Preparing Your Pool for a Storm
With summer storms coming and going, it is important to understand the proper way to prep your pool for an onslaught of rain and debris in a way that can help you avoid damage. While storms often bring conditions that you have no control over, these few steps you can take to help minimize the negative impact to your pool’s water quality and to the conditions of your deck and surrounding pool landscape.
- Secure all loose fixtures
This means everything from patio furniture and pool toys to the pool cover if you have one. Any items that can blow around in the wind are susceptible to damage during a storm and they can also become dangerous projectiles that can cause damage to your pool or home. - Protect your pool equipment
Shut off the power to all pool equipment (pumps, filters, heaters, etc.) and cover the equipment with a heavy plastic tarp that is secured in place. A lot of the water and debris that accompanies a major storm can damage exposed pool equipment. - Prepare the water
While it is impossible to predict what kind of runoff or debris will end up in your pool after a large storm, there are a couple of things that you can do to help mitigate against nasty water quality issues.
First, make sure your pool’s water chemistry is balanced previous to the storm arriving. Second, add a healthy does of algae control. These two steps will help fortify your pool against many of the swings in chemistry that will take place because of an influx of contaminants. As soon as the storm has stopped, be sure to clean out any organic debris and give the water a good shock before any undesirable conditions are allowed to proliferate.
- Prepare your landscaping
Especially for those pools surrounded by trees or other extensive landscaping, it is critical to make sure limbs and branches are trimmed and any loose organic debris, like leaves, are swept up ahead of the storm’s arrival. This will decrease the number of potential contaminants that can enter your pool.
Storms are unpredictable forces of nature but that doesn’t mean you can’t prepare yourself for some of the issues that we know can occur and that are within your control to prevent.
