The Importance of Swimming Pool Covers

Swimming pool covers are extremely beneficial for your swimming pool, regardless of the size, type or design. They protect your investment and reduce the amount of water, time, chemicals and maintenance that you need to put into your pool.

The different types of pool covers include:

·         Basic pool covers

·         Solar pool covers

·         Winter pool covers

·         Safety pool covers

Benefits of pool covers

Pool covers can offer tremendous energy and water savings, as they prevent evaporation and maintain the temperature of the pool. Solar pool covers also act as a heater, drawing in the sun’s rays to heat the pool’s water.

Pool covers also reduce the pool’s chemical consumption, as they prevent the breeding of bacteria, which therefore eliminates the need to use additional pool chemicals to control bacteria growth.

Pool covers reduce cleaning time as well, as they keep dirt and debris out of the pool. Instead of spending a considerable amount of time chasing around the stray leaves, you can simply remove your pool cover and dive in.

Choosing between the different types of pool covers

You can use a basic pool cover for warm areas, which simply keeps out dust, dirt and leaves. A basic pool cover is also best for homes or areas with no small children or pets.

Solar pool covers are ideal for areas of the country that may have cooler evenings and mornings, or cold spells, as it harnesses the sun’s energy to warm the water. This is also an extremely useful cover for heated swimming pools, as it significantly cuts down on energy costs and usage.

Safety pool covers are often a necessity, as it protects unwanted entry of children and pets and prevents drowning.  Safety pool covers provide an extra level of security, and should be used alongside other pool safety devices, such as security fences, alarms, locked gates and removable stairs.

Safety pool covers should be tightly harnessed across the pool surface so that there are no gaps through which a small child or animal can enter. Safety covers have weight-bearing standards which must be met. The basic weight-bearing standard is that a safety pool cover should withstand the weight of two adults and a child.

Safety pool covers can be grounded or weighed down by concrete, and should be able to resist any kind of unwanted entry.

You can simply put a safety pool cover onto the pool by hand, or through the use of a hand crank system. The hand crank system uses a reel which allows the pool cover to be put on and taken off, and stored on the reel when not in use.

Many safety pool covers are now motor-powered. Often called motor-powered barriers, these automatic covers provide a hard barrier over the pool which virtually eliminates any chance of unwanted entry.

Swimming pool covers may be constructed of plastic, vinyl or mesh. Whatever kind of swimming pool cover you choose, remember that a quality cover will better protect your pool, and in turn, protect your investment.