It's Getting Cooler, Time To Winterise Your Pool!

We all know that spectacular Summer pools are maintained in the Winter! Here is an easy step-by-step guide on how to to do just that:

Total Alkalinity (the measure of the ability of your pool or spa water to resist changes in the pH) is the overseer that keeps the pH of your water where it needs to be. If your buffering capabilities are too low (low alkalinity), your pH levels can swing drastically from highs to lows. Increase alkalinity by adding Buffer.

To know more about every pool cheimcal you'll need for winter, click here.

Leaves in your pool? We’re here to help! Phosphate is Algae food. If debris such as leaves, gum nuts or sticks are not cleared quickly through either the skimmer, manually scooping, vacuuming, or your pool cleaner, they’ll settle on the bottom, start to break down and cause your phosphates to rise. High phosphate levels = low sanitisation levels, because sanitisers such as chlorine can’t do its best job. The best way to fix this is a simple chemical called phosphate remover.

Copper is a natural killer of algae, so by adding a non-copper based algaecide to your pool regularly (3-4 times per year) will keep any algae blooms at bay. Keep your pool water sparkling and clear the whole year round without the risk of metal stains from copper based algaecides.

After you kill any type of algae, it’s going to be floating around as tiny particles in your pool water, along with many other tiny waste particles from humans, pets, or animals that land in your pool. Your filter will pick up most of these, but for what’s left over, there’s the Oxi Shock. Oxi Shock is a chemical that is like the garbage man for your swimming pool water. It clings to and eliminates any left over waste particles in your pool, keeping it sanitised and healthy to swim in.

Hot Tip: As a rule of thumb for a 40,000-60,000L residential pool, adding 1L of phosphate remover, 1L of algaecide and 1 small tub of Oxi Shock to your pool 3-4 times per year alongside your usual sanitization (chlorine) and pH control (acid) will keep all of your levels in check for happy and healthy pool water!

It’s important to brush the walls and floor of the pool and then to vacuum the whole pool thoroughly. Algae thrives in unclean water, so don’t forget to clean the skimmer baskets and the pump baskets of debris. Also, if you don’t already have one, a pool cleaner is great for the job as opposed to manually vacuuming!

Don't know how to start cleaning? We've made a comprehensive guide on how to manually vacuum a pool just for you!

Ensure that the pool’s filter is sparkling clean, as any grease or oil deposits will harden over the Winter and make the filter harder to clean in the warmer months, not to mention reducing its overall efficiency.

Take your cartridge out and give it a good hose down. Rule of thumb is to clean your cartridge once every 2 weeks. Need a new one? You can see our range of replacement cartridge filter elements.

Hot Tip: If you are after a thorough clean, soak your cartridge in a tub of clean water (just enough to cover your cartridge) with about 250g of our specially formulated Water TechniX Filter Cleaner for 12 hours (giving it a nice shake after the six-hour mark) and your filter should be as good as new with a thorough rinse with a garden hose after.

Don't know which size to get? Here's a quick guide on how to measure your cartridge filter.

Give it a good backwash. Rule of thumb is to backwash once every 2 weeks. Chances are you'll notice that the water that comes out during the backwash is very brown and dirty, this means that you should be doing it a bit more often! Let that backwash run for 2 minutes or until the backwash water turns clear. Set the handle back to filter and you're good to go.

For a more comprehensive guide on backwashing your sand filter, make sure to check out this guide we call, you guessed it, How to backwash your filter.

To keep your pool clean and clear, it’s important to keep your pool’s free available chlorine levels at a constant level of 2-3 PPM (parts per million) at all times during winter. If you’re using a salt water chlorinator, turn it to about 60-70% output.

Chlorine levels low? Learn more on how to raise chlorine levels.

The pool’s filter should operate for three to four hours each day. If you’re using a timer, adjust it to suit. Remember if you switch the filter on during off-peak periods, you can save money.

Once you’ve completed your preparation for Winter, it’s imperative that you stick to a maintenance schedule even though it’s cold and the pool is not being used. Once a week do a quick visual inspection of your pool and make sure all of your equipment is working properly, check the water level, empty the skimmer basket and pump basket and check your chlorine and pH levels.

We've gathered everything you need and made a nice neat bundle for all your winterizing needs. The Water TechniX All-in-one bundle has everything you'll need to keep your pool in top shape during the cooler winter months and the whole year!

Although your pool won't be seeing much action during the winter months, it's still real important to maintain our chlorine levels to ensure that our algae won't take root and any bacterial growth is eliminated before it starts! Installing a salt water generator will virtually eliminate the need to manually check and raise your chlorine levels during the winter months. Our best bang-for-the-buck model, the Water TechniX Atomic Salt and Mineral Chlorinator is more than enough for the job!

If you prefer to use your pool during winter instead of letting it sleep then your best bet would be to get an energy-efficient pool heat pump! Here's tom with a quick overview of our best-selling heat pump, the Water TechniX Paradise Heat Pump!

Do you have any questions about this topic or the featured products? No worries, we're here to help! Drop us a question down below and we'll get back to you ASAP.

Happy swimming :)