Winter Pool Air Pillows & Water Tubes

Ice does not damage a pool by being cold — it damages it by expanding sideways with nowhere to go. Winter pool air pillows and water tubes are how you manage that force. A pillow floats in the middle of an above ground pool and gives expanding ice a compressible target; water tubes ballast the edge of an inground cover so wind cannot lift it. PST Pool Supplies carries both from GLI, Swimline, and Pool Pillow Pal.

Air pillows — often labeled ice equalizers — come in 4' x 4', 4' x 5', 4' x 8', and 4' x 15' sizes from GLI and Swimline. Size to your pool: a 4' x 4' suits pools up to about 18' round, 4' x 8' covers most 21'–24' pools, and 4' x 15' is for larger or oval installations. Inflate to roughly 50–60% capacity, not drum-tight; a soft pillow compresses when ice pushes and a hard one just bursts. The Pool Pillow Pal centering kit solves the perennial problem of the pillow drifting to one side by midwinter. GLI publishes full sizing specs at GLI Pool Products.

Water tubes hold a solid inground winter cover down along the deck without drilling anchors. We stock 8' and 10' lengths in single chamber and double chamber, standard and heavy duty, in blue and black. Double chamber tubes are worth the small upcharge — if one baffle splits, the other still holds water and the tube stays put instead of ending up in the pool. Fill each tube only about two-thirds full so there is room for the water inside to freeze and expand. Pair tubes with an inground winter cover, or pillows with an above ground winter cover, and add a cover pump to keep meltwater off the top. Swimline's full winter line is at Swimline.

Order winter pool air pillows and water tubes with your cover so everything goes on in one trip — and buy one spare pillow, because the one that survives the whole winter is the exception, not the rule.