It’s that time of year again; the time before it’s actually cold, but when the dread of winter starts taking its hold over Winnipeg. The stores start filling with Halloween candy and back to school deals, pumpkin spice lattes abound on social media. It’s a melancholy time, where we reflect on the fun things we did during the summer, while wishing for a few more days of heat.
The heat’s not gone yet, so we don’t want to discourage you from using your pool; go on out and swim, for as long as you can, and forget about the fact that the holidays are only three months away! When it starts getting a bit too nippy for you to swim, here’s how you can close down your pool.
Clean the Surfaces
You’ll want to skim your pool’s water with a skimmer; you know there’s going to be dead leaves and other things floating on top, and we can’t have them decomposing in the water when it’s icy out. Brush the walls of your pool, clean out the skimmer baskets, and vacuum the nooks and crannies that might not get a lot of circulation.
Fix the Water Chemistry
Before you close the pool, you’ll want to run the filter and shock the water with chemicals. Shocking the water means destroying the buildup of chloramines that’s occurred during the months of pool usage; chloramines smell bad, and they’re irritating to the skin and eyes. After shocking the pool, you’ll want to check the pH balance in a few days; it should be sitting between 7.2 and 7.6, and if it’s not, increase or decrease the pH until it’s within acceptable levels. Add algaecide to prevent growth; no one wants to re-open their pool and find algae! You want to close down your pool when it’s already quite cold, to make it even less likely the green stuff will grow. Check how much chlorine is in the pool; you should be sitting at about 4 parts per million.
Call a Professional
There are more steps to preparing your pool for closing time; you’ll want to clear the plumbing lines, so no water freezes in the pipes during the winter. This can be a complicated process, so getting in contact with a professional pool cleaner can be helpful. You’ll also want to lower water levels, backwash your filter, and more; a professional won’t miss any of these steps, and will know the best way to close your pool without damaging any of the mechanisms.
Cover it Up
Finally, it’s time to cover the pool. Get rid of any pool accessories, cover it up, and say goodbye to another beautiful summer. Forgot to get a pool cover, perhaps in the hopes that summer would never end? We’ve got you covered, literally, with retractable pool covers in Winnipeg.