A pool of your own can be very fun until it is winter and it is covered with snow. If you own a pool then,
you already know that even if you do not use the pool in winter, it is time to be more careful about the maintenance of your pool.
A pool cover is to keep the pool protected while not being used. Using a pool cover to cover your pool in the winter season is highly recommended by experts.
Reasons for using pool covers in the winter
If you do not keep your pool covered in the winter, then you might not get to enjoy the pool in the summer as your pool would need a lot of repairs, even the full pool replacement.
Pool covers are mostly used for-.
- Protecting the pool water from getting dirty
- Keeping the pool chemicals and water pH balanced. The snow or the coldness can affect the water pH balance and chemicals like chlorine and algaecide. This would be harmful to the pool water and tile surfaces too, which can cost you a replacement of the whole pool.
- Blocking both- too much snow and too much heat, which maintains the water balance and keeps the water safe along with tile surfaces.
What happens if there is snow on pool covers?
If you think your job is done just by covering your pools for winter, then you are wrong. You would need to work a bit more for your pool. This is because when the snow falls on the pool cover, it is not an easy task to remove it and start to reuse your pool.
Snow might seem quite harmless, but it can weigh up to 1,998 and 4,146 pounds or even more if it is left on the pool cover for days. This will cause huge injury to your pool cover. Not cleaning the snow properly from your pool cover can cost you the repair of your pool along with a new pool cover after every winter. So, you must remove the snow from your pool cover regularly. Here is why-
- The snow can become sharp ice with the falling temperature of Winter. This might create holes in the cover and harm your pool and cover anyway
- The snow can be too heavy for the cover to handle if not cleaned regularly. This will lead the whole cover to fall on the pool and damage it severely
- In the case of an above ground pool; it can damage the wall surfaces, which will harm the whole pool structure
Removing snow from your Pool cover
If you own a pool and you like to cover it for the winter, you will have to follow some steps to remove snow from your pool cover. The steps are given below-
- Use a leaf blower for removing the snow if the snow is light, like 2 inches thick; this will not cause any risk to the pool.
- Avoid using heavy materials for removing snow like- shovels or sticks.
- If the snow layer is too thick, pour hot water to melt off the snow.
- When the snow is melted, you can use a pool cover pump to remove the melted snow.
- Use a light broom to brush off the snow.
- You can use pool salt to melt the snow but do not use rock salt. This will harm your pool.
- If the snow thickness is above 5 inches, you will need to melt the snow first. You can speed up the snow melting by using a waterproof heat cable.
Pool Cover Maintenance
There is more business with pool cover to discuss even after removing snow from it. Your pool cover must be maintained properly. For that you need to-
- Remove the snow from your pool cover once a week
- Clean the cover regularly; even it is not winter
- Keep the cover open after adding pool chemicals, or the chemical can form into gas and harm the pool cover
- Pull back the cover every week and keep the pool open. This will help the pool water temperature to stay in balance; otherwise the risen temperature can damage the cover
Conclusion
Many people do not want to cover their pools in the winter because it looks a bit ugly when the beautiful pool view disappears. But to keep your pool protected, you should cover your pool in the Winter season. Otherwise, your summer might not be so fun. Hopefully, this guideline will help you to remove the snow from your pool cover.