If your swimming pool is closed for the winter, and you notice the water is going down, it is clear you have a leak somewhere. This has the potential for real trouble if precautions are not taken.
In-ground Pool Leaks
An inground swimming pool without water in it can collapse, the walls can buckle or shift, the floor can lift, vinyl liner pools may have the liner fall in, shrink, or pull out of the bead channel at the coping. An inground pool can actually pop out of the ground.
Most of the problem listed above are only likely with vinyl lined pools, as gunite and cement pool have a natural ballast, and vinyl pools are light.
You need more water in the swimming pool than there is outside the pool. If you have a high ground water table, the pressure from the water on the outside of the pool causes all the damage formally mentioned. There are some precautions you can take to make it through the winter, while the pool is closed.
- Keep adding water to the pool to keep the level up
- Build wooden braces to hold walls in place. (this will not stop liner damage)
One last thought about inground pools is this, if you have an expensive safety cover on your pool, it is likely to be damaged as well. It needs water underneath it to support the weight of snow.
Above Ground Pool Leaks
with an above ground pool your concern is that your walls do not collapse. If you have no water in your pool and a pool cover attached to the top of the walls. Collecting rain water and the weight of snow may cause your walls to collapse, so do not use a cover on a pool with no water, unless maybe you use a leaf net during fall.
The other possible concern is that the liner will shrink, and rain water and snow will put pressure on the liner which is of course attached at the top of the walls, if this is the case, it is best to rake a razor blade to the liner and save the pool.
We hope you have found this article helpful 
