Best Practices for Closing Your Pool After Labor Day

How To Winterize Your Pool

Taking your final summer swim during Labor Day weekend is bittersweet for pool owners and swimmers alike. While you may cherish all the fun you have in your pool, you probably don’t cherish the work that comes with closing up the pool. Even the most experienced pool owners can struggle to remember all the necessary steps to close the pool. Keep reading for the inside scoop on how to winterize your pool from the professionals at SPS.

Thoroughly Clean Your Pool

This one may seem obvious, but forgetting to clean your pool before closing it can cause algae to grow, making reopening for the spring and summer much more difficult. Use a pool skimmer to remove debris floating around and a pool vacuum to remove debris from the bottom.

Don’t want to go through the hassle of cleaning your pool on your own? Leave the skimming and scrubbing to SPS PoolCare. Find one of our pool care locations near you and let the professionals handle the cleaning.

Test and Adjust Pool Water

By balancing your pool water, you’ll prevent damage that can occur on the pool’s surface due to overly acidic or alkaline water. Be sure to grab a pool test kit and be sure to test for alkalinity, pH levels, calcium hardness, totaled dissolved solids (TDS), bromine, chlorine, and cyanuric acid. Try to keep your pool within these ideal ranges:

• Alkalinity: 80-150 ppm
• pH Level: 7.2-7.6
• Calcium hardness: 175-275 ppm
• TDS: 500-1500 ppm
• Bromine: 3-5 ppm
• Chlorine: 1.0-3.0 ppm free chlorine
• Cyanuric acid: 25-50 ppm

Working with pool chemicals can get complicated fast. If you don’t want to balance your pool yourself, we get it. Let our experts at SPS PoolCare handle water testing and balancing instead.

Lower Water Levels

Lowering the water level in your pool is especially important if you live somewhere that experiences freezing temperatures. When water freezes, it expands and can cause damage to your pool equipment.

Drain your water until it’s roughly four to six inches below the surface to accommodate a pool skimmer cover.

Cover Your Pool

After your pool is clean and the water is balanced and lowered, you’ll need a good pool cover. By covering your pool, you’ll prevent debris and algae growth, making reopening again when temperatures increase much easier.

Supplies and Equipment Needed To Close Your Pool for the Winter

Now that we’ve walked you through the necessary steps to closing your pool, we’ve made a list of all of the supplies you’ll need:

• Pool skimmer
• Pool vacuum
• Water testing kit
• Various pool chemicals, depending on water levels
• Pool cover

Get Professional Pool Services From SPS PoolCare

SPS PoolCare has the expertise you need for closing your pool. Make owning your pool a joy, not a hassle, with our professional pool care services. Our pool technicians can assist you with cleaning, water testing and balancing, repairs, and so much more.

Get started today by finding a location near you. Then select your pool care location and call, book services, or request a quote.