Winter cover holder.Any alternatives to water bags?

[psihiart]

So tired of leaking bags. What other alternatives, possibly more expensive we have as inground pool owners?
I remember someone making holders out of pipes filled with cement and sand, but can't find the post.
Any suggestions or ideas?

 

[wayner]

Mesh cover with anchors for the win.

 

[psihiart]

I wish, but I can't put ancors around the pool in my situation

 

[JamesW]

I wish, but I can't put anchors around the pool in my situation

Why not?

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[Bill1974]

There are lots of alternative to waterbags, but the risk with most of them is what happens if they get pulled into the pool and sink. You can use PVC pipe filled with sand or water and antifreeze, wood boards, plastic troughs, pavers, etc. To me all the alternatives seem more costly and work then dealing with water bags. I just planned on replacing half the water bags every year and hoping only one or two would fail over the winter (I usually filled a couple of extras in anticipation when I closed the pool).

After using a trap type cover and water bags for 10 years I got a mesh safety cover, I kick myself for not doing it sooner. Other than siphoning water out of the pool a couple of times over the winter there is nothing to do. Removing water and debris from the trap cover as you know is not fun. Added bonus is the appearance and piece of mind if someone or an animal goes on the cover.

 

[wayner]

Do you really need to siphon the water out? I only learned about this last year and I have had a pool for > 15 years. A few times the water would have overflowed in the winter. I am not aware of any damage that was caused by overflowing, but maybe I got lucky.

 

[Bill1974]

I try to keep the water at the bottom of the skimmer opening. Overflowing, never seems like a good thing, possible water getting behind the liner, risk of loosening the copping if there is a freeze or rain after a freeze. Last few years there hasn't been much of a freeze or snow, but don't want to be caught with my pants down. I just put a hose in the skimmer and start a siphon, so it's only a few minutes to take care of it. I use a cordless drill and drill pump to get the siphon going. Also the cover isn't sitting in water and any debris blows off the cover as well.

 

[wayner]

Thanks - last year I undid one loop from the mesh cover and dropped in a sump pump for a few hours to bring it down a bit.