Closing pool for first time

[CarlD]

Elsie,
I'm a BIG believer in quick-connects and I have them all over my pool's plumbing. In fact, I don't think I have a piece of plumbing that doesn't have a quick connect! I have one at the bottom of my skimmer.

The point of the bleach bottle in the skimmer is that if any water gets in the skimmer (and it always does) it can freeze and fracture the skimmer. The bleach bottle or Gizmo allows the ice to crush the bottle as it expands, rather than breaking the skimmer.

If you shock the pool over the CYA value's level on the Best Guess Table, you ARE risking fading the liner. I never do that. But what I find is that if I can start the opening process as soon as the ice is melted, or it's Mid-April, I open to a fairly clean pool with clear water. If I have to wait till May, I'll have some algae. The Polyquat may or may not help. It's never hurt.

Everything here is just a suggestion. You, as the pool owner, get to make the final decisions and take the actual actions you need for your pool.

Car

[FPICOL]

what is a quick connect

[waste]

Welcome to the Forum!

It's a threaded union that allows you to work on and remove equipment to work on it without having to cut and couple the pipes. As Carl intimated, they are very useful when you need to work on the equipment and allow you to bring in certain pieces for the winter.

[CarlD]

quick connects are sold at EVERY pool store and you can find them as well at plumbing supply houses. Home Depot does stock them, but unpredictably.