Why Hudson Valley Pool Owners Must Pump Water From Their Covers

If you own a pool and don't pump the water off of your cover you could be in for some big trouble.

Now that pool season is over in the Hudson Valley, many homeowners are happy to take a break from the hassles of maintaining their swimming pool all summer long. Unfortunately, caring for your pool is a year-round job and one that many local residents aren't doing properly.

After you cover up the pool for the winter, it's tempting to just let it sit there until next year, but if you don't keep up on the very important task of keeping water off your pool you could be setting yourself and your family up for disaster.

As rain falls and collects on your pool cover it can cause some major headaches. The first issue is that it can cause some serious damage to your pool. Even a minor rainfall can result in several inches of water sitting on one end of your pool cover. That standing water is actually very heavy. The weight can not only rip the cover from the pool, but also pop that oh-so-important inflatable pillow that's there to protect your swimming pool from ice damage.

Speaking of ice damage, if you decide to ignore the water on your swimming pool now it's destined to turn to a thick sheet of ice very soon. That ice will expand, possibly ripping the cover and sending all of the leaves and debris on top of your pool right down into the water.

There are other very concerning things that can happen if you leave water on top of your pool cover. Safety experts warn that the water on top of a pool can be a serious drowning hazard for small children. With the pool covered, parents may not be concerned about their children playing around the pool area unattended. But even an inch of standing water can pose a serious risk to small children.

Aside from being a drowning hazard, standing water on your pool cover can also be a health hazard. During warm stretches in September through November, the untreated rainwater can quickly breed hundreds of thousands of mosquitoes that can carry disease. Other nuisances, like tadpoles, can quickly get out of control if you don't regularly pump the water off of your pool cover.

Keeping your cover dry isn't expensive or time-consuming. A cheap pump can be ordered online or picked up at local stores that will sit right on your pool cover and automatically turn on when water is present.

Just a little prevention will go a long way to keeping your pool and family safe during the off-season, making it all that more fun to start dreaming of warm summer days.