Pool care before and after a hurricane on the Treasure Coast

Pool care before and after a hurricane on the Treasure Coast

What to do with your pool when a storm is coming — and what to check before you switch the equipment back on afterwards. Based on Florida extension and industry guidance.

Hurricane season runs from June through November, and every year we get the same question in the days before a storm: should I drain the pool? The answer is no, and it is worth understanding why.

Do not drain it

Florida’s water table is high. The weight of the water in your pool is what holds the shell in the ground; empty it before a big rain event and you risk the structure lifting or cracking under groundwater pressure. University of Florida extension guidance for Indian River County is blunt about it — emptying a residential pool ahead of heavy rain, partially or completely, is a bad idea. The Florida Swimming Pool Association says the same thing.

A pool is built to hold water and to overflow. Rain over the coping runs away from the house by gravity, the same as any other surface water.

Before the storm

• Leave the water level alone, or lower it only slightly if you have been told to by someone who has looked at your specific site.
• Shock the pool. If the power goes out and the pump stops for days, the extra chlorine is what stands between you and a green pool when you get back to it.
• Balance the chemistry beforehand — it is much easier now than in the mess afterwards.
• Clear the skimmer and pump baskets so the system is not starting the storm already blocked.
• Turn off the breakers to the pool equipment and cover the pad once you stop running the pump. Flooded motors and control boards are the expensive part of a storm.
• Bring loose items in. Toys, floats, solar covers, umbrellas, light furniture.

The furniture question

You will read advice telling you to drop patio furniture in the pool so it does not become a missile. Industry guidance is split on this: the Florida Swimming Pool Association allows for gently placing furniture in the pool if it cannot be stored inside, while UF/IFAS extension advises against it because metal furniture corrodes and stains plaster, sometimes permanently. Our own position is simple — get it indoors or in the garage if you possibly can, and only put it in the water as a last resort with items that will not rust.

After the storm

• Do not touch anything electrical until it is dry and you have checked for downed lines. If the pump motor was under water, it needs looking at by someone qualified before it is switched on.
• Get the debris out before you run the system — branches and roof grit will wreck a pump impeller and a filter.
• Then run the filter long hours and shock again. Storm water brings organics with it; expect the chlorine demand to be high for several days.
• Lower the level back to mid-tile if rain has overfilled the pool, and stay with it while it drains — never walk away from a draining pool.
• Check the filter pressure once things are running. A big jump means it caught a lot, and it needs cleaning again.

If you would rather not deal with any of it, that is what we are here for — say the word before the storm and we will get the pool ready, and put you at the front of the queue for the clean-up afterwards.

Sources: UF/IFAS Extension, Indian River County — Pools and Hurricanes; Florida Swimming Pool Association — Hurricane Preparedness.