For inground pool covers with water bags, keep your cover tight with a good supply of double water bags. Never use bricks to hold down the pool cover or heavy objects. Periodically check on the water tubes throughout the winter season, patching or replacing any that have leaked.
Using skimmer nets, a pool brush, or vacuum, you should try and remove any dirt or debris that has made its way into your pool water. Once the water is removed from the cover, put it back into place and reinforce any holes or tears to prevent future issues during the season.
The best protection for a vinyl cover is "prevention". Acids that come in contact with the vinyl will over a short period of time do irreparable harm. Do not pour acid containing chemicals directly into the pool. They should be highly diluted with water and slowly introduced into the pool.
For safety reasons; if someone should end up under the pool cover, air will come in through the holes. These small holes prevent a large pool of water from getting on the pool cover.
It is vital to remove excess water from solid tarp style winter covers, commonly used on above-ground and some in-ground pools, to avoid damage to the cover and the pool. This can easily be done with a submersible pump on your pool cover whenever temperatures are above freezing, and liquid water is present.
Allowing water to pool on the top of your cover can cause damage to both the cover and your pool, depending on the type of each. This is because pool covers are not made to withstand the weight of water (or anything else) on top of them.
Use Heavy Objects To Keep The Edges In Place
Adding weight to the outer edges of your pool cover will prevent it from getting loose and sagging. To do this, you can use heavy objects such as proper heavy gauge water bags to line the width and length of your pool.
Safety cover sagging is okay, well in most cases. It is not the safety-cover that supports the snow and ice. It is the water underneath your cover that helps it and keeps it from sagging too much. Whoever sold you the cover should have warned you or directed you to read the directions.
Water displacement in above ground pools is quite common. Over the winter, the weight of the snow and ice push down on the cover, which can cause the cover to displace some of the pool water. The displaced water spills out harmlessly onto the deck, unbeknownst to the pool owners.
Pool Cover Safety Information
The cover must be kept tight enough to the deck to prevent a small child from reaching the water by crawling under the edge of the cover or through any area of the cover such as a raised wall or ladder cutout.
When preparing your pool for a storm, leave it uncovered. Installing any kind of cover across the pool will not do much to protect against dust and contaminants because storms often bring strong winds and heavy rain that can cause the cover to lift off your pool.
To secure the cover, place several sandbags or coffee cans filled with sand around the edges of the pool to help with holding cover in place. Make sure you have enough sandbags or coffee cans filled with sand to cover the entire perimeter of the pool's cover.
A small bit (1/4″-1/2″) of rain water is OK, but more than that could stress the cover, and 6-12″ of water will push pool water over the edges, lowering pool water (see above). Pump regularly with a pool cover pump like our manual or automatic 350 GPH pump or the non-electric Cover Saver siphon pump (shown).
We strongly recommend using an air pillow under your winter cover. The first reason to install a winter cover air pillow is to protect your pool from expanding ice. When you don't use an air pillow, the cover sits right on top of the water and the ice will want to expand outwards.
Yes. The pool pillow should be fairly centered within the pool to allow for even distribution of ice. If the pillow is off to the side, there will still be an area to compensate for the encroaching ice, but this often puts a strain and tugs on the pool cover due to the uneven distribution of ice and snow.
The official standard states, "In the case of a pool with a width or diameter greater than 8 ft. from the periphery, the cover shall be able to hold a weight of 485 lbs. (2 adults and 1 child) to permit a rescue operation." In certain unusual circumstances, the weight may be even greater.
CCS polypropylene mesh tarps are the best tarp for pool covers. They do an exceptional job blocking sunlight, which is essential for preventing algae growth when chemicals are not being added regularly. Polypropylene tarps are strong, too, so they can withstand the weight of ice and snow that builds up over the winter.
It makes this one of the longest lasting devices you could possibly put on your swimming pool. Many of their parts will last beyond 10 years or more and they also tend to come with outstanding warranties to back them up too.
Most automatic safety pool covers on average last 4 to 6 years if you maintain them properly. We recommend that you buy a pool cover that comes with a pro-rated warranty. That way, you can always ask for a replacement if you notice issues within a few weeks of purchase.
Automatic pool covers offer outstanding cost savings benefits. When closed over the swimming pool an automatic pool cover will save you on chemicals, water loss from evaporation, and energy costs by not having to constantly reheat the pool.