Winterizing Your Pool/Spa

The holidays are coming up fast, and I’ll bet the LAST thing on your mind is “I wonder how my pool is doing?”

If you live in the warmer climates of southern Florida or California, where winterizing your outdoor pool or spa is not a concern, then you can just go back online and continue your holiday shopping. As for the rest of us, those living in cooler climates, we have some work to do.

Winterizing/closing a pool or spa is not difficult, but it is necessary if you want to protect your investment. Who wants to find major issues when the next swim season rolls around?

If your pool or spa is covered, this would be a good time to lift the cover to see what condition the water is in (unless of course you are Superman and can see through solid objects). Having a reliable pool service professional come out monthly during the off-season to check on your pool is ideal, but if you are a do-it-yourselfer…have no fear. Winterizing is easy following these three steps:

Step 1: If you can, lift a small section of the cover and look at the water. Is it still clear? Cloudy? Is there some unrecognizable alien creature floating just below the surface grinning at you?

Step 2: Collect a water sample and take it to your trusted pool/spa retailer to be tested. Even though it’s the off-season, proper sanitizer/oxidizer levels still need to be maintained along with making sure the other water balance parameters (pH, total alkalinity, calcium hardness) are all still within ideal ranges. Remember, you don’t want the Creature from the Black Lagoon emerging from the pool when you re-open it.

Step 3: Add treatment products (if necessary) but only after consulting with the pool/spa retailer or with your pool service professional.

Now, you can kick back and enjoy the holidays!