Closing Swimming Pools: Has the Sun Set on this Year’s Pool Season?

Once Labor Day is behind us and kids are back at school, many feel it’s time to close the pool. But with temperatures occasionally hovering near 90 in the Northeast, maybe the sun hasn’t yet set on this year’s pool season.

Of course, in areas like the Northeast, we know there are good reasons for closing a pool before any frost. As Michael Truehart (True Blue Swimming Pools/Dix Hills, NY) highlighted in a previous Deck and Patio blog:

“In climates like the Northeast, the most important reason for closing a pool is pipes and other pool equipment can freeze in cold months. Part of what we do is administer a chlorine shock, or algaecides, or phosphate remover to the pool water. Then the pool/spa equipment is taken apart and cleaned, drained of water, and underground pipes are blown out so no water can freeze in them.”

Glen Cove, NY Deck and Patio project

Glen Cove, NY Deck and Patio project

 

That said, apparently closing down your pool “too early” can also cause problems. In a blog by Hayward Pools, they state that shutting down the pool while temperatures are still very warm could mean that the chemicals Truehart mentioned might not last until spring.

Michael Truehart also agrees with Hayward that closing a pool when temperatures are still very warm can cause algae blooms and staining in your pool.

 

 

So it seems the sun has not yet set on our swimming pool season. Happy September 2016, and keep cool, everyone, and keep watching the weather reports.

 

 

 

 

 

Backyard Retreat:

Backyard Retreat:

Keeping your pool open after Labor Day is not a fashion faux pas like wearing white. So why miss out on the sounds of any, perhaps, waterfalls, orr pool landscaping, and the sense of refuge offered by your swimming pool and its surrounds. Just keep an eye on the weather.

 

Closing a Swimming Pool:

Closing a Swimming Pool:

Installing and measuring a mesh pool cover that involves freeform shapes, waterfalls, etc., must be exact. A mesh cover is strong because its straps with tension springs are connected to anchors set in the patio. For this pool’s water feature area, stainless steel eyelets were drilled into rocks where a cable secures it.

 

Closing Spas for Winter:

Closing Spas for Winter:

These clients decided that having a portable spa, instead of an in-ground one linked to the pool equipment, was an ideal way to let them enjoy the superb hydrotherapy benefits of Bullfrog’s JetPaks massage jets/seats – all year long, even when the pool was closed.