Closing a pool for winter

We're guardians of a chateau in Northern Provence that is closed in winter, but rented to guests in the summer, and now in charge of an unheated pool that has been neglected for the last couple of years and currently making it up as we go along.

We cleaned the pool all summer to pristine swimming standards while guests were here, then shocked the pool twice to get the chlorine up to the right levels.

Shut off the skimmers and dropped the level of the pool to around 4 inches below the skimmers and added an overwintering algecide and ran it through the bonde for 24 hours.

Drained all the skimmers and blown down the pipes with the leaf blower to blow out any excess water and fitted gizmos to each.

Put the winter cover on and secured it properly all around the pool.

Put the filter setting to closed and removed the pump which we'll drop into the local, (very helpful) pool shop to have serviced.

Questions:-

opened the return line to the pool and quite a bit of water came out before just going to a trickle.

Thought the trickle would stop but when it didn't quickly shut that valve to stop it. After a bit of head scratching we realised this is probably the water from the pool as the return jets are under water. So is this OK to leave as it is or are we supposed to stop the water level below these jets, or have sufficient water above them to allow for a thickness of a freeze so they won't be damaged.

the filter - we've set it to closed and turned off. Do we need to take the lid off to allow for any expansion if it freezes. Or will it not freeze?

Also we have very hard water here and all has been neglected, do we need to think about replacing the sand in the filter and if so is it a big job?

thanks for all and any input!

No problem Tony, Sand filters are equipped with a small drain very near the bottom of the filter (but always in an awkward place) undo the cap and allow the water to drain.

Regards

John

Hi John, Tony here

thanks so much for the reply.Im going to remove the cover and take one of the return nozzles off before heading in to the pool shop to buy four plugs to fit.Thanks this makes a whole lot of sense i was afraid the nozzles might get damaged if we had another sever winter.

Ive taken the lid off the filter and let some of the water out but i need to do a bit more figuring out on this one as im unsure how to drain it completely and properly, i dont want to chance anything and end up doing any damage.

Do you mind if i take a couple of photos and ask for a bit more advice.

Ive not had a lot of time to do anything with it as we are madly picking olives at the moment before the mistral returns and makes harvesting them impossible, but as soon as the wind picks up again ill be back at the pool.

Thanks for your advice it makes a whole lot of sense and has been a great help

Regards

Tony

Hi Teresa, Sounds ok so far, The returns can be blocked by plugs. There are black rubber ones with a wing nut that expands the bung sealing off the return line. Because the return nozzles are removed and put away over winter that leaves a 1 1/2" thread which doesn't seal very well so usually continues to drip. The solution is to use the threaded bungs that rely on an O ring seal against the fitting.

Filters should be drained and lids slackend off so the water drains completely and the sand can dryout somewhat other wise nasty bacteria can grow unchecked for months. better to leave the valve open if possible but that depends on the setup which I cannot see.

Sand, Sand is not a great filter medium, it's used in millions of pools but it does allow for bacterial growth and it doesn't filter as well as other media. That said it doesn't wear out in pool filters, that's just another pool shop/industry myth. It does however work really hard and get really dirty and oil covered (body oils, sweat, sun creams etc and can also containg nasty bacteria and virus's) so giving it a really good clean is essential. Sometimes the time spent on cleaning the sand is not financially viable to the very low cost of replacement. If there is a filter media change on the cards then upgrading to something much better is the way to go.

You haven't stated what size the pool is or the filter or pump, These to are very relevant to the ease of keeping a pool healthy for guests to swim in. The cost of having the pump serviced should definitely be accompanied by a proper devis as the costs can run away and i have heard of serviced pumps costing not far short of a new pump in France.

Talking of new pumps, my work on reducing the cost of pool ownership, especially in the light of the stated electricity price rises that are on the cards for the next few years. The owners may consider going the Eco route rather than servicing or replacing the existing pump. I have pools running in France that use 90% less electricity than a standard setup which is a massive saving but not only that the improvement in water quality and lower maintenance hours also add up to a huge improvement over a standard pool. I will post more on that another time but I am working to improve more areas of pool equipment as most of it hasn't changed since the 1950's.