The Importance of Blowing Out Your Pool Lines for the Winter
Owning a pool means you have endless opportunities for outdoor recreation in the summertime. But if there’s one downside to having a pool, it’s the maintenance required to ensure it doesn’t get damaged by winter weather.
One of the main winterization tasks to perform is blowing out the pool lines. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about how to blow out your pool lines for winter.
Why do you need to blow out your pool lines?
The primary purpose of blowing out the pool lines is to prevent water in the circulation system from freezing as temperatures drop in the winter. Just a few days of freezing temperatures can cause cracks and damage the plumbing and all of your pool equipment, so this is a necessary maintenance item each winter.
How to blow out your pool lines for winter
Blowing out your pool lines for winter takes less than 10 minutes and can be done with equipment you may already have at your house. Follow these steps to get the job done:
- Remove the skimmer baskets: Skimmer baskets are used to filter debris in the water. Since you’re removing all of the water from your pool, there’s no need to have them in the pool for this process.
- Pull the drain plugs: Next, remove the filter, pump and heater plugs from your pool to ensure all of the water gets out.
- Turn the valve: You’ll need to set your multiport valve to the “recirculate” or “filter” position to ensure the water flows in the right direction in the following steps.
- Attach the air compressor: Hook up an air compressor or shop vac to the pump’s drain plug and turn it on to start blowing air through the system.
- Monitor your pool: Keep an eye on the return lines and skimmer. You’ll need to continue blowing air through the system until bubbles come out of the jets and skimmer.
- Insert skimmer and drain plugs: Put a skimmer plug in the hole at the bottom of the skimmer and winter pool plugs in the return lines as those bubbles come out of each one. These will keep any condensation out of the system during the winter.
- Dry the deep end: Turn the valve in the front of the pump to the “main drain” setting to move air towards that drain. This should take about a minute to dry it out.
- Finish up: After shutting off your air compressor, turn the pump valve back to the skimmer line to restore it to the starting position for next spring and put a valve in the pump to prevent leaks.
Hire our team to winterize your pool
Blowing out your pool lines for winter certainly isn’t the hardest job, but to save yourself some time and energy while ensuring the job is done right, just hire our team at A-1 Pools & Spas. It’s not too late to winterize your pool, so give us a call today to schedule your pool maintenance appointment.
Categorised in: Pool Contractors