No. Shocking your pool is an important part of closing it, but it isn’t enough on its own. And a few missed steps in the fall can turn into a much bigger problem when you open the pool again in spring.
In this post, we’ll explain what pool shock does, why it isn’t enough to close a pool on its own, and what else you need to do before putting the cover on for winter.
Shock is mainly there to sanitize the water before you close the pool for the season. In other words, it gives you a cleaner starting point for winter.
However, that’s not enough to properly close your pool. You also need to make sure the pool is clean, the water chemistry is balanced, and the right parts of the system are properly winterized.
Shock can sanitize the water, but it won’t fix your water’s pH, alkalinity, or calcium hardness. If those levels are out of range when you close the pool, the water can become corrosive or start leaving scale behind over the winter.
Since the pool will be covered and mostly left alone for months, it’s a good idea to get those levels where they should be before closing. Otherwise, you could be dealing with staining, surface damage, or equipment issues when you open it again in spring.
Then there’s everything shock can’t physically remove from the pool. Leaves, dirt, bugs, and other debris can still end up sitting under the cover all winter, where they can slowly break down and just generally make the water harder to deal with in spring.
So, give it a thorough clean before closing. Skim out anything floating around, brush the walls, and vacuum the bottom so you’re not trapping debris in the pool for the next several months.
Cold weather can be especially hard on the parts of your pool system that still have water sitting inside them. If that water freezes, it expands, which can crack pipes, fittings, and other components.
And, perhaps unsurprisingly, this is one area where shock won’t help at all. The plumbing and equipment need to be winterized separately, which can include blowing out the lines, draining equipment, and installing winter plugs depending on your setup.
Once you’ve shocked the pool, you’re far from done — there’s still quite a bit left to do before the cover goes on. You need to clean the pool, balance the water, protect the plumbing and equipment, and make sure everything is set up to sit through the winter
A typical pool closing checklist can include:
It can help to think of shock as one part of the closing process, not the finish line. And yes, closing a pool properly can take some work, but the better you prepare it before winter, the easier it should be to get everything up and running again when the weather warms up.
If all of that sounds like more than you want to deal with on your own, that’s understandable. Closing a pool properly takes more than adding a few chemicals, especially in a place like Collingwood where freezing temperatures can do real damage if water is left in the wrong part of the system.
So, let us help. Clark Pools & Spas offers professional pool closing and winterization in Collingwood and the surrounding area to help you properly prepare the water, plumbing, and equipment before winter sets in.
Contact us today to book your pool closing and get everything taken care of before the cold weather arrives.
