Question:
Can I leave the pool empty of water during the winter?
Answer:
If the water table is high enough, hydrostatic pressure from the ground
can push your pool out of the ground and crack it. A few months ago
I corresponded with someone on a discussion board at www.poolcenter.com.
He left his 20x40 pool empty for a few weeks and hydrostatic pressure
pushed his pool up a few inches and then cracked it, destroying his pool.
The replacement cost was $95,000. I don't know how high the water table
is around Las Vegas (even though I own a second home there), but I'm
not going to risk $40,000 to repair my pool to find out.
Last year I went with just the winter cover and had problems when I opened
the pool in the spring. I had to pump water off the cover, and couldn't get
all of the leaves off of it before I tried to pull it off (I was trying to
remove an 18' x 36' cover by myself). So some of the leaves and debris
on the the last five feet of the cover fell into the pool. The vacuum
cleaned it up in a day, but I have a better plan for this year. I'm going
to leave the solar cover in place, then put the winter cover on top of it,
and then put a leaf net on top of that. When I open the pool in the spring,
I'm hoping I can get all of the leaves and most of the debris off when I
pull off the leaf net. Then, if I have to pump water off the winter cover,
it'll be easier since I won't have any leaves to clog the pump. Finally, with
the solar cover under the winter cover, it should make it easier to pull the
winter cover off w/o any debris falling into the pool. We have a safety
fence all around the pool that stays locked all winter, so I don't feel
the need to have a safety cover (the kind you can walk on).
