How to Prevent Pool Algae During Winter

You may not be able to use your swimming pool year-round, but you still need to protect your backyard oasis from pool algae during the off-season. When you winterize your pool, you’re doing more than just keeping it safe from frost damage and limiting the risk of an accidental drowning injury. You’re also taking steps to prevent algae and other biological proliferation that can lead to stained tile or liners and increased maintenance costs in the spring. It’s all part of putting a comprehensive pool safety plan into action to protect your investment and your loved ones.

All About Algae

When you think about pool algae, you likely think about green, dirty, smelly water and slimy wisps of vegetation growing from the pool walls and floor or floating on the water. Long before the situation becomes that dire, algae will already be working to colonize and overrun your swimming pool. In fact, even if you’ve just changed the water, it’s likely airborne algae spores have likely already found their way into your swimming pool.

While we usually think of algae as a warm-weather risk, many species can grow prolifically when temperatures get lower, especially as the cooler temps can inhibit algaecide and herbicide mixtures. This is because algae feed on sunlight via the same process of photosynthesis as other plants. Sunlight can readily diffuse through layers of ice to reach algae, giving it a nutrient-rich environment during a time when less pool use means less water disruption to prevent the formation and attachment of colonies under the ice.

Pool Safety Always Comes First

Anytime you’re working to open or close your pool, ensure safety barriers are in place anytime it’s left unattended. Thousands of lives are lost to accidental drowning injuries annually, and most can be attributed to a lack of safety barriers or supervision. Even if the pool isn’t filled all the way, a drowning can happen. In fact, with lower water levels and a lack of pool fixtures to aid a swimmer in distress, pool winterization can be a time of heightened danger unless you remain focused on making safety a priority throughout the process.

Winterize Your Pool to Inhibit Algae Growth

The best way to control pool algae through the colder months is to properly winterize your pool until spring and good weather for swimming returns. Winterizing your pool is more than just throwing a cover on it and setting the heater to run more often. It involves properly preparing your pool, pool equipment, and accessories to withstand freezing temperatures by minimizing the risk of damage. To put it simply, proper winterization should avoid creating a hospitable environment for algae bloom while also preventing much of the UV rays that power photosynthesis.

1. Don’t Wait Too Long

Normal sanitation and water treatment methods aren’t sufficient to maintain a swimming pool for the several months it takes for temperatures to warm back up. You want to begin your pool winterization early enough that you don’t risk an early freeze damaging your pool but not so early that you leave your pool open to algae bloom as the season wraps up. Usually, you want to tackle winterization once the temperature is consistently below 65 degrees to ensure you have a healthy safety margin in place.

2. Get Your Pool Ready to Close

Now it’s time to clean your pool thoroughly, remove equipment, and optimize your water chemistry as normal one last time for the year. This gives your pool water a baseline level of protection to build on for better pool algae control. If your chemical levels come out a little high after treatment, it’s not a problem. Since levels drop over time, they’ll just provide a little additional protection heading into the cold season.

3. Lower Your Water Levels and Drain Your Equipment

Drain your pool until the water level is about a foot below your skimmer. Don’t forget to shut off your pump, filter, and heater, as this is far too low for effective circulation and return. Once the pool is drained, drain all water out of the lines and equipment. You can use a blower to expel the remaining water from the lines before installing freeze plugs to minimize the risk of moisture entering the system and becoming trapped.

4. Add Pool Winterization Chemicals

Give your remaining swimming pool water a heavy shock treatment to kill any potential biological contaminants. You also want to add herbicide to algaecide to control vegetation growth, anti-scaling and staining compounds to protect your pool’s liner or tiles, and pool anti-freeze to help the remaining water avoid freezing in especially cold areas.

5. Install a Winter Swimming Pool Cover

This heavier winter version of our swimming pool safety cover anchors around your deck and provides a heavy-duty barrier against unsupervised water entry. It’s UV-resistant, strong, durable, and can hold the weight of a full-grown adult. It helps keep your pool safe from frost damage by protecting the gap of warm, moist air above your swimming pool’s surface while also blocking almost all sunlight to limit pool algae’s favorite food source: the sun.

Reopen Your Pool the Right Way

Once temperatures start to rise consistently above 70 degrees with the last frost of winter in the rearview mirror, it’s time to reopen your pool. Make sure to clean, shock, and balance the water, then circulate it through your filtration system to remove any remaining debris and contaminants. This also halts any early-stage pool algae bloom and removes it before it can become a full-blown issue.

Protect Your Swimming Pool All Year Long

Building a safer swimming pool area protects your investment in your backyard oasis and the loved ones who use it. Contact your local independent All-Safe Pool professional for a free pool safety consultation. They’ll talk to you about your pool needs, take measurements, and create a safety barrier quote tailored to your pool usage. Find out how cost-effective peace of mind can be. Get your estimate from an All-Safe Pool safety expert today.