Anyone in a "freezing winter" area who doesn't close their swimming pool? (Page 1/3)
Raydar OCT 10, 02:55 PM
This will be our second winter living here. (Wife's old home place.)
In the past, her folks always closed the pool in the winter. We did, last winter, too.

We have discussed, back and forth, leaving it open this winter.
Obviously, the major problems will be leaves (There's a big oak tree about 50' from the pool.) and freezing temps. The pump and filter are above ground, in a shack, but the rest of the plumbing is underground. So yeah... if it's freezing, we'll have to run the pump, and we'll have to dip leaves out.

Our other option is to run a bunch of water out, put a cover over it, dump in a bunch of chemicals, and drain the pump and filter.

Has anyone here done that? Or have any recommendations?
TheDigitalAlchemist OCT 10, 03:12 PM
1 vote for 'closing the pool" - IMO, it's better if you don't need to clean out the leaves and animals and such from the pool.
Zeb OCT 10, 04:06 PM
I also vote for some sort of closure. Mine is a 15 foot round above ground, and it'll get pretty frozen here in southern NJ, just 3 miles from the bay.

Cleaning the stuff out isn't the worry. It's the time you wake up to find out the pump and piping froze overnight. That could get expensive.
Hank is Here OCT 10, 04:09 PM
My vote is close it! My closing procedure is simple... get the pool clear and clean, add a polyquat algaecide ~20 oz., run pump for 1 hr., remove ladders and diving board, put on loop-loc cover, drain pump. Overall it takes ~1.5 hours to close. The quat cleaner I add is "cheap" in that the one bottle I ordered was $25 delivered and lasts two years. I don't drain at all.

I chose the polyquat cleaner after having a conversation with a microbiologist at work, we use a similar cleaner at times to clean transfer piping lines, and it is very effective.

maryjane OCT 10, 05:16 PM
Is your pump above or below ground?
Yes, it matters.
Lots of folks here in Central West Texas don't close their pools for winter, but last winter, we had the deep freeze and temps dropped down to or within a few degrees of zero for over 24 hours and many people ended up with cracked pump fluid ends, control valves, multi valves and even skimmer boxes and skimmer lines under the skimmer boxes. I was not here then but I found out that my pump has hairline cracks on the plastic fluid end which results in a steady stream of air coming out the jets. The pump never leaked water or failed to prime but did suck in air. I temporarily have it fixed it by pretty much completely coating the fluid end with silicone calk but have a new fluid end I will replace the cracked one with after I shut our pool down for winter.
Below ground pools in cold climes usually require you to drain every line, even those underground because they all terminate above ground. Even running your pump is not failsafe becase there are some lines (AND parts of the multi valve..if you have one) that will not have water running thru them with the multivalve on 'filter' setting.
The multivalve itself is sectioned off into about 6 different cavities, separated by a spider gasket.

Raydar OCT 10, 05:38 PM

quote
Originally posted by maryjane:

Is your pump above or below ground?
Yes, it matters.
Lots of folks here in Central West Texas don't close their pools for winter, but last winter, we had the deep freeze and temps dropped down to or within a few degrees of zero for over 24 hours and many people ended up with cracked pump fluid ends, control valves, multi valves and even skimmer boxes and skimmer lines under the skimmer boxes. I was not here then but I found out that my pump has hairline cracks on the plastic fluid end which results in a steady stream of air coming out the jets. The pump never leaked water or failed to prime but did suck in air. I temporarily have it fixed it by pretty much completely coating the fluid end with silicone calk but have a new fluid end I will replace the cracked one with after I shut our pool down for winter.
Below ground pools in cold climes usually require you to drain every line, even those underground because they all terminate above ground. Even running your pump is not failsafe becase there are some lines (AND parts of the multi valve..if you have one) that will not have water running thru them with the multivalve on 'filter' setting.
The multivalve itself is sectioned off into about 6 different cavities, separated by a spider gasket.



