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In Central Texas, we can experience some difficult weather changes from blazing hot to brutally cold. These extremes in weather can take a real toll on your pool and especially you pool equipment, but none more severe as freezing tempertures.
To prepare your pool for a freeze and add pool freeze protection, it all begins with preparation ahead of time. follow the general steps below to help protect your pool as tempertures drop to help ensure your pool stays operational and you aren't stuck with a pool that is losing water and a costly repair bill.
If you want someone to come out and inspect your system prior to freezing weather, or experience issues with freeze damage, please contact 911 Pool Care right away so we can schedule time to come out and review or repair your system.
Prep ahead of the freeze
Before freezing weather hits, get to know your pool equipment, where all of the drain plugs are at (usually at the bottom of all equipment except UV sanitizers), find where your breakers are at that provide power to the pool equipment and keep a large set of adjustable pliers ready to be able to get to work quickly if things stop working (more on that below).
If you have automation on your pool, make sure that all items that push water through the pipes (pool mode, spa mode, waterfalls, etc.) are set up on freeze protection.
If your pool has an autofill system that keeps the pool water filled up, we suggest turning that off at the water valve or RPZ device and draining the pipe as much as possible. Although this device is made of brass usually, it loves to crack and will then become a wide open water stream from your house water supply just like a broken hose bib or water faucet.
Make sure that all electrical breakers are working properly and test the GFCI if possible to make sure they are tripping like they should.
Steps to take during a freeze
Once freezing weather happens, keep an eye on your pool. As the air temperature gets to around 36 degrees, your pool automation, if you have it, should automatically turn on all of the systems that you set up to run. If you have a pool / spa combo, and you activated both the pool and spa, the system will alternate between pool and spa mode every 15 to 30 minutes.
While the temp outside is 36 degrees or below, check your pool to make sure that everything is running. You should see your waterfalls, bubblers, spa jets, jets in the pool, etc. running. If you don't see something running that should be running, you may have caught an issue that will require some action on your behalf.
If you don't have automation on your system, set the schedule on your pump to run 24x7 during the time that freezing weather is expected. You don't have to run the pump(s) on high, but you do have to keep water moving through the pipes which is critical.
It is always a good idea to cover your equipment prior to a freeze. This will help keep ice and snow off of your equipment to make it easier to work on the system if you have to and help to also keep it a little warmer. Every degree helps.
What to do if you lose power of your system freezes
If you lose power for an extended period of time, or you see that something is not running like it should, now you have to jump into action quickly to possible save your pipes and equipment.
First, if you still have power, check all of the breakers to make sure they are not tripped. Sometimes breakers, when tripped, will not trip completely and will only be halfway tripped. Reset the breaker to restart the pump ONLY IF the pool has water in it and is not frozen. If you try to restart a pump that has frozen water it in, it will burn up the pump and be a costly repair.
Check your system to see if ice has started to form inside the pump basket. We want to catch any ice before it starts to form and will eventually break the equipment as it expands.
Check your system for any leaks or ice forming at the equipment and pipes. This can be a sure sign of a problem.
If your pump is frozen and you cannot clear the ice using heating pads or warming blankets (do not use gas heaters or enclose the area completely which can be a fire hazard), you may have to take the next steps.
IF YOUR POOL EQUIPMENT IS BELOW YOUR POOL, YOU HAVE TO CLOSE OFF THE VALVES TO YOUR POOL EEQUIPMENT FIRST BEFORE DOING THE STEPS BELOW OR ELSE YOU WILL DRAIN YOUR POOL COMPLETELY AND CAUSE OTHER DAMAGE TO THE INTERIOR OF YOUR POOL.
If all else has failed and you have to save your equipment, turn off the valves that lead to your pool if possible, remove all of the drain plugs from your equipment (pumps, heaters, filter, etc.), disassemble all pipe connections that have threads on them (usually the front and top of the pump, both pipes on the heater, both pipes at the filter, etc.), remove pump lids. Make sure to keep all the parts that you remove in a bag and safe so you don't lose them.
Call us or contact 911 Pool Care immediately so we can get go over the issue with you and get your scheduled ASAP for a repair visit to get you back up and running again.
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