Safety Winter Pool Cover Maintenance Tips

A winter pool cover will help keep your pool clean and free of debris all winter long. A cover keeps out leaves, twigs, acorns, insects, animal droppings, and other contaminants that can accumulate in a pool during the offseason.

So when it’s time to open your pool in the spring, you won’t have to deal with time-consuming and often costly pool issues, such as stains, clogs, and green water filled with algae-blooms.

Risks of Improper Winter Pool Maintenance

Set it and forget it is not how to take care of a pool in winter. If you forget about your pool all winter long, there is a high risk of your pool and equipment getting damaged.

The best way to protect your pool from winter damage is to winterize your pool in fall. Winterizing your pool will also make it easier to open come spring. Along with proper pool closing, you need to take care of your pool cover throughout the winter months.

Tips for Taking Care of Your Pool Cover Throughout the Winter

Here’s how to take care of your pool in winter by taking care of the cover.

Use the Right Cover

We highly recommend using a safety mesh cover, specifically for inground pools. When using a safety mesh cover, ensure it fits your pool well so it won’t fall off or let debris in during winter. It’s also a good idea to mark the edges of the cover with stakes and rope or twine so you know where the pool is under a blanket of snow.

For best results and to ensure no mistakes are made during installation, it’s advised to contact the professionals when the time comes to install your safety mesh cover.

Clear Any Debris

Since twigs and debris can cause damage to your pool cover, keep it clean throughout the winter. Gently remove leaves, twigs, and other debris from the cover using a leaf blower, leaf net, or soft-bristle pool brush. And also remove debris from under and around the straps and springs.

Patch Holes

It’s best to search for holes and patch them when you close your pool or when you install your safety cover for the winter. Throughout the winter, keep an eye out for holes on your pool cover. And if you notice any holes developing, use a safety cover patch to cover the holes.

Safety cover patches are available for both solid and mesh covers. And they are durable enough to prevent a hole from getting worse in the winter. Patches will also prevent debris from getting into the pool and contaminating the water.

Remove Snow When It Gets Too High

Removing snow from your pool cover isn’t necessary during small and moderate snowfalls (under 2 feet of snow) since most winter pool covers can handle the weight of snow. But if there have been plenty of heavy snowfalls, the buildup of snow can eventually weigh down the cover.

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• For preventative measures, consider removing some of the snow on your safety pool cover by following these steps:
• For 3+ feet of snow, use a leaf blower if the snow is light.
• If the snow is wet and heavy, use a soft-bristle push broom to remove snow from the cover gently.

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*Do not use a shovel as this will risk damaging your cover.

For automatic safety pool covers, no matter how much snow accumulates on the cover, make sure to pump snow meltwater off as soon as possible to prevent ice buildup.

Maintain Tension

Solid safety pool covers have springs and straps that attach to the pool deck. The springs on a pool cover should each be under the same tension, around halfway expanded.

So throughout the winter, adjust the straps if they loosen to keep the cover taut. And inspect the cover occasionally to make sure gaps haven’t developed. Gaps risk letting small animals, children, feet, or debris fall through.

Maintain Proper Water Level

When covering your pool for the winter, make sure the water level is filled to the normal operating level, or just a bit higher. A general rule of thumb for an ideal water level is halfway up your skimmer opening.

There should be enough water in your pool to support the cover during heavy snowfalls. Otherwise, the cover could become damaged without the water’s support underneath.

So keep an eye on the water level at the skimmer. If it drops, put a hose in the skimmer to add water. And if water starts accumulating on top of the cover, use a small cover pump to remove the excess water.

For mesh covers, use a small cover pump in your skimmer or on the top step in the shallow end to pump out and lower the water.

What to Do When Winter Is Over