Open Your Swimming Pool Early

I always get asked this question. I’m not sure what they really want to hear from me. They may want me to tell them that it’s better to open it later so that they don’t have to put up with the pool opening chore right now. They could also be really anxious to get their pool open for the spring and they want me to tell them that it’s better to open it early.

Well to those anxious people out there; you win! It’s much better to open your pool earlier than later. There are a number of reasons for this. As I mentioned in the last blog post ( Take Advantage Of Pool Store Spring Specials ), you can get a jump start and really save some money by getting great deals on pool chemicals and opening kits. Another even bigger reason is the longer you let your pool sit under that cover, the more it starts to get warmer under that cover. Your pool will become a giant incubator for algae, quickly turning your pool water from clear to dark green. People who normally open their pool earlier (excluding those with a mesh safety cover), will have a clearer pool. This is because it was still cool out and the algae didn’t have a real chance to perform a growth explosion.

I must digress. When I say “open your pool early and it will be clear”, I don’t mean that this will happen all the time and for everyone. There are factors you must add into the “Perfect Pool Opening” equation. If you properly winterized your swimming pool with the right chemicals and covered it with a solid cover in late fall or even early winter, then chances are when you open your pool early it will be clear.

That being said, its a good idea to open your pool early. You can spend more time getting your pool in tip-top shape (if need be) before the start of the real swimming season. In the pool industry that start date is Memorial Day.