Winter Freeze Warning: Have You Prepared Your Pool?

It’s that time of year when the winter freeze warnings happen upon occasion. With freezing temperatures expected within the next few days, it’s important to take action. Extra care needs to be taken now in order to prepare your pool both during and after a hard freeze to avoid costly damage to the pool and its components.

Preparing Your Pool For the Hard Freeze

In order to properly prepare your pool for the upcoming frigid temperatures, we recommend doing the following in order to protect your pool: 

• Balance your water chemistry.
• Check and clean out the skimmer and pump basket.
• Remove any unnecessary equipment from the pool. 
• Is snow expected? If there is a chance of snow, be sure to cover your equipment with a tarp or tarp-like material in an effort to insulate the equipment and keep it warm. 

What to Expect

Moving water can’t freeze, so the first step is to make sure your filtration and auxiliary pool pumps are running continuously. Many pumps have a built-in freeze guard that will automatically kick into action once the outside air reaches a certain temperature.  

All pools with single-speed pumps, meaning the pump is either on or off, need to be set to run during the entire time that temperatures are below 34 degrees. Variable-speed and two-speed pumps are protected from freezing as long as the pump is running either at high or low speed.

It’s important to remember that you don’t need to run your heater to prevent your pool water from freezing. In fact, running your heater in freezing conditions can cause substantial damage to the unit.

Be sure to keep your water at the middle of the tile line, to prevent your pumps from drawing damaging cold air in through the skimmers. It’s also a good idea to cover your pool if it’s not in use. A sturdy pool cover will both keep debris out of your water and maintain a higher pool water temperature, reducing the risk of the water freezing. 

After the Freeze

If your pool has ice on its surface, break it up so that the skimmers and skimmer doors are kept clear. The skimmer doors can be removed if it’s not possible to keep ice out of the way.  

If you experience a loss of power, start off by turning off all circuit breakers leading to your pool equipment. Then head out to the pool and open up the filter air bleed valve (you can use warm water to dislodge any ice that may be in the way).

Remove all drain plugs from the bottom of your pool pump and the drain filter, take off all winterizing plugs/open drain valves to remove any excess water (you can place the plugs in the pump basket), and then loosely replace the lid. Adjust your valves to their middle positions as this will allow your pool water to flow back into the pool.

Your Fort Worth Pool Care Experts

All of your efforts in preparing your pool for the freezing weather will pay off once it passes. After the freeze, remove any dirt or debris from the pool and be sure your pool water is at an acceptable level. Replace any lids and parts you removed, balance your water chemistry and let your pump run for 24 hours. Be sure to reach out to the pool care experts at Pulliam Pools if you have any questions or concerns.