Thanks!
The pump, the sand filter canister, and the multivalve are all above ground.
The guy who used to close it and open it quit the profession, this summer. (He had all the work he could handle, building pools, but got tired of not being able to get parts. Especially electronics. So he said eff it, and got a job working for the county Public Works.)
That being the case, we've got a new vendor scheduled. They're pretty well known, and I like their employees who I've already met, when buying chemicals, so that's something.
Good advice about the valve. It has a "winter" position, but the previous guy used to just prop it "open" (pointing "between sections") when he drained the filter and pump. I imagine that let it drain completely. (I rebuilt that valve and the sand filter, earlier this summer. But that's a whole 'nother conversation. )
I'm going to go ahead and let the "scheduled" folks close it, but I'm also going to watch and learn and pick their brains.

Thanks to all the other folks who commented, too. I appreciate the advice. It always goes below freezing, here, at least a few times. I can only remember one winter where we never had a night below freezing. Quite uncommon.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 10-10-2022).]

maryjane OCT 10, 07:34 PM
swim university has some pretty good youtube vids for closing a pool
theogre OCT 11, 01:59 AM
Even underground pipes etc will freeze.
All depends just how installed and how deep vs "typical" winter weather in a state or even a region of a state.
Upstate NY towards Binghamton and Albany can freeze the ground to 3-4 feet down easily. Read the Frost Depth in most areas used by States etc for Building and other Codes.

Philly and other Public Pools in same region are completely drain and stay connected to the sewer not only to keep people out but prevent freezing the pipes and pool itself during Winter.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

maryjane OCT 11, 09:09 AM

quote
Originally posted by theogre:

Even underground pipes etc will freeze.
All depends just how installed and how deep vs "typical" winter weather in a state or even a region of a state.
Upstate NY towards Binghamton and Albany can freeze the ground to 3-4 feet down easily. Read the Frost Depth in most areas used by States etc for Building and other Codes.

Philly and other Public Pools in same region are completely drain and stay connected to the sewer not only to keep people out but prevent freezing the pipes and pool itself during Winter.




Even down here in Central Tx, there is the possibility of pipes underground freezing. Not the ones buried 2' down or more but just before they exit the ground. When I was first searching for the source of the air leak on the suction side of my pump system, I did it by running a little water over all the connections while Jane watched the jets in the pool. I began where the suction side pipes came up out of the ground and as soon as I wet the soil where the skimmer lines came up toward the pump, the air in the stream from the jets decreased by about 1/3. I had to dig down a few inches but I could see a cracked pvc elbow. Both my neighbor and a pool maint guy told me that the previous owner had insulated all the exposed pipes but not the pump and didn't bother draining the pump, so the pipe just below ground level froze and cracked and so did the pump housing.

I am NOT a long time experienced pool guy, having just moved into a home with a pool last June but I have asked lots of questions and talked to everyone I could around here about taking care of one in this climate and latitude, as having a "pool guy' come take care of it normally runs about $215/month and paying one just to 'close your pool' can cost around $300. I know because not long after moving in, a guy comes walking thru the backyard gate one day with a bag and carryall and saw me. Told him I was the new owner and asked who he was and he explained he had been taking care of the pool for the last 6 months for the other owner. That was the last day of old owner's contract so I watched pretty close as he tested, back flushed, brushed and added chems. He was very nice and answered all my questions and I was pretty shocked to find out what it cost for about 45 minutes of work.

I'll try to get some pics of my pump/filter system later today. Mine does not use sand. Uses Diatomaceous Earth with 4 big cartridge filters that can routinely be backwashed or come out and get washed off with a water hose about twice/year. The multivalve alone runs around $200 so you sure don't want it to freeze and bust.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 10-11-2022).]

maryjane OCT 11, 10:06 AM
And, since there were 2 bags of pool filter sand in the storage building when I moved in, and the quad DE filter and it's multivalve look brand new, I much suspect the old original filter and valve both froze and ruptured in the 2021 big freeze and the previous owner had to replace the old sand filter with the newer style cartridge filter setup.

Not mine (screen shot from youtube) before and after cleaning cartridge type filters: