The house we bought nine years ago came with a large pool and a large pool cover (bâche) which has always been a struggle to unroll. Easier of course with two people, but still an effort. Having just bought a kit de manipulation bâche été for €80 my only regret was why didn’t l discover this earlier? Of course it still requires some effort, but it’s a lot easier now and more manageable for one person.
There are many versions, what used to amaze me is how daft the pool industry is and how inefective most pool rollers are. Then of course it became clear the industry charges a lot more for something that actually works well thereby creating a market.
My swimming pond is surrounded by trees, which is very nice as it gives shade in the summer and also cuts right down on evaporation but it does mean that in autumn it does collect a lot of leaves.
I had two thick wooden beams as bridges across it to make skimming easier and also to dredge the detritus at the bottom. But that was hard work so I bought a pool cover. Unfortunately, being a pond and not a pool the shape of it is irregular and so there is no way to fit it tightly, thus at the end of the season the gaps between the ends and the 2 bridges also collected water which made them sink down into large puddles. This made it almost impossible to remove because of the weight so I found that all the water and leaves collected had to be dumped into the pond in order to remove it.
So I gave up and realised that stuff at the bottom is no bar to swimming and besides which there are lots of little animals who live there. So now it is a haven for wildlife, as well as me. 
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