Leaves in the Pool Over Winter

Why the spring problem is an autumn decision

A pool sitting under a cover all winter is chemically almost inert - cold water, no sunlight, very little happening. Whatever was in it in October is broadly what is in it in April, plus whatever came in through the cover.

So a pool that opens green did one of two things: it went under the cover with organic debris already in it, or the cover let a winter of leaves in. Both are decided in autumn and neither is fixable in spring except by shocking it.

The closing sequence that matters

1. **Remove every leaf before you cover.** Anything left decomposes all winter, consuming whatever sanitizer you added and releasing phosphate into water that will not be filtered again for six months.
2. **Brush and vacuum the floor and walls,** including behind the ladder and the steps where mustard algae shelters.
3. **Balance the water before the last dose, not after.** Correct alkalinity, then pH, then hardness. Water sitting out of range for six months damages surfaces and equipment.
4. **Clean the filter properly.** A filter put away loaded is a filter that starts the season already at capacity.
5. **Add the closing chemicals per their labels,** then run the pump long enough to distribute them fully before shutting down.
6. **Cover, then net.** The winter cover goes on first; the leaf net goes over the top of it.

Through the winter

• **Check the cover after storms.** A corner lifted by wind lets in everything the cover exists to keep out, and it will not fix itself.
• **Pump standing water off a solid cover.** Water plus leaves is heavy, and the weight is what tears covers and pulls anchors.
• **Lift the leaf net before it freezes in.** A dry lift in late autumn is dramatically easier than a frozen one in January.
• **Do not remove the cover to 'check on' the pool.** Every opening lets debris in for no benefit; the pool is fine.

Opening, if it did go wrong

1. **Get the leaves off the cover before you pull it back.** A leaf vacuum or a wet-dry vacuum, not a broom that pushes them toward the edge.
2. **Pull the cover slowly**, from one end, so that anything remaining rolls with it rather than tipping in.
3. **Remove the bulk debris before starting the pump.** A pool with a winter's leaves on the floor will fill the pump basket in minutes.
4. **Then test, balance, and shock** in that order - see how to clear a green pool fast.
5. **Fit the leaf net properly next autumn.** This whole page exists so that this step is the last time you do the rest of it.

The picks

Top pick - Sizing over an existing winter cover

Blue Wave BWC564 Rectangular Leaf Net Cover, 20 ft x 40 ft

A leaf net sits over your winter cover and gets dragged off in one piece, taking the whole leaf load with it.

The published figure

20 ft x 40 ft mesh leaf net for in-ground pools

A leaf net is not a winter cover. It goes on top of one, and the point is that it comes off cleanly in spring while the leaves are still on it.

Without one, a winter's leaves sit on the solid cover, rot, and slide into the pool the moment you pull it — which is the single biggest cause of a green pool on opening day.

Size it larger than the pool, not to the pool. It has to overlap the cover beneath it.

What it does well

• Removes an entire season of leaves in one lift
• Directly prevents the opening-day bloom
• Reusable for years if stored dry

What it costs you

• One more thing to install and store
• Only useful on pools that get closed for a winter

Skip it if you run your pool year round — a net over an uncovered pool is not the same job.

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Pick 2 - Pool opening

KOKIDO Rechargeable Heavy Duty Pool Leaf Vacuum

A battery unit sized for opening day, when the pool has a winter's worth of debris and the filter is not commissioned yet.

The published figure

Rechargeable, marketed by the maker for pool opening and heavy debris

Pool opening is the worst case for any vacuum: maximum debris, and a filter system that has not run for months. A battery unit that does not depend on the filter is the right shape of tool.

Heavier and higher capacity than the handheld units, which is the trade for the same independence from the plumbing.

Once the season is running, a robot does this job better and unattended.

What it does well

• Sized for the debris load that opening actually produces
• No dependence on the filter system being commissioned

What it costs you

• Bulky to store for something used a few times a year
• Recharge time between runs on a big job

Skip it if you close your pool with a leaf net on. That upstream fix removes most of the debris this tool exists to handle.

Check price on Amazon

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