Inground Pool Closing Guide: Steps for a Trouble‑Free Winter

1. You can tell who closes their pool properly by how they behave in May. The prepared ones peel back a clean cover, top up the water, reconnect a few unions, and brag about swimming on the first warm weekend. The rest are bleaching foam toys, Googling “green pool fix,” and pretending last fall didn’t happen. If you’d prefer the first outcome, a careful inground pool closing is worth every minute now. Winter is long, water is stubborn, and ice doesn’t forgive wishful thinking. I have closed pools in warm Octobers and in early Novembers with snow stinging my ears. I have found mice in skimmers, acorns in pump baskets, and one very annoyed frog in a return line that someone forgot to blow out. Over time, you develop a rhythm, a sense for what must be done and what is just ritual. This guide gives you the essentials, with enough nuance for Winnipeg winters and other truly cold regions, plus notes for above ground pool closing so no one feels left out. Timing and weather: the art of not rushing it Aim to close when the water temperature falls below 15°C, ideally around 10°C. Cold water slows algae, which means less chemical drift and a cleaner spring opening. People often rush to close early because life gets busy. If you close while the pool closing water is still warm, you will spend time and money in spring cleaning up the mess. It is better to run the system a little longer than to trap a summer bloom under a cover. Pick a dry day with calm wind if you can. You’ll be handling covers, plugs, hoses, and bottles. Wind turns a safety cover into a sail and a vinyl tarp into a writhing dragon. If the forecast screams cold snap, prioritize the mechanicals first: protect plumbing with air and antifreeze. You can return to fussy winnipeg pool closing cleaning tasks later. Start clean, finish clean A pool that goes to bed clean wakes up with fewer problems. Skim thoroughly. Brush walls and steps. Vacuum to waste if you have settled debris, especially if you fought algae late in the season. Cartridge and sand filters behave much better over winter if you reduce organics first. It is tempting to think, “The cover will keep out the leaves,” but plenty find a way under, and the tannins they release stain liners and throw off chemistry. In regions with lots of deciduous trees, clean again the day you put the cover on. There is always a second wave of leaves and burrs that land between preparation and the final stretch. A clean closing makes any inground pool closing service look like magic, but it is discipline, not tricks. Chemistry that holds through winter Good winter chemistry is less about perfection and more about stability. You are not trying to pass a health inspection. You are creating conditions where algae starves and surfaces avoid scale or etching. Bring pH to 7.4 to 7.6, alkalinity to 80 to 120 ppm, and calcium hardness to 200 to 400 ppm for plaster, or at least 150 to 250 for vinyl. Winnipeg pool closing veterans lean toward the middle of those ranges to buffer the swing that cold creates. Water will absorb CO2 differently in cold conditions, and a little breathing room helps. If you have a salt system, turn it off once water cools, and do not attempt to force production in cold water. Salt cells hate it.

2. Shock a day or two before you close so the free chlorine peaks, oxidizes, then falls into a stable zone. Your target depends on whether you use trichlor tablets during the season. For most outdoor pools, aiming for 3 to 5 ppm free chlorine at the moment the cover goes on works well. Add a non copper-based algaecide formulated for winter, often labeled as an “overwinter” or “polyquat” type. Skip cheap algaecides that foam. Foamy winter water is a rude surprise in spring. If you use a scale inhibitor or metal sequestrant because you have well water or a history of stain issues, dose per label at closing, not a week before. It needs to be present through winter, not just in your good intentions. Lower the water, but with intention How far to lower depends on the cover, skimmer type, and climate. For safety covers, drop water to just below the returns, often 10 to 20 centimeters below. For solid tarp covers with water bags, go lower, especially if heavy precipitation will arrive. The goal is to keep water out of tile lines and skimmer throats where freezing can crack masonry or plastic. In very cold regions like Manitoba, I prefer to remove skimmer water entirely and use winterizing plugs and Gizmos so ice expansion does no damage. If your pool has tile at the waterline, make sure water cannot creep back in from rain or snowmelt before freeze-up. A well-set winterizing plate or a skimmer plug is cheap insurance. When pumping down, keep an eye on groundwater levels. If your yard was soggy in fall, do not take the pool too low without knowing you have hydrostatic relief options. Fiberglass shells and some vinyl-lined pools can float when groundwater exceeds the weight of the water in the pool. If your main drain has a hydrostatic valve, you have a safety margin, but I still avoid extremes. Reasonable control beats heroics. The plumbing sequence that avoids air locks and headaches The order matters. Think of the pool circulation as one continuous loop. You want to drain, then blow out each run completely, then seal so nothing sneaks back. Shut off power at the breaker, not just the timer. Remove timers or set them to off. Accidental starts during winterizing are the sort of slapstick you only find funny in hindsight. Open your filter air bleeder. Remove pump lids and baskets. Drain the pump body via the winterizing plugs on its base. Remove drain plugs from the heater, filter, and chlorinator or salt cell. Keep each item’s plugs in a labeled bag stuffed inside the pump basket. You will thank yourself in April when nothing is missing. Blow the lines with a proper blower, not a leaf blower from the garage unless you know it delivers enough pressure without overheating. A purpose-built vinyl liner blower or a shop vacuum with a blower port works if you are careful. I

