In
my service area we keep our pools open all year long so in the winter months
the pools on my route need service just like in the summertime with a few
differences. The pool water is much colder and the weather can be very windy
and rainy leading to all kinds of issues.
Contrary
to what you may think, scale forms easier in colder water and if you don’t keep
on eye on your pH and Alkalinity and you live in a region like mine with very
hard water, the scale in the pool can quickly get out of hand. On the flip side, this is a great time of year to actually work on reducing the scale build up in
your pool and stains. Products like Easy Care ScaleTec work great at reducing the scale and I do most of my scale treatment in the winter. With the water being
so cold you can keep a very low chlorine level which generally helps all of the
scale and stain products.
One thing that we must deal with in the Winter is the weather and the wind and rain
can be an issue. The Santa Ana Winds will blow in my area from October through
February and these winds can reach gust up to 60 mph making a real mess of the
pools. You need to be very proactive when it comes to leaves and dirt in your
pool. The leaves from the wind can easily clog your skimmer and pump basket
causing your pump to work very poorly. If left unchecked your pump can even
burn out due to lack of water flow. So be ready to scoop out the leaves and
empty the skimmer and pump baskets.
Any
dirt that gets in the pool from the wind or rain should be vacuumed out quickly
to avoid any staining. If you leave dirt in the pool for long periods of time,
metal in the soil could cause stains on the pool surface. I recommend getting a
good automatic cleaner or be ready to manually vacuum your pool when needed.
The bottom line is that even though it is the middle of Winter and no one is
using the pool, you still need to clean it regularly. In fact, your pool may be
dirtier in the Winter than in the Summer in most cases.
If
your area gets excessive rain you may notice that the pool may overflow with
water. In most cases, the pool water is safe and won’t do any damage if you
have sufficient drains around the pool deck. If the water overflows and it
looks like it will enter your house or do other types of property damage you
will need to get a Sump Pump and have it ready to drain some of the water from
the pool.
You
will notice that in really cold water the pool chemicals will stay very
constant and you will not be adding much chlorine, acid or base to the pool.
Generally, in water temperature, less than 65 degrees the pool's salt system
will also stop operating. At this point simply switch to liquid chlorine and
use that as your primary sanitizer. Typically in colder water, one gallon of
liquid chlorine will hold a good chlorine level for 2 to 3 weeks or more.
If
you service your pool in the winter the water can be bone-chilling cold so
wearing proper gloves is essential. I like the Atlas 772 Nitrile Coated
Gloves which as 25-inch-long and will protect your hands from the cold water
while emptying the skimmer basket and cleaning the pool.
If
you have an automated system or a stand-alone VS pump you may notice the pool
turning on at odd hours in the night and at unscheduled times. These systems
have a Freeze Mode or Freeze Protect Mode so when the air temperature gets
below 37 degrees the pump will turn on. This is to prevent the pipes from
freezing but in most areas where we do not get freezing temperatures this
feature is more of an annoyance. You can’t disable the feature so to prevent
the pool from running all the time I suggest switching the pool’s start
schedule to the coldest point of the night, usually, Midnight to 8 am. That way
the pump is set to run anyway at that time and won’t be running all night and
then the regularly scheduled runtime.
YouTube
Video Index: http://poolmandave.blogspot.com/2014/03/swimming-pool-tips-reviews-how-to-video.html – A list of
all of my videos.
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