Why water on a cover is a problem
Water is heavy, and a solid cover holds every drop of rain and snowmelt that lands on it. The puddle sags the cover, the sag collects more water, and the load ends up on the straps, springs and anchors. Loop-Loc, which makes safety covers, puts the line at 16 inches: once the cover is pushed deeper than that below the deck, the cover, hardware, coping and deck are all under excess stress, failure is possible, and the warranty is void. A mesh cover lets water through and mostly skips this chore. A solid cover without drain panels needs a pump; Loop-Loc calls it “a must-have”.
Do not swim, and do not leave a pond
Standing water on a cover is open water on a surface that looks solid. Loop-Loc says it “could compromise ASTM safety standards”. The CDC reports that more children aged 1–4 die from drowning than from any other cause. Keep the cover pumped, keep the gate locked, and never let anyone walk on a cover holding water.
Automatic or manual
| Automatic | Manual | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts | By itself, when its float or switch sees water | When you plug it in |
| Stops | By itself, when the water is gone | When you unplug it |
| Can stay out all winter | Yes, that is the point | Only with someone checking it |
| Weak spot | A clogged switch that never trips | Forgotten, so the cover fills |
| Fits | Solid covers on a closed pool | A one-off drain after a storm |
For a service route, automatic is the only kind that works: you are not at the pool when it rains. Test the pump and its float in a bucket before it goes on the cover, because you will not find out it is dead until the cover is full.
Placement and hose routing
- Find the real low point. On a solid cover it is usually the middle, but walk round and look at where the first puddle forms after rain.
- Set the pump there, level. Little Giant’s instructions: it should “sit level, remain fully submerged and be positioned where it cannot draw in air”. A pump on a slope, or in a puddle too shallow to cover it, air-locks.
- Run the hose straight to the edge with no kinks, over the coping, then downhill and well away from the deck. Water dumped at the edge runs back under the cover, into the pool and to the low point. Then it gets pumped again.
- Keep the discharge away from the house foundation and the equipment pad.
- Plug into an outdoor outlet with ground-fault protection, and keep the plug off wet ground.
Do this on closing day, as one line of the closing checklist, and show the client where the pump sits. The closing guide covers the cover itself: tight, with no slack to sag.
Snow, ice and freezing
Leave snow on a safety cover. Loop-Loc says “All safety covers are designed to handle snow and ice, so there’s no need to remove it — just let it melt”. A shovel or an ice chipper on the fabric is a quick way to tear it. What does change in a freeze is the pump. If it is going to be locked in ice for a long spell, Loop-Loc’s advice is to disconnect it, then reconnect it the moment the thaw starts: meltwater is exactly what the pump is there to move.
The thaw visit
After a big snow, the stop that matters is the first warm day. Check the pump is plugged in and running, the hose is clear of ice, and water is leaving the cover.
When the pump never stops
A pump that runs days after the last rain is pumping the pool. Loop-Loc describes how it happens: snow and ice press the cover down into the pool water and water seeps up through the seams. A tear or a pinhole does the same thing, and the pump drains the pool through it. Left alone, it can take out a lot of pool water, and that low level then lets the cover sag further.
- Clear the snow from the skimmer opening and check the pool level against where you left it at closing.
- Test the water on the cover for stabiliser. Rain carries no cyanuric acid, so cover water that reads like the pool on a CYA test came from the pool.
- Unplug the pump for a dry day and mark the edge of the puddle. If it grows with no rain, water is coming up from below.
- Top the pool back up to the cover maker’s level, and get the cover patched or replaced before the next freeze.
When it will not pump
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Runs, moves no water | Air lock, or a clogged hose | Unplug, clear the relief port above the outlet, re-test in a full bucket |
| Will not start in water | Switch clogged | Turn it upside down; if it starts, clean under the lid |
| Keeps cycling after the water is gone | Switch fault | Replace the pump: the switch is not a spare part |
| Buzzes | Motor failure | Replace |
| Damaged cord | Ice, a shovel, a mower | Replace the pump; the maker says do not re-cord it |
Faults and fixes from Little Giant’s APCP-1700 support pages; other makes differ, so check the manual.
A pool that got through the winter with a dry cover opens in days, not weeks. One that sat under a pond tends to need a green-pool recovery before the opening can even start.