How to Winterize the Pool?

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One semi-sunny Monday after several weeks of misty, rainy weather, I realized, for my psychological well-being, this was the day to close the pool. There were five good reasons to make pool closing a priority:

1) No one had been swimming for weeks, not since before Labour Day.

2) The calendar said October.

3) The pool thermometer said 17 degrees.

4) I had been neglecting to run the pump.

5) And scariest of all, the leaves from the neighbour’s huge maple were beginning to float down.

How To:

Step 1: Pull back the solar blanket. Whoops, it's green again.

Step 11: Vacuum and vacuum and vacuum as the pump drains the pool. Once the water level reaches the required level quit with the vacuuming. The chemicals will have to do the rest.

Step 111: Throw in the chemicals.

Step 1V: Drain the filter and the pump and blow the water out of the pipes.

My pool-closing was going swimmingly, until….


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