Swimming Pool Covers Centurion: Safety & Savings
Key takeaways
A good pool cover reduces evaporation, cuts chemical use and holds heat, which lowers your running costs through the Highveld's hot, dry months.
Safety covers are engineered to hold weight and keep children and pets off the water, while thermal blankets are built for insulation, not protection.
Freeform and odd-shaped pools need a custom-manufactured cover; an off-the-shelf rectangle leaves gaps that undermine both safety and savings.
Correct anchoring into the surrounding deck or paving is what keeps a Centurion cover taut against wind and secure underfoot.
Modern Tarps measures, manufactures and installs covers on site across Centurion and the wider Gauteng region.
If you are shopping for swimming pool covers in Centurion, the two things that matter most are keeping your family safe and keeping your running costs down. A well-fitted cover does both at once: it acts as a barrier over the water and it slows the evaporation that drives up your water, chemical and heating bills through the long Highveld summer.
This guide walks through how covers cut those costs, how safety covers differ from thermal blankets, what custom manufacture means for freeform pools, and how installation works on a Centurion property.
How pool covers cut water, chemicals and heating costs
An open pool loses water and heat mostly through evaporation. On a hot, dry, windy Highveld afternoon, that loss is at its worst, and every litre that evaporates carries heat away with it. A cover placed over the surface when the pool is not in use is the simplest way to slow that process down.
The knock-on savings add up in three ways:
Less top-up water. Slower evaporation means you refill less often, which matters in a region under pressure. The South African government notes that the country is water scarce and that roughly 70 million litres of treated, clean, drinkable water is lost daily through leaks and waste, so anything a household can do to conserve counts. You can read the government's position on this at GCIS.
Fewer chemicals. Sunlight burns off chlorine and evaporation carries away treated water, so an uncovered pool needs constant dosing. Keep the surface covered and your chlorine and stabiliser last longer.
Warmer water for longer. Because the cover traps heat that would otherwise escape overnight, the pool stays swimmable further into the shoulder seasons, and any heating you do run works less hard.
A cover also keeps leaves, dust and Highveld grit out of the water, so your pump and filter do less work and cleaning takes less time.
Safety covers vs thermal blankets for families
These two products look similar from a distance but do very different jobs, and mixing them up is a genuine risk if you have young children.
A thermal blanket is a lightweight cover, often a bubble-type sheet, that floats on the surface to trap heat and reduce evaporation. It is built for insulation. It is not a barrier, it will not hold a person's weight, and a small child can slip beneath it. Treat it purely as an energy-saving tool.
A safety cover is a heavy-duty, anchored barrier stretched taut across the pool and fixed to the surrounding deck or paving. It is engineered to support weight and to stop a child or pet from reaching the water when the pool is unattended.
The safety case is hard to ignore. In the United States, the Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that an average of 357 children under the age of 15 fatally drowned in pool or spa incidents each year, with 85 percent of those in a residential setting such as a backyard pool, and children aged 1 to 3 accounting for 68 percent of the fatalities. The CPSC lists pool covers alongside fencing and gate alarms as barriers that help prevent an unsupervised child from reaching the water. Their guidance is set out at Pool Safely. The pattern holds worldwide: the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention records that more children aged 1 to 4 die from drowning than from any other cause, a figure published on the CDC drowning facts page.
For a Centurion family with toddlers, a proper safety cover is a layer of protection, used together with fencing and supervision rather than instead of them.
Custom manufacture for odd-shaped and freeform pools
Many Centurion pools are not simple rectangles. Freeform, kidney, L-shaped and curved designs are common, and an off-the-shelf cover cannot follow those outlines. Where the cover cannot reach, you get gaps, and gaps undermine both the safety barrier and the evaporation savings you paid for.
Custom manufacture solves this. The pool is measured on site, then the cover is cut and welded to match the exact shape, including steps, tanning ledges and any awkward corners. A cover made to the real outline sits flush, anchors evenly and pulls tight without loose folds that collect rainwater or sag underfoot.
Modern Tarps manufactures PVC pool covers to order, so the cover fits your pool rather than forcing your pool to fit a standard size. Working with heavy-duty PVC also means the cover stands up to the strong Highveld sun without going brittle in a season or two.
Installation and anchoring for Centurion properties
A cover only performs if it is anchored correctly. A safety cover that is loose or badly fixed is not a safety cover, and even a thermal blanket blows off in the wind if it is not held down.
On a typical Centurion installation, the process runs like this:
Site measure. The pool and its surroundings are measured, and the anchor layout is planned around your deck, paving or coping.
Manufacture to size. The cover is cut and welded to the measured shape back at the workshop.
Anchor points. Fixings are set into concrete, paving, timber decking or the coping, spaced to hold the cover taut across the whole span.
Fit and tension. The cover is fitted, tensioned evenly and checked so it sits flat with no pooling or slack.
Anchoring matters here because the Highveld gets strong afternoon wind and sudden summer storms. A taut, well-anchored cover resists gusts, sheds rain and stays safe to walk near. Modern Tarps handles this end to end with door-to-door delivery and on-site installation across Centurion and the wider region, so the same team that measures your pool is the team that fits the cover.
Get a tailored quote for swimming pool covers in Centurion
The right cover depends on your pool's shape, how you use it and whether child safety is the priority. The next step is a site measure so the cover is made and anchored for your exact pool rather than a rough estimate.
Contact Modern Tarps to arrange a measurement and a tailored quote for a custom pool cover in Centurion, and describe your pool's shape and your main goal, whether that is safety, savings or both.
Frequently asked questions
How much can a pool cover save me on water and chemicals?
Covers sharply reduce evaporation, which is the largest single source of water and heat loss from an open pool. Less evaporation also means less top-up water and fewer chemicals lost to sun and air, so most Centurion owners see a clear drop in both bills.
What is the difference between a safety cover and a thermal blanket?
A safety cover is a strong, anchored barrier designed to support weight and keep children and pets off the water. A thermal blanket floats on the surface to trap heat and slow evaporation, but it is not a safety barrier and should never be treated as one.
Can you make a cover for a freeform or odd-shaped pool?
Yes. Freeform, kidney and other irregular pools are measured on site and the cover is cut and welded to match the exact outline, so it sits flush with no large gaps.
Do you install pool covers in Centurion?
Yes. Modern Tarps offers door-to-door delivery and on-site installation across Centurion and the surrounding Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and Limpopo areas, including anchoring into your deck or paving.
Will a pool cover work with my existing deck and paving?
In most cases, yes. Anchor points can be fixed into concrete, paving, timber decks or the pool coping, and the layout is planned during the site measure to suit your surroundings.
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