Pool Leaf Net Covers: A Maintenance Solution, Not a Safety Solution

While swimming pool safety covers and pool safety nets are popular barriers to prevent water entry, your pool leaf cover serves a different purpose entirely. On the surface, a properly installed safety net with a leaf cover may look very similar to a pool safety cover while providing similar protection. Installing the leaf cover on its own, however, may give the appearance of safety, but it puts your loved ones at risk. Always make sure you’re using the right cover for the right job.

Covers, Nets, and…Covers?

We’re going to be talking extensively about three separate but related pieces of pool equipment. Swimming pool safety covers, pool safety nets, and pool leaf covers. Each of these has a role to play in protecting your swimming pool, but how and what they protect is very different.

• Swimming Pool Safety Covers – These custom covers use a rip-resistant micromesh fabric secured to anchor points around your pool deck to block water entry. This pool safety barrier is strong enough to stand on, making it perfect for preventing accidental immersion. It also helps block out UV rays, control evaporation, and keep your pool protected from dirt, detritus, and debris, reducing your cleaning and sanitation costs.

• Swimming Pool Safety Nets – Similar to safety covers, safety nets block access to the water by using knotted cord and twine secured around the pool’s edge. The entire net is tensioned by a central mass of steel springs. While difficult to walk on, this helps ensure pets or children who attempt to cross the pool are caught and held near the pool edge safely up and out of the water for easier rescue.

• Pool Leaf Covers—Pool leaf covers provide a lightweight physical barrier to keep dirt, dust, and debris out of your swimming pool. Emphasis on lightweight. While they may be secured around the pool edge, this is to keep them in place. Neither the material that makes up the cover nor the straps, ropes, or weights that secure it are meant to deter pool access or hold the weight of anything heavier than a small amount of leaves and dust. 

The Dangers of an Unsupported Pool Leaf Cover

Pool leaf covers are designed to help reduce the effort and cost of keeping your pool in good shape rather than for safety, which is why they should only be installed in conjunction with an ASTM-certified safety barrier. This can mean installation behind a pool fence, but it’s far more common to install your leaf cover over your pool safety net. Left unsupported, the leaf cover can become a drowning hazard in its own right.

Submersion through or underneath a leaf cover subjects anyone in the water to possible entanglement. The cover can easily wrap itself around a victim, disorienting them. Straps or ropes can bind legs and arms. Once tangled, the extra weight of the pool leaf cover and water trapped in it drags at them, pulling them down or turning them in the water. It also presents a hazard to anyone entering the water to help them.

Pool Leaf Cover Best Practices

1. Never Install Your Pool Leaf Cover Without a Safety Barrier – You should have a safety barrier installed to protect your swimming pool anytime the leaf cover is in use. Whether it’s a removable mesh pool fence or pool net, a safety barrier can help reduce the risk of accidental immersion and the entanglement danger your leaf cover would otherwise represent.
2. Choose the Right Cover For Your Pool – Measure your swimming pool’s surface carefully, especially if you have an oddly shaped or asymmetrical pool. You also need to make sure you’re picking a pool leaf cover made from the right material. Make sure the mesh netting or material is tight enough to block out the material most likely to blow into your pool area.
3. Install Your Leaf Cover Before Fall Begins – To get the most out of your leaf cover, it should be installed anytime the pool is closed from right before leaves begin to change color and fall from the trees until you close the pool for the season. If you live on a property with a lot of trees and year-round leaves are an issue, make sure you install your pool leaf cover as part of your pool closing routine.
4. Ensure It’s Properly Secured – Some leaf covers are tied off or secured with bungies. Others may use weights or water bags. However your pool leaf cover is designed, make sure you secure it properly before walking away once your pool is covered. Strong winds can turn your cover into a giant kite, and the last thing you want is to see your investment sailing away in the sky or to get a call that it has caused an injury or property damage on its journey.
5. Remove Debris Regularly – Your pool leaf cover isn’t meant to support weight for an extended period of time. Leaves, twigs, and other debris should be removed regularly and promptly. If it starts to dip into the pool, much of its effectiveness is lost (you’re making a big pot of leaf tea then), and it will become heavier as it absorbs more water, worsening the problem.
6. Store Your Pool Leaf Cover Properly – Follow your manufacturer’s instructions when it’s time to store your leaf cover. Usually, this will mean allowing it to dry, folding it neatly, and storing it in a plastic sealed trash can or storage bag to keep out vermin. While it can be stored in the same place as your pool safety net, avoid storing them directly together so you don’t end up with a tangled mess once it’s time to open your pool again. 

Order Your Pool Nets and Covers

Whether you’re protecting your pool from unsupervised access or unwanted leaves, we’ve got you covered. Schedule an appointment with your local independent installation pro for a free consultation on your pool safety options. Order your pool leaf cover and safety net from All-Safe Pool today.