Hi! I am Jonathan Broga with Potomac Pools and today I am showing you how to winterize the swimming pool. Right now we are going to be putting the cover on. To put the cover on, requires a couple of special tools. A) It requires an iron wrench to either remove, raise or lower your grommets which will hold the safety cover on. Additionally you'll need, what we call a cover popper which is a special tool used to leverage the springs to the grommets. As I pull this cover out, it's worth noting that this is generally a one person job. Often times people remark it, they are surprised that I am here by myself to do the job. But if you just take it, one piece at a time, unfolding it gently, don't try and drag it or yank it, you will be able to do this quickly and easily by yourself. I am going to look for specific characteristics that this pool may have that I can use as a starting point. This particular pool has a spa spillover that will have a special treatment within the cover that will be easy to find. I will align the two of those up and that's how I know where to start.

This particular pool has a special treatment for the spa spillover area made up of a cable and hooks that will support this. That's what we are going to start with, by attaching the cable and then the hooks to the cable. Always start with any special areas rather than trying to attach them last when there is significant tension on the cover. At first when placing the cover, you'll be able to place the springs over the grommets by hand. It's not that difficult. But at a certain point the tension will increase, that you will need to use this cover popper tool to leverage the springs onto the grommets.

So my recommendation that when you get to that point, you move along the long axis of the pool to support the weight of this cover incrementally over 15 to 20 grommets rather than doing that over the longest direction and supporting that way with only four or five grommets, which is harder on your back and on the springs. To use this tool, you simply insert it into the opened end of the spring. Pulling as much tension as is reasonable with your body. Stretch it through, put the tool over the grommet and use the leverage provided by the tool to pull the cover tight. Then step on the spring, pull the tool back, you will attach it to the cover. Now to remove in the spring simply put it over the grommet, rotate it and you will be able to take it back off. Should you need to check the water during the winter, or should you make a mistake and put the wrong spring on the wrong grommet.

So that's it. The water levels lowered, the lines are blown out, the filter systems drained, chemicals are in the water and the skimmers are protected, and the cover is on. Again with the mesh cover all you need to do over the winter is check the water level occasionally, make sure that the water doesn't get up on to the tiles and freeze. Check the water clearly to make sure it stays clear especially in the spring months as it gets warmer. You have got a solid cover; maintain a working cover pump to prevent that cover from getting swamped.

Again what we did here today works for this pool, your pool maybe different, winterization techniques in your area of the country maybe slightly different. Use common sense and call a certified professional, if you have any questions about how to winterize your pool. Other than that, this job is done. Thank you for watching the video on, how to winterize a swimming pool.