When warm weather is approaching, it's time to start thinking about opening the swimming pool for the summer. Actually, opening the pool is just simply closing the pool in reverse, so let's take you through it step by step.

The first place to start is to check your pool supplies. Very often, you'll find that they may be old and out of date. So before you get started on the pool itself, make sure that the chemicals that you will be using to open the pool are up to date and usable. There's nothing more frustrating than getting the pool all ready to go and then realizing that your supplies are no good.

When you know that your chemicals are all set, it's time to uncover the pool. There is no real mystery to this part of the process as you just simply remove any excess water on the top of the cover, usually with a water pump. If you don't have a water pump of your own, you can usually rent one very inexpensively. After the water is removed, take the cover off and clean it thoroughly before putting it away for the year. Be sure to allow it to dry before storing it too, as you don't want any mildew to start growing on it while in storage.

If you disassembled the pump and filter, now is the time to put them back together again and reinstall them. At the same time, you can also put your ladders, diving board, and other deck fittings back in their respective places.

Usually, some sort of plugs are installed in the pool over the wintertime, so now is the time to remove them and to go around and check all of the fittings for both the intake and outtake holes in the pool. Make sure that all is in working order.

At this point you can begin to start filling the pool back up to its correct water level. That should not take all that long to do as usually only about a foot or so of water is drained out of the top of the pool when it was closed.

While the pool is refilling, check all the electrical switches, circuit breakers, and timers to make sure that they are in good working condition. If any need to be replaced, now is the time to do it.

Now you can begin to restart the circulation equipment and begin the cleaning of the pool. Of course, you'll need to put in the necessary pool chemicals to restore the proper water chemistry and get it back into operating condition as recommended by your pool chemical company. With some pools this may go very quickly, and others it may take a longer period of time to accomplish. Generally speaking though, you should expect to run your circulation system round-the-clock for approximately three days on average to get your pool in good working order.

As you can see, opening the pool is just a simple step-by-step process that is repeated each year. Once you open a pool the first time, you should have all the experience you need to successfully open it year after year from there on.

Thad Pickering writes on many consumer related topics including home improvement. You can find out more about swimming pool designs and swimming pool safety covers by visiting our Home Improvement website.