3. start by blowing from the equipment pad toward the pool on each return line until I see steady bubbles in the pool. Then I plug the return at the pool wall while air is flowing. That traps a column of air in the line. Repeat for each return. If you have a long loop for a spa spillway or a water feature, isolate and blow it separately. For the skimmer line, there are two approaches. If your pad has valves, blow from pad to skimmer until the basket area hisses dry, then thread in a Gizmo or a rubber expansion plug. For added safety in deep freezes, pour a small amount of

4. non-toxic pool antifreeze into the pipe before plugging. If you lack valves at the pad, blow from the skimmer back toward the pad, then plug the skimmer while air is still pushing. Only use antifreeze formulated for pools, the type based on propylene glycol. Do not use automotive antifreeze. The main drain is last. If the main drain shares a line with the skimmer through a diverter, set the diverter to isolate the drain side. Blow until you see bubbles from the main drain cover, then quickly close the valve to trap an air lock. You are not trying to move water out of the drain pot a kilometer away, only to push enough air that ice cannot form a solid column. If your valves are leaky or ancient, do not trust an air lock. In that case, a measured amount of pool antifreeze in the line is safer. Equipment winter care is not optional Pumps, filters, heaters, chlorinators, and controllers live longer if you winterize them with respect. Removing drain plugs is not enough. Tilt the pump gently to release any trapped pockets of water, but do not stress unions. Take the pump indoors if your pad sits exposed and you have a history of cracked housings by late winter. Store o-rings in a zipper bag with a light coat of silicone lubricant, not petroleum jelly. The latter swells rubber and ruins the spring. Sand filters need the multiport handle left between positions so the rubber spider gasket is not compressed all winter. Cartridges should be cleaned thoroughly, dried, and stored indoors. DE filters, if you still run one, deserve a full teardown and grid inspection before storage. Heaters get their drain plugs pulled and any internal bypass opened. Rodents love tight warm boxes. If your area has that problem, leave the heater cabinet open a crack or use deterrents that do not leave a chemical stink. Salt cells will thank you for a gentle acid wash only if they actually need it. Don’t dissolve your titanium plating to make it shine. Look for scale and remove it with a weak acid bath, short duration, and then rinse thoroughly. Disconnect and bring the cell inside. Most act better when kept warm and dry. The cover you choose shapes the winter you get A safety cover, properly tensioned over anchor points, sheds debris and snow in a controlled way and looks tidy all winter. It also breathes, which reduces swampy smells. The downside is cost and the need for anchor installs in concrete or pavers. If you plan to stay in the home, it is worth it. The first spring without scooping five centimeters of oozing leaf tea from a sagged tarp is a life upgrade. Solid tarp covers with water bags are less expensive and can work, but be honest about wind. If your yard funnels gusts, water bags can shift or roll. Use double-chamber bags and fill them halfway so they settle and flex. Do not use bricks. They chafe and drop into the pool. If your tarp has a center mesh drain, keep it clean, or you will be pumping water off the cover every thaw weekend. Either way, clean the cover once it is on. I sweep off the obvious debris and then, if using a solid cover, set a small cover pump with a float. It keeps the weight under control so straps do not overstretch and grommets do not tear. Winnipeg realities: cold, deeper frost, and snow loads When someone asks for a Winnipeg pool closing, I assume they mean a serious winter. That means deeper frost lines, prolonged cold snaps, and heavy snow that compacts into ice. The margin for error is slim. Blow out every line until you are bored. Use pool antifreeze in long runs or any line you doubt. Double-check that water levels cannot creep back via slow leaks. If your deck slopes toward the pool, snowmelt can run to the coping, then refreeze. A safety cover helps here because it keeps that melt off the waterline. Snow load on a safety cover is less risky than it looks, but only if the water level supports it from below. Do not drop water too far under a safety cover in winter. The cover is designed to float on the water. If it spans a big gap, straps stretch and anchors pull. A midwinter top-up on a warm day is normal in this climate. Equipment pads in Winnipeg deserve wind protection. A simple plywood wind screen or a snow fence keeps drifts from burying valves. Mark your pad with a tall stake before the first big dump so you can find it if you need to check on things. You do not want to excavate blindly around unions with a shovel in February. Above ground pool closing differences that matter

