Q: I'm just curious, what has to be done with a (in ground, electric heated but heat turned off) salt-water pool in the winter? Draining it? Adding chemicals? Just leave it running? Please don't get too technical - I'm just curious, I don't actually have the pool... If it matters, the coldest part of winter, lows here are usually 10-20 F and the highs are usually 20-30 F
A: I gather the pool won't be used if the heats off so a normal winterize is in order. Typically the water chemistry is balanced two weeks prior to close. On close day, the equipment is shut off, drained by removing all the drain plugs and winterized by blowing the water out of it and blowing some plumbers or RV anti freeze in. There are many types of filters, pumps and heaters out there and there's different ways of dealing with them so I can't be more specific unless I knew the make and models. As for the salt generator itself, it's powered off, the cell removed from the plumbing and unhooked from the control box, cleaned and stored indoors. Plumbing sensors can stay where they are unless it's a Chloramatic salt generator in which case the sensor is removed because the installation manual indicates that bloody sensor be installed on the bottom of the plumbing, where you'd get a water trap/freeze issue if it was left in so it needs to be removed. Someone should re write that manual. The pool itself is drained to just below the lowest pool return. All plumbing lines, both the returns and skimmers, in wall suctions and any other lines like for slides are blown out from the equipment side to the pool. Plumbers or RV antifreeze is then blown through the line until it shows at the pool (it's dyed). Install the pool winterizing plugs. The pool is given a final normal dose shock, a sequestering agent and then covered. That's the route that will save the most money and pose the least risk. You could just run the filter pump 24/7 instead of closing the pool and add some granular shock every once and awhile but if the power goes out and it's below freeze out there, you're looking at some major damage in no time. Seen that happen to a guy on what turned out to be the coldest night of the year and his brand new pool had to get done all over again. 15 grand damage in all.