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How to Open Your Pool for Spring & Summer in 10 Steps
You’ll likely have closed down your swimming pool during the colder months, but as spring rolls around again, it’s time to think about reviving it from its winter slumber!
Before you can experience the joys of a good swim, you’ll need to follow all the necessary steps to properly open your pool, ensuring it is clean, safe and that all components work as they should.
We recommend following these basic step-by-step instructions when you’re ready to get your pool back in action.
Opening your pool for spring can seem like a daunting task, and it will take some time, especially when you want to do a thorough job. You should set aside a couple of days for this job, as you’ll need to run the filter for around 24 hours to ensure the chemicals can circulate before you can declare it open.
The whole process can be made much more convenient and streamlined when you have all the right cleaning and maintenance equipment ready to go. Before starting these steps, make sure you’ve got all the necessary spring opening pool chemicals on hand.
While protecting your pool, your winter swimming pool cover will likely have accumulated standing water, debris and some general grime, so you’ll need to clean it before it’s packed away for the season.
You can use a pool brush or net to clear away leaves and larger debris before removing excess water with a handy pool cover pump.
Now you can remove the cover’s anchor springs or fasteners and peel it away. Rinse the cover with a hose and specialist cover cleaner if it's looking particularly worse for wear. Use a soft pool brush, so you don’t risk tearing it. Rinse away any cleaner and leave to dry or dry it with a towel. Once dry, you can fold it up and put it away in a storage bag or box, safe for next winter.
Now that the cover has unveiled what lies beneath, it’s a good chance to visually inspect your pool and make note of any issues or elements that will need repair.
You can also spend this time reversing any of your small winterising tasks. Some small jobs you’ll need to look at here might include:
Your cover should have prevented most debris from getting into your water, but some contaminants may have made their way in or fallen in when you removed the cover.
Use a swimming pool net to skim the surface and remove any large debris that may clog the filter when it’s turned back on.
The winterising process calls for lowering your water level slightly, and you will likely have lost some more water throughout the off-season.
Bring your water up to the usual level (around two-thirds up the skimmer), simply using a garden hose - chemicals will come later.
Restore the circuit breaker from the house and switch on the system. Run the filter pump for approximately three minutes on “backwash” to remove any debris and commence filtration.
At this point, you will need to examine your filter system and pipework for any leaks and ensure that the pump is priming. If the pump will not prime, then there is probably an air leak in front of the pump.
It could be that the top of the coarse strainer is not sealed correctly, or the socket union between the pump and the valves is not fully tightened or that the rubber gasket has not been replaced in the socket union.
If priming is difficult on older pumps, there may be a leak between the pump and the pump motor. A worn pump seal will suck air and make priming difficult and should be replaced.
These issues show why it’s essential to take care of the various valves and o-rings around your pool’s pump and filter systems. It’s worth investing in a specialist pool lubricant and applying this whenever you open or close your swimming pool to ensure longevity.
You can help your pool filter out by dislodging any additional lingering dirt from the pool walls and floor with a cleaning brush. You can then use a pool vacuum to whisk away the sediment before adding your chemicals to finish off the job.
Automatic pool cleaners are especially useful bits of kit as you can sit back while they navigate around the pool’s surfaces and suck debris into their filter.
Now for one of the most important parts – testing the water to see which chemicals need to be added to achieve the optimum balance. You should begin by establishing your pool’s chemistry with a water testing kit.
Before adding any chemicals to your pool, you must have the correct pH level; otherwise, the chlorine will be less effective. To raise your pH, you will need to apply pH Plus, and to reduce your pH, use pH Minus.
You should check and adjust your pH in tandem with alkalinity levels as they’re linked – to keep alkalinity up, you can use an alkalinity increaser, and if it’s too high, you can use pH Minus.
You will also need to test calcium hardness – to increase calcium hardness, use Hardness Plus. Test your chlorine levels here too to establish the level of free chlorine.
These are the rough measurements to aim for:
Once your basic pool chemistry is where it should be, you can add your water sanitisers. Shocking your pool with a chlorine shock is the best way to ensure your water is pristine and bacteria-free.
Ensuring that your system is circulating, apply your chosen chlorine shock to the water, carefully following the product’s instructions. This solution will rapidly boost your free chlorine level and attack the algae or any other nasty organisms living in the pool. Keep your filtration system running for around 24 hours to ensure it sanitises the entire pool and system.
To find out more about this, see our guide to swimming pool shock treatments.
Shocking your pool will do most of the heavy lifting, but once that’s done, you may choose to add any other speciality pool chemicals you deem necessary.
This may include algaecide, which will offer extra protection against algae formation and can be useful if you know your pool is particularly prone to experiencing this issue.
Your pool is almost ready for use; you just need to add back any ladders, handrails, dive boards or other accessories that’ve been stored away for winter.
Some pool owners may choose to do this step earlier in the process. If you do leave it to the end, you may want to wash and sanitise any equipment before re-installing it into the pool, so you don’t reintroduce any debris or bacteria.
To reiterate, here’s what you’ll need to think about having on hand when you’re setting aside a weekend to commission your pool.
And, just like that, you’re ready for the first swim of the season! If you require any of the aforementioned products, you’ll find all you need right here at 1st Direct Pools – shop now and get free next-day delivery on certain orders to start enjoying your pool again as soon as possible.
