Winterising your pool in Mallorca
In Mallorca a pool almost never freezes over — but it still has to be winterised. Switch the plant off in November and fly home, and you will find a green pool in April. What actually needs doing, in five steps.
The basic choice
Winterise actively — do not shut down
There are two ways: passive winterisation (lower the water, shut the plant down, cover the pool) and active (the water stays at level, the filtration keeps running on reduced times). In northern Europe passive is the norm, because ice can crack a pool there.
In Mallorca it is the other way round: hard, lasting frost is the exception — the real winter problems are algae, leaves and drifting water values. So active winterisation is almost always right here: it costs little electricity and spares you the laborious spring recommissioning.
Step by step
Making the pool winter-proof
- ✓Clean thoroughly: floor, walls, skimmer baskets, pump strainer
- ✓Set the water values — pH to about 7.0 to 7.4, then disinfect
- ✓Backwash the filter so it does not sit dirty all winter
- ✓Reduce running times: two to four hours a day are enough in winter instead of six to eight
- ✓Salt systems: below about 15 degrees water temperature the cell produces hardly any chlorine — check and dose the values by hand through the winter
- ✓Decide on a cover case by case: it keeps leaves out and slows evaporation, but under the sheet the water turns faster if nobody checks the values
The cardinal error
Never drain the pool
The most expensive winterisation mistake is the empty pool. Without the water pressing from inside, groundwater or rain can lift or crack the shell, tiles and liner suffer, and refilling with the island’s hard, limy water brings problems of its own.
The second most common mistake: switching everything off and not looking again until the next arrival. A pool that stands four months without circulation is a biotope by spring — and the recovery costs more than a whole winter of electricity.
Island specifics
What Mallorca does differently
Three things set the island winter apart. First, the autumn storms — a single downpour washes soil and leaves into the pool; skimmers and values need checking afterwards. Second, the hard water: if the level sinks over months, limescale rings remain that are almost impossible to remove later. Third, frost nights inland — in the Es Pla or the Tramuntana valleys single nights can drop below zero; exposed pipework there is drained, or the plant runs through frost nights.
The pool reopens from about 15 degrees of rising water temperature, usually in April — before the first algae bloom, not just before your arrival.
What owners ask about this
Does the pool have to be covered in winter?
No — it is a trade-off. A cover keeps leaves out and saves water, but under the sheet the values drift faster if nobody checks regularly. An open, actively winterised pool on reduced running times is often the more robust solution.
Can I switch the pump off completely in winter?
We advise against it. Without circulation the water turns within a few weeks, and recovery costs more than the electricity for the reduced running times. Two to four hours a day are enough in winter.
Does MARNER CARE handle winterisation?
Yes. Winterisation is part of the pool service and included in the With Pool (990 €) and Complete (1,590 €) packages — including regular checks of the values through the winter while you are away.
Rather not think about chlorine values all winter? That is our job.
Enquire, no obligation