Leaving pump on over winter?

[bendee]

Hi all,
Relative newbie pool owner here.
We inherited a heated inground outdoor pool when we bought our house last year. Its a 10m by 4m pool about 13000 gallons. It also has an electric cover. It's probably about 15 years old.
Last autumn we paid for someone to close the pool (then open in spring) and am wondering because we leave the pump on (or were advised to) over winter - 2 hours a day - if the closing is something I can do myself with relative ease.
If I search for "how to" instructions they all seem to be about draining the pump and the pool to below the skimmers etc and no instructions for those who leave pumps on. If we leave the pump on is it just a matter of the usual shocking, backwashing, winter algecide etc? Or is there a lot more to it that warrants the rather high call out fee? I am prepared to pay an expert but have been managing the pool all this year - including a monstrous case of green milky water that I had to flock and drain to waste so have become quite au fait with the ins and outs of chemicals etc!
Any advice would be amazing.
Cheers
Ben

[Denniswiseman]

It all depends on your location and the freezing risk
I'm in the UK with a mild climate and have a covered outdoor inground pool which I heat and use all year

[bendee]

It all depends on your location and the freezing risk
I'm in the UK with a mild climate and have a covered outdoor inground pool which I heat and use all year

Yes in the UK too - South ( near Eastbourne - so relatively mild) . We wont be using over winter - just covering - but am I ok to just use winteriser after shocking etc? Or is there something else that an official "pool closer" would do?

[Denniswiseman]

I'm in Essex and the winters here are quite mild as I would expect on the south coast
I would be inclined to just use chlorine and keep it topped up and run the pump if freezing is on the cards
Pumping off any excess water that would build up over winter rainfall

If you use an algecide, Don't use copper algaecide as the effects aren't always desirable. Use a Polyquat 60
(Any brand as long as the ingredients are "Poly [oxyethylene (dimethyliminio) ethylene (dimethyliminio) ethylene dichloride" at 60% concentration.)

Shocking is just a large dose of chlorine and is best with liquid chlorine
Use these common products to balance your pool
Liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite or plain bleach)
Muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) to lower pH and TA
Bicarbonate of soda to raise TA
Aeration will raise pH only
Soda ash will raise pH and TA

Stabilised chlorine tabs and granules have CYA
Excessive CYA renders your chlorine ineffective and you have to use more to get the same sanitation
For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Dichlor, it also increases CYA by 9 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Cal-Hypo, it also increases Calcium Hardness (CH) by at least 7 ppm
To reduce your CYA you have to do a partial drain and refill
Continous use of Trichlor/Dichlor will raise your CYA which means you have to raise your chlorine level as well

Hope this helps

[bendee]

I'm in Essex and the winters here are quite mild as I would expect on the south coast
I would be inclined to just use chlorine and keep it topped up and run the pump if freezing is on the cards
Pumping off any excess water that would build up over winter rainfall

If you use an algecide, Don't use copper algaecide as the effects aren't always desirable. Use a Polyquat 60
(Any brand as long as the ingredients are "Poly [oxyethylene (dimethyliminio) ethylene (dimethyliminio) ethylene dichloride" at 60% concentration.)

Shocking is just a large dose of chlorine and is best with liquid chlorine
Use these common products to balance your pool
Liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite or plain bleach)
Muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) to lower pH and TA
Bicarbonate of soda to raise TA
Aeration will raise pH only
Soda ash will raise pH and TA

Stabilised chlorine tabs and granules have CYA
Excessive CYA renders your chlorine ineffective and you have to use more to get the same sanitation
For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Dichlor, it also increases CYA by 9 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Cal-Hypo, it also increases Calcium Hardness (CH) by at least 7 ppm
To reduce your CYA you have to do a partial drain and refill
Continous use of Trichlor/Dichlor will raise your CYA which means you have to raise your chlorine level as well

Hope this helps

AMAZING!!! Thankyou so much!

[Teapot]

From a mechanical point of view, Is your cover the sort that block out the light and keeps all debris out of the pool?
If you are leaving the pump conected running the pump between 2am and 4 am which is the coldest point is usually sufficient to prevent freezing. I prefer to play it safe and remove mine to stor indoors, just a preference.