Every pool owner knows the feeling—a few consecutive days above 75 degrees start kicking up flashbacks to last summer—before you know it, you’re ready to dive right into that pool. Or maybe it’s your children gently, or not so gently, nudging you to open up the pool for another fun-filled season. Whatever’s behind your desire to get your pool reopened before summer strikes, you'll want to know exactly how to open a pool after winter to ensure perfect pool performance all season long.

Preparation is Vital When Opening Pool After Winter

Proper preparation is essential when opening your pool after the winter hiatus because it prevents potential problems from becoming costly repairs down the road. Complying with routine maintenance is one of the best ways to ensure your pool lasts as long as the manufacturer intended, and it can help avoid hazards to any swimmers.

Another important reason to prepare your pool, rather than just diving in, is that it ensures your pool is safe and desirable to swim in. Some freezing occurs, even in our milder Atlanta winters, which can cause cracks or damage to your pool.

Then, our hot, sunny, summers burn off chlorine faster, leaving your water even more vulnerable. On top of it all, literally, Georgia is setting record highs for pollen that finds its way onto the surface of your pool’s water. Preparing your pool today can set you up to spot potential problems before they become major issues.

When Should I Open My Pool?

Wouldn’t the best time for opening your pool after winter be when you’ll use it? After all, that’s the point of the pool. However, when to open your pool depends more on the best time to take preventative measures against common problems. Opening your pool before you see these consistently warm days could result in getting the pool caught in a late frost that could potentially freeze and crack important equipment, and lead to leaks. Opening your pool later in the season could allow algae to bloom, becoming an extensive cleaning and treating process.

As a rule, we recommend Atlanta pool owners open their pools when the temperature is consistently above 70 degrees. This usually means a late March to April timeframe, depending on how severe the winter was.

How to Open Inground Pool: A Step-by-Step Guide

Now that you know when to open your pool, here’s a useful step-by-step guide to opening your inground pool after winter.

1. Inspect, Remove, and Store the Pool Cover

Before you take the pool cover off, check that it’s completely clear of any debris. Using a soft broom, you can clear leaves, twigs, or other items that may have fallen onto the cover during the winter hibernation. If there’s no damage, carefully remove the cover, clean the underside, and store it in a safe, cool environment. This may also be a good time to clear the area around the pool of similar debris to ensure it doesn’t end up in your water once the cover is removed. You can also start to scrub the walls and corners of your pool at this point, but more on that later.

2. Inspect the Pool and Equipment

Now that the cover is off, you can inspect the pool and equipment for cracks, damage, clogs, or other issues. There may be issues that went unnoticed when getting your pool ready for winter or new issues that developed in the time in between. Look for cracks and chipping along the tiles, plaster, or grout before they become more serious damage. Inspect lines for any potential clogs while removing any winter plugs you may have in skimmers. You should also inspect the pump for any damage or any clogs that may become a problem once you turn it back on. The same goes for all filters, as some may need to be replaced before pool season can start. At this stage, you can also begin to reattach any pool equipment like ladders and lights.

3. Refill the Water

Using your garden hose, you can fill your pool back up to the recommended water line. It’s better to refill your pool before treating it with chemicals because otherwise, you’ll have to redo the chemical treatment once you add new water. Aim to fill the pool up right to the middle of the skimmer’s opening to get the best performance. As the pool is refilling, walk around the space to ensure there are no leaks that didn’t appear during your initial inspection. Once the pool is refilled, you can skim off any other debris that may have fallen into the pool while refilling.

4. Reconnect and Prime Equipment

In addition to adding water to the pool, you can add some to your pump until it reaches the pump lid. This primes the pump so that it’s able to perform properly once you turn it back on. Once the water is in the pump, turn on your pool’s electrical system, including the pump, filters, and lights. Now that everything is turned on, you can perform another inspection of the equipment to make sure the filtration system is functioning properly. It’s important to let the filtration system run for several hours, so you may want to turn everything back on last, and let the system run overnight before treating the pool with any chemicals.

How to Clean a Pool After Winter

Over the winter, dirt, debris, calcium, and pests can all build up along the surface and walls of your pool. None of these make for a fun experience when you’re opening your pool in spring, so we recommend cleaning your pool after the winter hiatus.

You can clean your pool at just about any stage before treating your pool with chemicals. It’s probably best to do it before turning on your filtration system so you can filter out any cleaning products from the water. If you have a pool vacuum, this is also a good time to vacuum the pool floor to get any algae that may have grown on the bottom.

The vacuuming process can cause dirt, sand, or algae to float up or onto the walls, so you should start there. Next, you can scrub the pool to get a final clean. Using a pool brush and some household tile cleaners or baking soda, you can scrub the walls and surfaces to remove calcium build-up, dirt, and algae. If you find that the calcium deposits and algae won’t wipe away, consider using muriatic acid for the calcium and a specific algaecide to clear up any stubborn algae.

What Chemicals Are Needed to Open a Pool

Once you let the filtration system run for a day or so after vacuuming and scrubbing your pool, you’re ready to rebalance the pool’s chemicals. Failing to balance the chemicals in your pool can lead to bacteria and algae growth or other unsafe swimming conditions. But before you start pouring in pool chemicals, you’ll want to know what the current conditions are in your pool.

Using a pool test strip, you can identify the current water alkalinity, pH, chlorine, and calcium hardness levels in your pool. If you pull out the test strip and find that the alkalinity is between 80 to 120 ppm, your pH is 7.5, your chlorine is around 2.0 ppm, and your calcium hardness is around 300 ppm, then your pool is ready to go for the season!

In the far more likely scenario that your test shows the water isn’t in those ideal ranges listed above, you’ll need to gather some chemicals and treat your pool’s water. Head to your local pool supply store and gather the following:

Chlorine tablets
Liquid Chlorine or Calcium Hypochlorite for “Shocking” the pool water
Soda Ash
Baking Soda to balance pH
Calcium Chloride to increase calcium levels

Depending on your test strip’s reading, you’ll want to use the baking soda or soda ash to increase the total alkalinity in your pool. Baking soda should raise the alkalinity without raising the pH level, so use Soda Ash if you want to raise both pH and alkalinity. If the pH was too high, you can use muriatic acid to lower it as needed. Calcium chloride will help raise the calcium hardness levels, which may have dropped when you added fresh water from the hose.

Need a Hand? Call a Professional Today

One of the most challenging steps when opening a pool after winter, or doing regular pool maintenance is the chemical treatment. Balancing chemical levels requires precise calculations, safe handling procedures, and diligent attention to detail. Accidentally combining chemicals, even at trace amounts, can lead to dangerous outcomes. Adding too much chlorine shock can make your pool unusable for weeks, and too little will result in a dirty pool within days.

Don’t leave the fate of your summer pool season to chance. If you’re unsure how to open your inground pool after winter, our team at White’s Pools can handle the heavy lifting! Schedule a professional opening or maintenance check with White’s Pools for a stress-free summer. Request a quote or call us at (770) 466-2376.