To empty or not to empty?

[MartynE]

Does anyone know the definitive answer on whether it's better to leave a pool full during the winter (obviously still being maintained)... or emptied, to be refilled in the Spring?

We have a situation in our apartment block where some of the owners want to have the pool emptied and the others want it to remain filled. Both sides say it's cheaper, safer and more environmentally friendly their way. We are caught in the middle. Who is right?

Help!!!

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=4717.0

[misty]

We always had to brace our pool if we emptied it for the winter to prevent any issues with the walls collapsing......

[Em1]

Hi
I think it is better to leave it with water in it.
The water often becomes part of the structure of pools because of its weight and pressure, helping keep the walls and floor of the pool true.
You can put a chemical in it to stop it from going green - I am sure someone else can advise you on this.
Em

[Chucky]

Martyn
This was discussed on the "Mosquito" thread in the General discussion section!
Has the other pool been emptied, or left? I would think that maybe a clue as to what to do?
Joan

[MartynE]

Thanks for your comments, everyone. The general consensus seems to be to leave it full... that is not what we have done for the last four years, but you live and learn!

Joan, the hotel pool has always been emptied during the winter as well, as far as I know. But we might suggest leaving that one full too.... the danger being if anyone is there at the bar over Christmas/New Year and has one or two mulled wines... it's a bit close to the pool....

Cheers

Martyn

[alantj]

Martyn,

Having been in Kalkan last November I would say a large majority of the pools were immediately emptied once the season was over. For two or three days so many pools were being drained that water was constantly flowing down the hillside our villa is on.

Also I didn't see any bracing being applied, hope its not vital as our pool is drained each year and just left empty.

[kalkanbelle]

We were told that it's best to leave the water in the pool during the winter months and drain, clean and fill before the season starts in April.  We have always done this and never had any problems.

[MartynE]

Hmmmm.

Our "keep it filled" lobby are saying it's cheaper that way because we won't pay for the cost of re-filling... perhaps they have missed the point, if it should still be emptied and refilled in the spring (which does seem necessary for hygeine reasons).

Now I'm starting to go back to the idea of emptying it completely for the winter, which is what we have always done up till now.

[Cosetta]

If you read about pool maintenance online, these sites all say to keep water in the pool year round to prevent the earth pressure from cracking the cement structure and from popping up tiles. 

But this means that you also need an algaecide and at least some chlorine kept in the pool, and generally a minimum amount of daily filtering to prevent algae from growing into the grout, which would then hasten the time to regrouting.

The cost of filling an empty 40 sq mtr pool is not a lot, we measured it at around 100 TL.  The cost of the electric pump running an hour / day all winter, plus the cost of chemicals, probably exceeds that.

In Europe, all pools are kept full throughout the winter and maintained at their normal levels of chemicals and filtration.  We are currently in Spain in a complex having 3 pools.  All are full and running normally although no one is using them.

[alantj]

As our pool is always left empty over the winter, I spent a bit of time looking into this.

The reason leaving pools full over winter is to do with the level of the water table. In flat damp areas this can be just a foot or two below ground level, and if you empty the pool the water tries to both push in the walls of the pool and to lift it upwards.

Happily for Kalkanites, unless you have found a flat damp area to build you pool shouldn't have to worry about the water table.

[MartynE]

That makes sense - we are on a hill (isn't everyone in kalkan?) so that doesn't appear to be a problem.  We are now coming back round to emptying the pool for the winter, mainly on cost grounds.

[Jamera]

Another factor for the discussion is property insurance - may be worht checking to policy - some do stipulate full or empty (reasons unknown) and our says empty - so we do

[Charlie]

For another good reason to empty the pool check out http://turkishlocalnews.com/portal/local-news/46813-return-of-the-mosquitos

[Anne]

I think there are two questions here.  Do you try to retain the water for the next season or just keep water in without treatment and drain the pool in Spring.

A couple of seasons ago we decided not to empty our pool but to add overwintering chemicals so we did not have to refill the pool in Spring.  The cost of the chemicals was not that different from the cost of the water to refill the pool in the end.  But the real issue was that the overwintering chemicals stained the grout blue so we had a messy pool for the first half of the season until the stain finally wore off.  Since then we have reverted to  emptying the pool and refilling it. 

The other question is whether you leave the water in the pool going green and breeding mosquitoes or drain it and risk the sides collapsing.