Winter is coming. It is a good idea to winterize your pool now. Snow can affect your pool in many ways. When the snow in your pool melts it can make its way into any crack or hole in your pool. When your pool refreezes, the water in the cracks and pores expands and turns into ice and snow, causing serious damage to your pool’s tile and finish.
Here are some other ways in which snow can affect your swimming pool.
It Can Change Swimming Pool Water Chemistry
Rainwater is naturally acidic because of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Hence, when it combines with nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide produced by power plants, it becomes more acidic. In winter, rainwater changes into snow. Like rainwater, snow is more acidic than pure water and can affect the pH balance of your pool water and its alkalinity.
What Happens When Swimming Pool Water Chemistry Changes?
If your pool water is too acidic, it can corrode pool equipment, etch on surface materials and irritate the eyes, nose and skin of swimmers or anyone else who enters the pool. Water that is too alkaline can cause scaling on your pool’s surface and plumbing equipment. When the pH level of pool water decreases, chemicals start eating away the plaster or metal parts of the pool, leading to costly or sometimes even irreversible damage.
Ice can Damage Pools in Several Ways
When snow starts to melt, it raises the pool water level. As a result, your pool water can come into contact with the pond cover. Sharp edges of melting ice can slice through your pool cover, or worse, damage the pool liner.
Tips to Protect Your Pool from Snow Damage
➢ Clean your pool: Before you cover your pool, clean it thoroughly. Brush the sides and get rid of any debris that can clog your swimming pools filter. So, to dislodge trapped debris and contaminants, drain the backwash line.
➢ Install a pool cover: A stable pool cover keeps leaves, stones, tree branches and other debris out of the pool. Because a pool cover rests on the water in the pool to remain stable, do not completely drain your pool when you start the winterizing process. Mesh safety covers are ideal for pools. A mesh cover freezes to the pool water during the winter months. This stabilizes the cover and also prevents the snow from melting into your pool water. As the snow melts, your cover regains its original shape.
➢ Add pool salt to your pool: Pool salt is regular salt. It melts snow and ice. Pool salt is safe to add to the pools. It is not toxic and does not cause eye or skin irritation.
H & H Pools is a leading pool company in St Louis. Whether you want to build a new pool or maintain an existing one, we can help. To learn more, call 636-209-8449.
