Protecting Your Swimming Pool from Storm Damage

Swimming pool damage is something that pool owners never want to deal with, but damage in some shape or form is inevitable. The majority of damage, roughly 80%, comes from weather sources like wind, winter and storms. Storms can bring high winds that put your swimming pool at risk for damage if you don’t take the proper steps to protect your pool. Your swimming pool’s pump and motor are the most vulnerable to storm damage, but other possible damage can include pool wall punctures, flood damage and pool liner tears and rips. Since you can’t turn off the weather, the professionals at LinerWorld want to provide you with some tips on how to protect your above ground swimming pool from storm damage.

Clear Your Yard and Deck of Potentially Damaging Objects
When you hear bad weather is coming, it’s important that you do what you can do eliminate as many potential storm damage risks as possible. High winds and free-standing objects on your deck or yard is a dangerous combination. In order to eliminate storm damage to your above ground pool as well as your house or deck, move as many toys, furniture and other potentially damaging items to a basement, shed or garage. If you have enough warning before a big storm hits, another precautionary measure to take is to trim and branches from trees near your swimming pool. Large branches can easily snap off during storms and can not only damage your swimming pool, but your home as well.

Protect Your Pool Equipment
Your swimming pool’s pump and motor are most vulnerable to storm damage, so it’s important to protect those during bad weather, too. It’s possible for your pump, filter and motor to come into contact with large amounts of water during storms due to flooding, so it is a good idea to turn off the power to your pool equipment. Depending on how bad a storm is, it might not be enough to just shut off the power to your pool’s equipment. To reduce the risk of storm damage, cover your pump and motor with a plastic tarp and tie it down to prevent possible electric damage from flooding.

Don’t Drain Your Swimming Pool
When you hear a storm is coming, draining the water from your pool might seem like the right thing to do, but this only does more harm than good for a few reasons. Draining the water from your above ground pool will ruin your liner and you’ll have to replace it. The only time you should completely drain your swimming pool is when you need a new liner. In addition, having an empty pool during a storm could result in rising water tables popping it out of its place. It’s much easier to clean out any debris that made its way into your pool after a storm than dealing with the damage an empty swimming pool.

There is no way that we can control Mother Nature, but there are steps pool owners can take to reduce the risk of storm damage. Keep these tips in mind the next time you hear a storm is going to hit to prevent damage to your above ground swimming pool and expensive repairs.