Screw Tight Skimmer Cover Pool Closure System

Screw Tight®, Skimmer Cover Pool Closure System

Anyone with a swimming pool will eventually need to shut off the flow of water that would enter the skimmer box so work can be done on the pool’s plumbing system or to shut the pool down for the winter. In winter, water entering the skimmer box will freeze, expand and break the skimmer box requiring expensive rebuilding of the skimmer area and often the need to break up a beautiful concrete deck to repair the broken skimmer parts. There are closure systems on the market that incorporate a flimsy Tupperware like plastic lid to stop this water flow and the resulting ice from doing its damage. The plastic lid of this unit is difficult to install in cold water and even harder to get a good seal. Often the thin plastic lid will become brittle from the cold or sunlight and crack, allowing water to enter the skimmer box to freeze and crack the box. Perhaps worst of all, the large rectangular opening allowing water to flow unrestricted into the skimmer box also allows hands and arms of small children to enter the box. If the skimmer basket is missing, there is nothing to keep hands and fingers away from the powerful suction of the pump and drain hole in the bottom of the skimmer. Nothing on the market offers the water tight seal and safety features that the patented new Screw Tight® unit offers.

Order your own Screw Tight® skimmer cover

Screw Tight® skimmer covers are designed not only to allow you to easily stop the flow of water into your pool's plumbing system, the smaller opening helps to protect children from getting hands caught in the suction of the pump. Screw Tight Skimmer Guards also restrict and speed up the flow of water into the skimmer box during filtration. The scientific principle behind the smaller opening states that when a given amount of liquid is made to flow through a smaller opening in the same length of time, it must flow faster. Faster flow ensures a stronger current. This stronger faster moving current flowing into the pool’s skimmer box opening will naturally draw more floating debris from further away into the skimmer box. This means the pool will be cleaned better and more thoroughly in a shorter amount of time.

Here is another plus. The faster current flowing into the Screw Tight® skimmer faceplate spillway also helps to trap and hold frogs, toads and other small furry critters that find their way into the pool. Once in the skimmer box, they are trapped by the current and held harmlessly in the skimmer box. To remove these critters from the skimmer, just turn off the pool’s pump. The flow of water will stop and the skimmer’s float operated trap door will swing up and close. The skimmer basket with its load of critters can then simply be lifted out of the skimmer box and its yucky contents discarded.

The face plate of the Screw Tight® unit attaches to the pool wall using the same screws, screw holes and gasket originally used. You may want to replace your gasket after inspection if necessary. It only takes couple of minutes to install the face plate with its large round center spillway hole. The round threaded hatch cover then just slips into the spillway hole of the face plate and screws in tight. An O-ring in the lip of the cover makes a watertight seal every time that holds fast. After maintenance requiring closure of the skimmer box or in spring when the need for winter shut down is over, just unscrew the hatch cover and remove. Screw Tight® hatch cover is made of heavy-duty, cold weather safe, plastic with a flexible rubber O-ring gasket. There is even a special slot on the hatch cover handle to allow any long thin tool like a screw driver or wrench handle to be inserted to apply extra turning power if necessary.

Additional Security Even with a Screw Tight® skimmer guard, it is possible for water to enter your skimmer box from above through the crack around the edge of the skimmer lid or through the hole in the center of the skimmer lid. A good item to use as additional safeguard against freezing water damage is a Gizzmo. The Gizzmo is a hollow plastic plug that screws into the outlet at the bottom of the skimmer box. Just seal the threads of the Gizzmo with plumber’s silicon tape and screw it into place in the center of the skimmer box. This will keep any water from entering the plumbing at the bottom of the skimmer box. It will help guard against freeze damage by compressing when the water freezes instead of the walls of the skimmer box giving way and expanding outward. Two sizes of Gizzmo are available. Ask your pool specialist for the size Gizzmo that is right for your pool.

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