Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this summer's hot weather as much as our family did! We used our pool alot this summer. My almost 3 yr old's favorite chore was helping mommy "do the drops" every few days as we monitored the sanitizer level. He even managed to jump in a few times, but mostly preferred to lob things into the pool for us to fetch. As the hum of the cycads tells us, summer is cooking itself to a simmering close, and it is time to think about when you will be closing down your pool. We at The F.U.N. Place want to help you make this job easy and hassle free.

Whether you are in a cold or not so cold climate you will need to do a few things before you close your pool. In the week prior to closing your pool you need to:

• Balance Water (bring to pH 7.2-7.6, make any necessary adjustments in calcium hardness, etc)
• Brush and Vacuum
• Shock the pool
• Re-adjust the sanitizer, then add long lasting algecide
• Turn heater off
• Reduce filtering times gradually over a week
• Drag cover out and inspect and clean if necessary
• Remove any ladders, ropes, clean and store
• Clean around pool area
• Clean and store pool furniture

Whew! now go have a barbecue or something, take a breather for a day or so!

Cold Weather Climates

Try and close your pool BEFORE the leaves start blowing around! Plan to close your pool when the night time temps start to dip reliably into the 40's and the daytime temps range in the 60's - low 70's. Much sooner than that and you risk an algea bloom. Much later and you could be fishing out a ton of leaves (and then deal with an algae bloom in the spring). Of course if you are a really hard core swimmer or are independantly wealthy, leave your pool open for as long as you like!

• Drain pool water to below skimmer and blow out the lines with a shop vac
• Plug return with stopper
• Add special RV/pool antifreeze to skimmer lines, and return lines, if below ground, and shut them down
• Drain filter of water
• Inspect filter unit for wear and tear, remove multiport valve and have a peek at the filtering media, replace with new media every three years, or when you find you can't keep the pool clean
• Disconnect pump/filter unit if possible and store where they will not freeze. If not possible, then securely cover unit
• Drag out and inpsect water bags, sand bags or milk jugs, and fill them.
• For vinyl lined pools, reduce the chance of ice damage to your liner by floating several LARGE pieces of styrofoam in the pool
• Roll the cover out over the pool and weight it down securely. During the fall season and before the winter hits, it is a REALLY good idea to pump off excess water from the cover. The cover will collect leaves and water and generally be a mess in the spring regardless, but you will reduce the time spent opening the pool and extend the life of the cover by keeping the junk off of it.

One last note-remember to LOCK your pool gate for the winter!

Warm Weather Climates

If you will not be using your pool during the winter months, you can't really close it, you just reduce your maintenance schedule, since the temperature will still be high enough to promote bacteria and algae growth. Follow the same preliminary steps as above, and gradually reduce your filtering times.

It is STILL a good idea to buy a winter cover for it. Why? you will reduce your maintenence greatly since algae growth will be retarded in the dark, and you will keep alot of junk out of the pool. PLUS, it makes the pool area ALOT safer. Plan to run your filter a few hours a week to keep the sanitizer level high enough to keep the bacteria and algae at bay. Check the sanitizer level once a week and adjust the filter run time and sanitizer levels accordingly. And always remember to LOCK your pool gate!

Okay, that's alot of work! By now you are probably snuggling into your sweater curled up with a good book, or if you're like our family, racing to some other maintenance your house needs, and trying to keep your kids out of trouble. After all, it's just about gutter cleaning time, and hey what better time to have a peek at your roof?

Read our other Pool Maintenance Articles:
Opening Your Pool
Pool Maintenance

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