If there are three words that few people would ever lump together in the same sentence it would have to be Minneapolis and swimming pools. After all, being the coldest major metropolitan area in the lower 48, the Twin Cities aren't exactly known as a warm weather escape. Nonetheless, many residents in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area do have swimming pools to cool off during the summer, and if you're one of them, swimming pool maintenance in Minneapolis should be at the top of your list of seasonal chores.
Swimming Pool Maintenance in Minneapolis: Managing a Pool in Cold Climates
For all those swimming pool enthusiasts down South and on the coasts, swimming pool maintenance is pretty simple stuff. Maintain the water quality, clean out and vacuum the pool every week or two, keep the water level where it needs to be and all the pumps and filters circulating, and you're good to go. In Minneapolis, however, swimming pool maintenance is a different bird altogether. Barring the chance that you don't mind heating bills that run a couple thousand dollars a month through winter, you're going to have to add closing and opening your pool to that list, which basically includes winterizing your pool at the end of summer, and then firing it back up again when things finally thaw out late in the spring.
Minneapolis Swimming Pool Maintenance: The Art of Closing Your Pool
Closing your pool properly is perhaps the most important aspect of owning a pool in Minneapolis. After all, it's not a question of whether it's going to freeze in the Twin Cities come wintertime, but just how far that mercury is going to drop. That being the case, your pool closing should follow some basic maintenance steps.
Regulate your water quality and clean your pool thoroughly one last time, including running the filter for 24 hours before you shut everything down. You'll thank yourself for it next spring, when you pull off the cover to relatively clean water instead of a bunch of leaves that have been rotting under the ice for the last six months.
Clean water out of your lines and equipment using a shop-vac or an air compressor. The danger of winter isn't just that the water will freeze, but that lines, valves, pumps, filters, gaskets, and the like will be damaged or ruined by expanding ice contained in tight and unforgiving spaces. This is also a good time to turn off the gas and shut down your heater if you have one.
Lower the water level and install the cover. You'll only have to lower the water level if you have a concrete pool, and then only to a point one foot below the skimmer. With vinyl-lined pools this isn't an issue so you can leave the water level as is. Once that's done, you're ready to tie the cover down and wait out the winter!
Despite all that great advice, we do recommend that you talk to a pool supplier or pool maintenance provider in the Twin Cities area if you plan to close your pool yourself. Most will have a printed checklist that's more thorough than we have space for here, and if you go to the company that built your pool in the first place, they'll have first-hand knowledge of closing procedures specific to your pool style and equipment lines.
Minneapolis Swimming Pool Maintenance the Rest of the Year
Closing is by far the most labor-intensive process you'll endure as a swimming pool owner in the Twin Cities. Opening is pretty straightforward (take off the cover and turn everything back on), and after that you'll need to fall into the weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly rituals of cleaning, checking water quality, maintaining the right chlorination levels, and cleaning your filter properly. Again, your pool provider or a pool maintenance and supply shop should be able to provide you with a detailed schedule to stick to if you're bent on doing it yourself.
And if you're not somebody who is good at sticking to a routine? Hire a pool maintenance company to come do the job for you. They can perform regular maintenance for a monthly charge, or if you just want them to come do the tougher jobs of opening and closing, they're more than happy to come to do those tasks for a one-time fee. Whichever way you decide to go, remember that your pool's smooth operation and the health of those who use it is dependent upon your diligence as a pool owner to keep up on these important maintenance chores.
Matt Goering, formerly a carpenter and house painter, is a freelance writer for the home improvement industry who has published over 600 articles.
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