5. Above ground pool closing is not just a small version of an inground pool closing. The walls rely on water to resist wind and snow pressure. That means you rarely lower the water below the skimmer unless your manual explicitly allows it. Instead, use a winter skimmer plate, often called a vac plate, and remove hoses while sealing the return with a threaded plug. Install an air pillow under the cover to create a dome that sheds water and ice. The pillow is a sacrificial absorber so the ice crushes inward, not outward against your walls. Remove and store the pump and filter indoors. Blow or drain the hoses completely. If your return fitting allows, thread in a plug with an o-ring rather than relying on a push-in winter plug. Covers on above ground pools behave like sails. Use a cable and winch around the top rail and clip additional wrap bands around the midsection. If your yard is a wind tunnel, tie a few jugs filled with pea gravel to the cover edge so it flutters less. Water-filled jugs freeze and split. Pea gravel is cheap and quiet. If you are hiring an above ground pool closing service, ask them whether they include a skimmer plate install and a return plug with Teflon tape. Those two details prevent most winter leaks and midseason sag. When a pro makes sense A well-done inground pool closing service brings tools you may not own and judgment honed by hundreds of closings. If your pool has a spa spillway, solar on the roof, water features, or complex automation, you might be paying for problem avoidance, not labor time. In very cold areas, pros also spot marginal valves or unions and replace o-rings on the spot. If you search for pool closing near me, vet on specifics, not price alone. Ask what they do with the main drain, whether they add antifreeze, and how they verify that returns are dry. If they wave away those questions, keep scrolling. For Winnipeg pool closing, ask if they own a dedicated line blower and whether they include midwinter cover checkups. That one visit to pump off water after a thaw can save a cover. Trade-offs and small arguments worth having Winter algaecide is one of those items. Some experienced owners skip it if water temperatures drop quickly. I have done this and been fine, and I have also lifted a cover in May to a pea-green surprise because autumn was warm and I dawdled. If your fall fluctuates, algaecide is cheap peace of mind. Water level is another debate. Lowering below the returns is generally helpful for freeze protection. On a vinyl-lined pool with a safety cover, though, keeping water higher supports the cover. Choose based on cover type, snow load expectations, and how reliable your plugs are. If you have new returns with crisp threads and fresh o-rings, you can keep water a little higher. If your returns look like they fought the lawnmower and lost, go lower. Antifreeze use varies by region and confidence in your air lock. Purists say a good air lock is enough. Realists in harsh climates add a few liters to long runs and sleep better. Propylene glycol is pool safe and biodegradable. It is not a crutch for lazy blow-outs, just a margin. Little details that make spring easy Take photos of valve positions before you start. In spring, it is easy to forget which line is which. Label unions with a paint pen. Store plugs and o-rings in the pump basket, then place that in a dry bin. If you have automation, write down your normal run times and setpoints. Spring you will be grateful when you cannot remember why the cleaner used to start at 10 a.m. If your pool builder left a drawing of underground plumbing, scan it and save a copy in the cloud. When a return line mysteriously fails to blow, knowing the run splits under the maple tree can save you an hour of fuming. Walk the deck once you are done and scan for drips or sounds of air leaking back. A hiss at a return usually means a plug did not seat. Fix it now, not after ice. A simple step-by-step, for reference Balance water: pH 7.4 to 7.6, alkalinity 80 to 120 ppm, calcium hardness appropriate to surface. Shock 24 to 48 hours prior, add winter algaecide on closing day. Clean thoroughly: skim, brush, vacuum. Empty baskets, backwash or clean filters. Lower water to just below returns for safety covers, lower for tarp styles if needed. Install skimmer Gizmo or plate. Winterize lines: power off, open filter bleeder, remove pump lid and baskets, drain

6. pump, heater, filter. Blow returns until bubble, plug while blowing. Blow skimmer and main drain, trap air lock, add pool antifreeze to long or suspect runs. Protect equipment and cover: remove and store drain plugs and o-rings, lubricate and bag. Set multiport between positions, remove and store cartridges or clean DE grids. Install cover, set a cover pump if solid, and tidy straps. Troubleshooting the next day I like a next-day check. Overnight temperature swings can set a plug loose or reveal a slow seep. If you see the water level has dropped more than a few millimeters, find the culprit. Often it is a return plug o-ring that pinched. If you notice air has escaped from the main drain air lock, blow again and close the valve with a firm hand. On above ground pools, check that the cover cable stayed tight and the pillow is centered. Adjust before the first snow. Spring dividends, paid with interest A meticulous closing does not guarantee a perfect spring, but it shifts the odds heavily in your favor. You will open to clear or lightly tinted water, not a swamp. Your liner will be unstained, your tile intact, your skimmer throat uncracked. The pump will prime without a tantrum because you did not leave mystery ice crystals in the volute. You will spend your first warm weekend swimming, not shopping for flocculant. If you prefer to outsource, a reputable pool closing service should happily explain their process, tell you what they saw on your specific pool, and leave a checklist. That transparency is a good sign. If you are in the middle of a prairie winter, choosing a Winnipeg pool closing expert with local references is worth the extra call or two. The secret is not magic chemicals or exotic gadgets. It is attention, order, and respect for water’s stubborn physics. Close late enough that algae has slowed, clean like it matters, evacuate and protect the plumbing, and put the whole thing to bed under a secure cover. Next spring, you’ll pull that cover and smile instead of sigh.