Closing your pool is essential to protect your pool equipment and plumbing from damage during the winter months. It’s important to take the proper steps to remove water from your pool equipment and plumbing so that the water doesn’t freeze, expand, and break anything. This step-by-step guide goes over all the essentials to winterize/close a swimming pool and protect it and its equipment from the winter weather.
Steps to Close a Swimming Pool
1. Gather all tools and equipment needed
- Your winter cover (vinyl, safety, or tarp)
- Plugs for each return and skimmer
- Either a Skimmer Anti-freeze bag or a Gizzmo (works as a plug)
- A shop vac/blower (at least 3HP) to clear lines
- Water pump
- Opening/Closing Chemicals: oxidizer, stain and scale remover, and algaecide
- Tools for pool equipment
Other Possible Items:
- Water bags for a tarp cover. Enough to go around the perimeter of your pool
- Stair cover and 1 water bag
2. Balance pool chemicals and clean the pool
- Ensure the pool chemistry is within the proper levels for the chlorine, stabilizer, pH, alkalinity, and hardness. The Opening/Closing chemicals can be added now, or you can wait until after the water is pumped down. Now let the pool run to circulate the chemicals.
- Clean the pool using your pool vacuum and net. Make sure you remove all debris from both the surface and bottom of the pool.
- Backwash and rinse sand filters.
- Remove and clean cartridge filters.
3. Remove accessories
- Remove all railings, ladders, steps, diving board, skimmer basket, and return fittings from the pool.
- Depending on the lights, you may need to take them out of their pot and sink them into the pool using a weight or take them off and install a protective cap.
4. Lower water level
- Most pool covers require the water to be lowered a couple of inches below the skimmer.
- Vinyl covers have a side wall built into them and need to sit on top of the water at this level.
- Tarp covers are sized to be 6 ft longer and wider than the dimensions of your pool, so they can sit at this level and have a couple of feet to sit on your pool deck.
- Safety covers allow the water to go through them and into the pool. For most areas, this water level will make it so that the rain and snowmelt will fill your pool to the top of the skimmer when you open it in the spring. This gives you extra water to clean the pool on a waste setting.
- The Opening/Closing chemicals can be added if they weren’t added before. Add additional algaecide and chlorine for pools with safety covers.
5. Blowing lines and equipment
- The lines can either be blown out individually or all at once.
- Blow the lines all at once by attaching your blower/vacuum to the backwash on a sand filter and by putting the filter handle in the winter/winterizing position or in-between settings. For cartridge filters, place the blower/vacuum on the waste valve at the bottom of the filter.
- If this can’t be done, blow out the lines individually by removing a piece of the plumbing and blowing air in each direction.
- Once air enters the system, you should see air bubbles coming out of the returns and/or the skimmer. When the air bubbles are consistently coming out, you can then plug the return/skimmer using either a rubber plug or a threaded plug with Teflon tape on it. Sometimes, not all of the returns and skimmer will bubble at once; as one gets plugged, the next one should start to bubble.
- If you have a main drain that goes to the pump, keep the blower on until air starts coming up from the main drain at the bottom of the pool.
- Next, shut off the air going into the system. Then remove any plugs in the pump (usually 2 plugs) and the heater (1 or 2 plugs), and remove the drain cap on the filter. The heater may also need the pressure switch removed if the manufacturer requires it. Then turn the blower back on to remove the last bit of water from the equipment.
6. Skimmer winterizing
- The skimmer needs either a Skimmer Anti-freeze bag or a Gizzmo to protect it from ice expansion.
- The antifreeze bag is a small vinyl bag about 1.5 feet long. Fill this bag about ⅓ full with antifreeze and place it into the bottom of the skimmer.
- The Gizzmo needs to be screwed into the unused plug hole. If you are using the Gizzmo as a plug, you will need to add Teflon tape to the threads (put it in while air is bubbling out of the skimmer).
- If you have a main drain that goes from the bottom of the pool to the skimmer, you will have to put about 3 feet of foam rope down that hole to winterize it. Plug the hole with a plug or Gizzmo to stop the foam rope from coming out of the hole.
7. Put on the cover
Vinyl Cover: Pull the vinyl cover over the pool. Put the lip/bead of the cover into the track at the top of the pool. To start, quickly put it in the track in small sections around the pool so that it doesn’t sink. Then put the rest of the cover into the track; you may have to move the cover to get it to sit in the right spot. Next, place your stair sheild/cover over your stairs and put the bead into the track. Finally, put pieces of t-bead, clips, or wedges every few feet to hold the cover in place.
Tarp and Water Bags: Place water bags around the perimeter of the pool and then fill them about ¾ full using a garden hose. With all the bags full, pull the tarp over the pool, and make sure the cover sits even on each side. Next, push down the tarp in each of the corners so that it sits flat on top of the pool water. Finally, place the water bags on top of the tarp around the pool to hold it down.
Safety Cover: Raise all the pegs around the pool to ¼ to ½ an inch out of the ground. Pull the cover out over the pool and place the springs onto the pegs on 2 sides by hand. Then, with the metal pole that came with the cover, attach the rest of the springs. The cover should be tight and flat across your pool.
8. Shut off power and gas
- Turn off all switches and electrical breakers to the pool equipment.
- Turn off all the gas valves that lead to your heater.
Now your swimming pool is ready for the cold winter weather. Saying goodbye to your pool can be a sad time, but by following these steps, you can ensure all your pool’s equipment and plumbing are protected from freezing, preventing costly damage and making spring opening much easier. A well-winterized pool will stay in better condition throughout the colder months, giving you peace of mind and ensuring it’s ready for another season of enjoyment when warmer weather returns.
Have any questions about closing your pool? Then check out our pool closing Q&A page, linked below.
