Having your water freeze during the winter is the greatest hazard your pool will ever have to deal with. If you don't take the proper preventive measures, frozen water will cause severe damages to your pool. It will bust pipes, crack tiles and poke holes in walls, which will create acute gashes that will tap and waste your pool water. Maintaining a pool swimming pool is already difficult and expensive as it is. Having to repair your damaged pool will be an even bigger burden. We as pool owners definitely do not want this to happen.

The major problem with water is that as it freezes, it expands. The ordinarily spherical water molecules crystallize into bigger hexagonal conformations when they are frozen. Once it turns into ice, the water increases its mass, therefore taking up more space. If your swimming pool does not have space to contain the added matter, the ice will press and force your swimming pool to make room for it. Damage will then be caused by the stress that the ice exerts on the walls and floor of your pool. If you've ever tried freezing a water bottle, then you know exactly what I'm getting at. If the bottle is made of plastic, it will bloat, distend and swell. If the bottle is made of glass, it will crack and shatter.

Thankfully, there are various measures that you can take to prevent damage from happening to your pool.

1. You can use a winterizing kit that can be mixed in with the pool water. A chemical treatment to your pool is essential. A combination of winter chlorine, winter alkalizer, and winter powder will insure that your pool remains clean over the winter and is ready for you to use in the late spring or early summer when the warmer weather arrives.

2. A skimmer guard can be used as well. It relieves the pressure of the ice. The skimmer guard is a thin plastic tube that you enclose and fasten in the skimmer. It also seals the skimmer entry tube so that the water can not permeate the pipes and filters.

3. The final alternative is to use an air pillow. The air pillow is placed and secured in the center of the swimming pool, and also under the swimming pool cover. This will not keep the pool water from freezing; but, it will absorbe and pull the pressure of the freezing water toward the pillow rather than to the walls and bottom of your pool.

These 3 approaches each have their own benefits and drawbacks. You must do your own research to understand each alternative and use the ones that are in your price range and also are easiest for you. I personally use all three and have never had a problem.