Summer has come and gone, and now pool owners are faced with the task of preparing their pool for another cold Canadian winter. Winterizing your pool is a means to help protect your in ground pool from any of the damage that freezing water can cause, and to make your job easier when warmer weather comes around and you are ready to swim again.

Though it will take you some time, winterizing your pool is best done in carefully performed steps in order to protect the investment of having a pool. Take a look at the steps you are going to need to perform:

1)      Balance the chemistry of your pool – You are going to need to make sure that the calcium hardness, total alkalinity and PH of your pool are all in balance before you close your pool up. This balance ensures that the water in your pool doesn’t cause stains or etching at the surface of the pool.

2)      Apply winterizing chemicals to your pool – In order to help clear water and keep it blue for the upcoming swimming season you should apply a winterizing chemical kit to your pool.

3)      Reduce the water line of the pool below the skimmer – Because frozen water can damage the skimmer of your pool, reducing the water will help to protect it from damage throughout the season.

4)      Blow out water from plumbing lines – Set a shop vac to expel and use it to blow the water out of each of the filter system’s lines and plug the side closest to the pool. The plug used should either have an O ring or a rubber gasket to ensure that water doesn’t seep into the line after it has been blown out.

5)      Use a Gizzmo to seal the skimmer line – Use a Gizzmo to help you properly seal the skimmer line and protect it from freezing. Gizzmos are hollow tubes which protect your skimmer from water freezing within it and can be purchased at any pool store.

6)      Cover your pool – Covering your pool keeps out debris and keeps your friends and family safe while the pool is not in use.  A good winter cover will protect your pool during the winter months and a safety cover will ensure your family and pets are safe during the winter.

7)      Drain water from all filter equipment – Remove the plug from the filter and allow it time to drain completely to ensure water doesn’t freeze in the filter this winter.

8)      Drain the pump – Remove the plugs that are in place on the pump in order to drain it completely.

9)      Drain the chemicals from the feeder – Leftover chemicals can cause long-term damage to your feeder, so you want to be sure that you drain it fully. Before you winterize your pool with the aforementioned steps, you should also understand some of the things you don’t want to do before you winterize.

Be sure that you don’t:

• Use a floater that has bromine or chlorine as this will cause it to stain walls and vinyl liners

• Use bromine or chlorine tablets in your pool as it will damage the bottom surface of the pool

• Do not turn the pump on for more than just a second while draining it as it can burn the seal out

• Plugs should not be placed back on equipment as it can help to prevent drainage

By keeping these steps in mind, and avoiding some of the big winterizing mistakes you can help to protect your in ground pool this winter and to make your summer pool preparations a little easier.