Helping your pool to survive and thrive this winter

Throughout the summer, we know you’ll have kept your pool clean, sparkling and always ready for fun and action. Sadly, some folk tend to neglect it slightly during the winter months. The end result you’ll know too well, a great deal of time and money needs to be spent to ready it again for the following summer.

So we have some simple tips for pool maintenance right throughout the winter.

A little time, a few pool supplies, some sensible pool cleaning, and you’ll have no worries when the heat and the sun return. The starting point is to get in there and give your pool a serious cleaning. Make sure you work right into those awkward corners, examine both your tiles and grouting to see if any minor repair work is needed. Remember the equipment too, filters, skimmers and the like can collect assorted dirt and debris throughout the year.

Take the time to test your water to make sure you avoid any stagnation and are keeping the balance just right. Then, throughout the winter, remind yourself to run the filter and systems once a week or so to keep them in good working order. Just like you, if you don’t exercise during the winter, that first spring run can certainly do some damage! Occasionally, take a moment to use a testing kit to check the water chemical levels.

If that run can be a shock to your system, it can be useful to seriously wake up your pool water with a high dose of chlorine. It’s probably a good idea to do this each month, then run the pump to help fully disperse it. Like that cold shower first thing in the morning, it encourages everything to wake up and get to work!

Finally, if the weather is less than welcoming you sensibly wrap up and fully protect yourself before heading outside. Don’t leave your pool shivering, wind-blown, and unprotected. A quality pool cover adds that vital extra degree of protection from the worst that winter can throw at it. Even harmless leaves, fluttering down onto the surface, can spread dirt and a build up can cause imbalance within the water. Like you, as spring returns, you cast off the extra layer and are fully ready to go again.

These few simple tips avoid the springtime horrors of having to deal with a neglected pool when the kids simply want to dive in!