Winterizing Your Pool in Dallas

 

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Alas, all good things (usually) come to an end. This is true for the wonderful, sunny season of summer that is now beginning to shift toward autumn. Pool owners in and around Dallas, TX are beginning to prepare their swimming pools for the inevitable closing process. Although it’s sad to say goodbye to summer, it’s important to make sure that your pool is properly cared-for in the winter so that it will be that much easier to open next spring.

If you are wondering whether or not you must fully winterize your Texas swimming pool, the answer is “usually not.” As the temperatures in Texas remain much warmer than in more northern states, it is possible to close your pool for the winter months with far fewer steps than what are involved in a full winterizing.

With that being said, there are still some very important tasks involved in preparing a pool for the colder months in Texas, and if any of these tasks is skipped or performed incorrectly, your pool could suffer damage or become a slimy green cesspool by the time spring comes around. The time and money it would take you to fix any damages or to turn an algae-infested pool clear is guaranteed to be excessive.

Working with a professional Dallas pool company, your pool will be safely closed for the winter via a number of tried and true necessary steps, ensuring that all of your swimming pool parts, structures and water will be safe throughout the winter. Your pool team will:

  • Carefully examine your pool’s liner for signs of wear or leaks
  • Check to make sure your pool’s plumbing system (and all associated pipes) are functional and leak free
  • Inspect your filtration system for optimal functionality – This is one of the most critical steps that simply cannot be skipped! A properly functioning pool filter is extremely important if you plan to “soft close” your pool in Dallas. Pool service professionals in Texas generally recommend setting your pool’s filtration system to run during nighttime hours. Since your pool’s freeze protection feature automatically turns on the filter when temperatures get close to freezing, it makes financial sense to avoid running your filter all day long as well.

Your Dallas pool service will also meticulously inspect your pool’s chlorinator and/or salt generator. Although winterized pools can get by with significantly less chlorine than during summer, it is still necessary. Without any chlorine, or if the level drops too low, you’ll end up with a green pool in a few months’ time. A good addition to a soft-closed pool is a floating mineralizer. Solar-powered floating mineralizers utilize the sun’s rays for power to moves them around the surface of the pool, dispersing naturally occurring minerals into the pool water. This allows you to use much less chlorine over the winter without ending up with an algae overgrowth.

After your pool company has inspected your pool’s parts for any problems, be sure to clean your skimmers on a daily basis and clean the pump strainer at least once a week. Any decaying plant life will eat up any chlorine in your pool, leading to algae growth. They can also stain your liner, leaving ugly marks that can be nearly impossible to remove. Although you will have to attend to these tasks throughout the entirety of the winter season, your pay-off will be grand when the spring opening of your pool goes off without a hitch!