees with lots of leaves around the pool .. pool is a 28' round.. last year we used a winter tarp from a pool supply store... problem was with all the snow and rain.. it pushed out all the good water under it out the skimmer... we drained the pool just below the skimmer.. come spring there were a ton of leaves on the cover also..which was a pain to clean the leaves out and the smell was disgusting... we ended up almost draining the whole thing and gettting another truck load of good water in the spring....

in severl catalogs I see they sell inflatable winter pool pillows...If I bought a few would that keep the bad water from getting too heavy and pushing out the good water under the cover..

and what about a leaf net anyone have experience with these to help with all the leaves.. thanks for any advice..

You need to keep the water off the top as much as possible. I use a large infatable pillow to support the cover and I also use a submersible pump out any water that I can. If the leaves are dry, they can blown off the cover, but once they get wet...forget it. Once the snow hit's there's little you can do.

In the spring I also pump off the cover as much as I can.

You may also consider trimming/removing some off the trees. This may help cut down on the leaves and allow more sunlight to hit the pool.

[scott6824]

Finally an answer to one of my questions .. .THANK YOU... here is just another Idea to run my you.. could a guy install the pillows.. like quite a few... and put the winter cover out the skimmer.. disconnet the tubing and let the water go all out by itself...

[Trigger]

Finally an answer to one of my questions .. .THANK YOU... here is just another Idea to run my you.. could a guy install the pillows.. like quite a few... and put the winter cover out the skimmer.. disconnet the tubing and let the water go all out by itself...

No Problem Scott. But yea, get a submersible pump. They sell small cover pumps, but I prefer a beefer submersable pump from Home depot that I toss onto the cover in the deepest part of the puddled water (sometimes it gets almost 12" deep on the cover)

I'm not an expert, but I owned a few pools and can offer my experiences. I currently have a 21' round Esther Williams pool, I live in Central MA and close the pool for the winter.

When I close my pool I drain the water below the skimmer and return port. I disconnet all the hoses from the pool. I place a cover plate over the skimmer because I was told that if ice gets in there, it could crack it and also tear the liner. For the life of me, I can't get the rubber stopper to stay in round filter return port. last year, I had a large icicle hanging down from the port and I was nervious it would damage the pool. This year, I hope to take two rubber stoppers and use a 5" rod to make a double sided stopper that plugs the hole from each side of the pool and not pop off.

I buy a closing kit from NAMCO (a discount seasonal supplier) I follow the directions to the letter, including using the inflatable pillow, dumping in a shock, stringing a chlorine dispenser across the pool and running some blue stuff through the filter.

I do ocassaionly have problems with the wind getting under my cover and exposing the pool. I tried those stupid plastic clips, I've tried really ratching the cable very tightly. this year, I may try a couple of milk jugs hung from the side to keep the cover down. (yea, a realy classsy look. )

However, in the spring my water is always crystal clear.

I will repeat, pump your cover off as much as you can and don't wait until July 3 to open your pool.

[mrfixit]

Being a service tech, and closing and opening about 50 -70 pools every year, I think you are on the right track. Typically, I will pump down the pool about 2-3" below the return jet and leave it and the skimmer open. Allow the water to drain through these openings during the fall and spring thaw. from your description, you are not taking enough water out of the pool. Hopefully, you have shut off valves or unions at the outside of these 2 openings that you can break apart to allow the water to drain away. I know alot of people use the submersible pump to drain off the cover, but be very careful when doing this. If your cover has any holes in it the water will be sucked out of your pool as well as off your cover. Unfortunately, the leaves are a constant problem, and the only thing I can suggest is to clean them off your cover as best as you can in the spring before removing it. Like Trigger said, the water jugs are a good idea, though not pretty, because they allow for vertical movement in the winter cover. If you have a small leak in the liner that goes unnoticed, or the ice tears your liner during the winter, the ratchet and wire will collapse the walls of your pool if the water leaks out under the cover. With the 'dangling jugs" the liner will just be pulled into the pool under the weight of the snow and ice.

As for the leaf net, they are not really meant for use thru the winter. I do not think it would do a very good job of keeping the finer stuff off the cover.