Can I keep my pool 'open' but put a cover on it?

[dcp063]

We have a ton of trees around our pool which means a ton of leaves. We want to keep our pool open for the winter and not go through the trouble of opening/closing but I hate scooping leaves 2x/day.

Can we put our cover on and still maintain our water chemistry? And if so, how does that work? (getting to the water to test, adding chemicals, etc)

Or is it best to just close up shop for the winter if we're covering?

 

[ajw22]

Do you have backup power?

What will you do if you lose power during freezing weather?

There is not much water chemistry that needs to be maintained when the water is cold.

A lot depends how easy it is fro you to get into the pool past your cover.

 

[Mdragger88]

I run mine for a while with the cover on but eventually winterize once the water temperature drops to 60 degrees.
With a solid cover you must consider water displacement- if precipitation is on top of the cover the pool water can be displaced, after pumping the cover you risk running dry if the water level then becomes too low.
Also, the water on top of the cover isn’t chlorinated so it can get quite funky if not cleaned off.
With a mesh cover you don’t have to worry too much with the pumping unless you’re having a monsoon situation - just blow off debris.
I’d certainly have a plan for freezing temps & winterizing quickly if the power goes out.
Exactly what kind of cover do you have? Mesh, solid, automatic?

 

[dcp063]

I run mine for a while with the cover on but eventually winterize once the water temperature drops to 60 degrees.
With a solid cover you must consider water displacement- if precipitation is on top of the cover the pool water can be displaced, after pumping the cover you risk running dry if the water level then becomes too low.
Also, the water on top of the cover isn’t chlorinated so it can get quite funky if not cleaned off.
With a mesh cover you don’t have to worry too much with the pumping unless you’re having a monsoon situation - just blow off debris.
I’d certainly have a plan for freezing temps & winterizing quickly if the power goes out.
Exactly what kind of cover do you have? Mesh, solid, automatic?

Not sure what kind of cover it is except the previous owner said you can walk across it once installed. It's not automatic so we'll have to do it by hand.

If the power goes out I'll pull the drain plugs on the pumps and hope for the best. Most people in our area keep their pools open during the winter though we can get some pretty cold nights

 

[Mdragger88]

Sounds like a safety cover.
Some are solid with a mesh drain strip that lets water in

& some are all mesh

All are attached with loops & anchors of which you can undo a couple to gain access near a return if you wish to add liquid chlorine or check on things etc.