What Should I Do With My Pool Before a Hurricane?

Leave the water in the pool. Lower it a few inches below the skimmer mouth to give it room to take on rain, shock and balance the water the day before, then shut off power to the pump, heater and any automation at the breaker. Move loose furniture and yard items into a garage or shed, not into the pool.

That is the whole job, and most of it takes under an hour. The mistakes people make before a storm are usually the result of good intentions, not neglect.

Never drain the pool

This is the single most important rule, and it is the one we see broken most often. An empty pool shell is a boat hull sitting in wet ground. When groundwater rises during a storm, hydrostatic pressure pushes up against the underside of the shell, and with no water weight holding it down the pool can lift, crack or float right out of the ground. That is a five figure repair on a structure that was fine before anyone touched it.

Water is the ballast. A full pool weighs tens of thousands of pounds and stays exactly where it is. Lower the level a few inches so rain has somewhere to go, and stop there.

Balance and shock the water beforehand

Assume you will be without power for a few days and the pool will sit with no circulation while organic debris blows into it. Give it a fighting chance.

• Test and correct pH and alkalinity so the chlorine you add stays effective
• Shock the pool to a strong chlorine residual the day before the storm arrives
• Add a dose of algaecide as insurance for the stagnant days that follow
• Run the filter for a full cycle to distribute everything, then shut down

Water that goes into a storm already balanced and heavily sanitized recovers in days. Water that goes in neglected turns green and takes a week or more to bring back.

Shut down and protect the equipment

Kill power at the breaker, not just at the timer or the control panel. A surge on restoration is what destroys pumps, heaters and salt cells, and a breaker that is physically off cannot pass one.

If flooding is a real possibility at your property, disconnect the pump motor and move it to higher ground if you can do it safely. A submerged motor is usually a replacement, not a repair. Remove and store any exposed control panel covers, and if you have a robotic cleaner, pull it out and bring it inside.

Do not put furniture in the pool

Sinking patio chairs and tables in the pool is old advice that still circulates, and it is bad advice. Metal frames rust and stain plaster, plastic feet scratch the finish, cushions foul the water, and glass tabletops chip the surface on the way in and the way out. You also make the pool impossible to clear afterward.

Secure loose items in a garage, shed or interior room. If there is genuinely nowhere else, lay heavy furniture flat on the deck away from windows and strap it down.

Storm season in the Florida Keys

Our season runs June through November, and down here it is not abstract. Many Keys properties sit in flood zones with a water table only a few feet under the deck, which is exactly why draining is so dangerous locally. King tides can push groundwater up even without a direct hit.

Plan on losing power. Have your shock and algaecide on hand well before a named storm is in the forecast, because the local shelves empty fast once a cone appears. If you evacuate, the pool will be fine sitting full for a week. It is the equipment and the surrounding yard that need your attention.

Get the water lowered and shocked and the breaker off a day early, because the last thing you want is to be working on the pool when the wind picks up.