How To Open Your Pool After Winter

Safely opening a pool after winter takes some work, but it also moves you one step closer to warm summer days relaxing poolside, getting in your laps, or splashing around with the family. Winterizing your pool through the colder months helps protect it from damage related to low temperatures and inclement weather while it’s not getting the regular use and inspection that can spot an issue before it becomes a problem. Opening your pool back up safely also protects your pool while ensuring it’s ready for safe, protected summer fun that can help prevent accidental drowning injuries, still one of the top killers in America.

More Than Just Refilling The Pool

Opening a pool takes more than just a garden hose because you’re not just getting your pool ready for swimming. You’re preparing it to be a safer swimming area, where your family, friends, and pets are protected from illness and injury. Opening a pool after winter means knowing how to clean the pool, reinstalling the necessary pool equipment and accessories, and making sure the area is both safe to be in and safer from unsupervised access. By methodically following a safe opening procedure, you can be ready for fun without compromising on safety.

Opening A Pool After Winter

By the time winter ends, your winter swimming pool safety cover has been through a lot. Dropping temperatures, ice, snow, freezing rain, high winds, and more have all done their best to tackle it, but the cover is going strong. Proper pool opening makes sure it’s stowed away, ready to return at the end of the year, without leaving your pool open to unsupervised access by children, pets, or wild animals that may be used to the additional surface that will support their weight.

1. Clean dust and debris from your winter swimming pool cover. – Your cover has spent the winter holding up snowmelt, fallen leaves, sticks, and everything else that’s blown into your yard. Your first step before risking this detritus contaminating your pool water is to clear it away while the winter cover is firmly in place. Larger pieces can be lifted away, while dirt and leaves can be swept or brushed off with a soft-bristled broom. After the cover is clear of contaminants, pick up any remaining trash or debris from the general pool area before opening your pool after winter.

2. Check Your Winter Pool Cover For Damage. – While All-Safe Pool’s covers are strong, ASTM-compliant safety equipment, they can still be damaged. While the pool cover is stretched taut, look for rips, tears, or areas with wear that seems excessive. Verify that all anchors are in place and offer the proper support for springs and cords that tension your pool cover. Contact your All-Safe Pool independent installer if service or repair is needed.
3. Remove Your Winter Pool Cover For Cleaning And Storage. – This works best with at least two people, but it can be carefully done solo as long as you take your time. Your size of cover can influence how to best open your pool after winter, but if help is needed, your All-Safe Pro may be able to help you with technical information or further assistance. Ideally, one person will lift each side, pulling it away from the pool without allowing it to dip into the water, depositing any remaining contaminants.  Once it is off to the side, a garden hose and light detergent or a low-pressure power washer are how to clean your pool cover thoroughly after winter. Allow it to dry in the sun before neatly folding it and storing your winter pool cover in its storage bag or a clean rubber trash can with a lid that can help prevent damage from pests.

4. Inspect Your Pool And Accessories. – Large temperature fluctuations can cause a lot of damage to your pool’s liner, plaster, and more. Take the time to verify your pool doesn’t need repair or maintenance before adding water to it. Remove drain plugs from the pool, close any drains on equipment, check filters, and examine any hoses closely. Now is the time to get a trained professional scheduled if pool repair is needed or visit your pool supply store if it needs a little DIY TLC. Hook up your pool’s equipment, install your ladders, boards, or other accessories, and get ready to have it start looking like an actual pool area again in your yard.

5. Fill Your Pool To The Waterline Or The Middle Of Your Skimmer Weirs. – We’re getting close now! Filling your pool to an appropriate water level before trying to balance your pool chemistry is how to open your pool after winter with the least amount of stress and wasted chemicals. Use a long-handled net or pool vacuum to clean the walls and bottom of your pool as much as possible prior to any equipment activation. Once that’s done, fire up your filters and let it run for 24-48 hours. This isn’t just part of how to clean your pool after winter but also to mix the old and new water, allowing residual chemicals to dilute and stabilize throughout the entire volume of water.

6. Install Your Swimming Pool Safety Barriers. – Whether you use a swimming pool safety cover, a pool safety net, or a removable mesh pool fence, now is the time to make sure your pool is protected from unsupervised access while you wait. Keeping your pool safer from the start of the season is how to open your pool after winter the right way and kick off the season with good swimming pool safety habits. Safety pool covers and nets anchor to your deck and hold potential drowning victims up and out of the water until they can be pulled to safety. Mesh pool fences give you a physical barrier that keeps kids, pets, and others out of the pool when you’re not there to oversee the action but gives you the flexibility of a wide-open pool area for larger, supervised pool events.
7. Adjust Your Pool’s Water. – After 48 hours, your pool’s water is circulated, aerated, and ready for testing. Use a commercial pool test kit to check your water’s alkalinity, pH level, and hardness. Using pool chemicals and following the manufacturer’s directions, adjust your alkalinity first, followed by the pH level, and finally, the hardness. Finally, shock or double-shock your pool. After an extended period of non-use, a double shock–or about two pounds of shock per 10,000 gallons of pool water–quickly regulates bacterial growth and quickly dissipates, leaving your pool water safe and ready for summer fun. 

Create A Safer Pool This Summer

After a few times, opening your pool after winter will be a fun way to mark the changing of the seasons and get ready for the lazy days ahead. We’re ready to help you protect your pool with customized safety solutions from your local All-Safe Pool installer. They’ll talk to you about your safety concerns, take some measurements, and tailor a free, no-obligation quote to your pool and activities so you can see how affordable peace of mind can be. Get the information you need for an informed decision about your pool’s safety with a no-cost estimate from your All-Safe Pool pro today.