The Wanderer wrote:
On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 23:13:19 +0100, Holly, in France wrote:

snip

You were replying to someone else here, but anyway.... We get lots
of sunny weather in winter, and are in a frost pocket, and have had
6'' of ice on the lake a couple of times, so the chances of our pool
surviving with only a little rime are very slim indeed!

It rather depends on how exposed your pool is. We live in Norfolk,
where, as the saying goes, the wind can be cold enough to blow the
bristles off barbed wire. Our outdoor pool is enclosed with a
combination of walls and inset closeboard fencing, which I guess
results in a something of a micro-climate. Not had any problems with
winter frosts in the 9 years we've lived here, and I don't take any
special precautions other than pumping out water from time to time.

We had a pool at our previous house down in the Thames valley, and
that wasn't as sheltered, and likewise I never took any special
precautions.

It's considerably colder here than there though, and the pool is exposed
and in a frost pocket. But as I said before, everyone else's pools seem
to survive so I expect ours will too.

We have just put a winter
cover on the pool too though, so I'm hoping that will help.

Err, the winter cover is really intended to keep leaves and other
debris out.

Well, I know, but I thought it might have some benefit. Then again it
will stop the sun getting to the ice during the daytime so it might be a
mixed blessing.

In the summer you replied to a question of mine about clearing the water
and I never got around to replying to your last message in the thread.
So, a belated thank you for your help, I got it crystal clear in the
end. Given the amount of water I have had to pump out for the
overwintering, I'll probably have to refill it from the lake again in
the spring so I'll have to go through the whole process all over again!.

--
Holly, in France
Holiday Home in Dordogne
http://la-plaine.chez.tiscali.fr/