This year I decided to leave the pool “open” so I could do an AA treatment for some staining aquired over last winter. I’m in middle Tennessee and I’m really regretting that decision! We have been well below freezing for a couple of days and this morning we actually reached as low as -7, possibly -8. Before the freezing temps, my husband put some insulation batting and a tarp over everything except the heater. My pump has been running nonstop, but even still, this morning the pool water temperature was reading 31° and I have quite a bit of ice on the top. We checked the skimmers, and there is no ice there, but with the upcoming weather, I am worried that I’m fighting a losing battle.
If we lose power, I want to be prepared. I understand if power goes out I immediately need to flip the breaker, go to the pad and take the top valve off the filter and take the filter drain plug out, remove the pump basket top and drain plug and the heater drain plug. My question is about the pool plumbing that has water in it at the pool like the returns and skimmers. We are unable to lower the water level when the pool is winterized because I have a large shallow tanning ledge and losing more than a couple of inches of water causes it to completely rip out. Because I don’t completely feel comfortable with the process (and yes, I have read all of the articles) I let a pool guy winterize. I don’t know how he takes care of this without lowering the water levels.
Also, in the event that it just gets too cold that running the pump nonstop is not enough to counteract the pipes freezing, what exactly am I looking for to know when to turn everything off and do I follow the same steps above? The only thing I know to do is to constantly monitor the pool surface and look for movement. That’s going to become more difficult as ice increases on the surface. I do have a Hayward aqua pod remote that shows the pool water temperature when the filter is running, but I don’t know if that would indicate anything different if things started to freeze up. Here is a look at the forecast. Current water temp is now showing 32.
If we lose power, I want to be prepared. I understand if power goes out I immediately need to flip the breaker, go to the pad and take the top valve off the filter and take the filter drain plug out, remove the pump basket top and drain plug and the heater drain plug. My question is about the pool plumbing that has water in it at the pool like the returns and skimmers. We are unable to lower the water level when the pool is winterized because I have a large shallow tanning ledge and losing more than a couple of inches of water causes it to completely rip out. Because I don’t completely feel comfortable with the process (and yes, I have read all of the articles) I let a pool guy winterize. I don’t know how he takes care of this without lowering the water levels.
Also, in the event that it just gets too cold that running the pump nonstop is not enough to counteract the pipes freezing, what exactly am I looking for to know when to turn everything off and do I follow the same steps above? The only thing I know to do is to constantly monitor the pool surface and look for movement. That’s going to become more difficult as ice increases on the surface. I do have a Hayward aqua pod remote that shows the pool water temperature when the filter is running, but I don’t know if that would indicate anything different if things started to freeze up. Here is a look at the forecast. Current water temp is now showing 32.
