How to Open Your Pool in the Spring

Spring opening is one of the most exciting times of the year for any pool owner!

After months of cold weather, it is beginning to warm up in time for the swimming season. Even though the sun is shining and the water is warm, the pool isn’t quite ready for swimmers. Pool-services is here to help you open your pool with the following easy-to-read instructions. With a little bit of work, you will be on your way to having a clean pool and a stress-free spring opening!

If you are a new pool owner or are taking care of your pool for the first time, you may want to call Pool-Services to request our Pool Opening Service. Pool-Services will be happy to send one of our trained and certified technicians to your house and have them assist you with opening your pool. They will also provide tips on how to easily open your pool in the future.

• DRAIN AND CLEAN THE POOL COVER

If you have a winter cover or a solid safety cover, you will want to drain as much water as possible before removing it. You can do this by placing a cover pump on the cover and let it do the work. It’s also important to sweep or blow all the leaves off of the cover before removal. This will not only lessen the amount of debris in your water, but will make for a happy closing next winter!

• REMOVE THE POOL COVER

Using two people if available, remove the cover from your pool. It is inevitable that a little water and debris will fall into the pool from the cover, and this is OK. You will be shocking and vacuuming the pool, so a small amount of water and debris won’t hurt anything.

• CLEAN AND STORE THE POOL COVER

After removing the pool cover, lay it out and brush away the remaining debris. Once the cover has dried, sprinkle both sides with Alkalinity Up or talcum powder to prevent mold and mildew buildup. Fold the cover loosely and store in a cool, dry place.

• RAISE THE WATER LEVEL BACK TO NORMAL

Use a garden hose to fill the water level in your pool back to its normal level. This is typically around the middle of the skimmer opening or halfway up the tile.

If you did not winterize your pool for freezing conditions, please skip ahead to Step 9.

• RECONNECT YOUR POOL EQUIPMENT

If you prepared your pool for freezing temperatures over the winter, you will want to reconnect all the equipment. This includes reconnecting your filter, pump, heater, and anything else. For above ground pools, you will need to reconnect the flexible plumbing lines to the pool equipment and skimmer.

• REMOVE WINTER PLUGS AND RE-ATTACH DRAIN PLUGS

Make sure to take out all the winterizing plugs from your pool equipment. This may include your pump, filter, heater, booster pump, and pool cleaners. Remember to reinstall each normal drain plug.

• REMOVE WINTERIZING PLUGS FROM SKIMMER AND RETURN LINES

Make sure to wait until after the antifreeze has been discharged to waste before removing the winterizing plugs from your skimmer and return lines. Now you will reconnect any return valve fitting that were removed last winter.

• TURN YOUR SYSTEM BACK ON

At this point, you will want to start turning most of your pool equipment back on. This includes priming the pump and turning on the circulation and filtration system. If you have an air relief valve on your filter, make sure to open it to bleed the air from the system.

• ADD METALFREE TO PREVENT STAINING

After a long winter off-season, metals like copper and iron may have built up in your pool. Add 1 liter of MetalFree for every 20,000 gallons of water to prevent these metals from causing stains or discoloration in your pool. After adding, allow the circulation and filtration systems to run for at least 2 hours.

• TEST YOUR POOL CHEMISTRY

Once the circulation system has run for several hours, you will want to test your pool water for pH, Total Alkalinity, and Chlorine levels using a good test kit. Ideal levels for these chemicals should be:

• pH: 7.4 to 7.6
• Total Alkalinity: 80 to 120 ppm
• Chlorine: 2.0 to 4.0 ppm

• ADJUST YOUR POOL CHEMISTRY, STARTING WITH TOTAL ALKALINITY

It is now time to begin adjusting your pool chemistry to safe, comfortable swimming levels. You will be able to control the pH and chlorine levels in your water by adjusting the Total Alkalinity.

If your Total Alkalinity is too high, you will want to use Acid to lower the levels to the accepted range. To lower the Total Alkalinity by 10 ppm, you will want to add 1 ½ pounds of acid for every 10,000 gallons of water.

If the Total Alkalinity of your pool is too low, it will increase by using Alkalinity Up. Adding 1 ½ pounds of Alkalinity Up will increase the Total Alkalinity of 10,000 gallons by 10 ppm. Make sure to wait at least 4 hours after adding to retest the water.

• NOW, IT’S TIME TO ADJUST THE pH BALANCE

Once the Total Alkalinity is within its proper range of 80-120 ppm, you can now adjust the pH balance in your pool. Bringing the Total Alkalinity back to a normal range should have pushed the pH level close to normal, as well. If the pH is not between 7.4 and 7.6, not to worry.

If your pH level is above 7.6, you can add small doses (2 cups at a time) of acid. Wait 2 hours with the circulation system running and retest before adding more acid.

If your pH level is below 7.4, adding just 6 ounces of Soda ash should increase the pH level of 10,000 gallons of water by approximately 0.2 ppm. Wait 4 hours with the circulation system running and retest the water before adding more Soda ash.

• TEST AND ADJUST CALCIUM HARDNESS

Your pool’s calcium hardness level should always be above 150 ppm. If the calcium hardness is too low, you can bring it up by adding Hardness Plus. Just 1 1/4 pounds will increase the calcium hardness of 10,000 gallons of water by 10 ppm.

Note: Never add Hardness Plus on the same day as Soda Ash or Alkalinity Up. Always wait until the next day to add Hardness Plus.

• BRUSH AND VACUUM THE POOL

After your pool chemistry has been adjusted, there will still be some remaining dirt and debris from the winter. Now is the time to thoroughly brush and vacuum your pool, giving special attention to areas near pool steps, ladders, or other equipment.

• RUN THE FILTRATION SYSTEM OVERNIGHT

Filtration will filter out all the dirt, debris, algae, and bacteria still floating in your pool after brushing and vacuuming your pool.

• SHOCK THE POOL

Shocking the pool will eliminate nearly all the remaining bacteria and contaminants in your water after the winter offseason. To shock the pool, you can use Powder Plus or Chlore 56%. Each of these products will quickly and effectively shock your pool. Be sure to read the instructions to determine how much you should add to your pool.