What's the cheapest, most practical way to drain half of pool water?

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D

dollerprod1

0
Apr 27, 2014
60
Central FL
The CYA in my pool is something like 100.

By the way how do you measure CYA when looking for that little black dot to disappear at the bottom of the tube? I mean, is it when it's cloudy, or totally not able to be seen? Because I'd guess from person to person - one might be able to still see the dot, while another can't, and the difference of a couple drops can be ~10 on the CYA markings.. Anyway..

The high CYA is making keeping FC levels over 10 a real pain. And I'm having algae a bit and trying to SLAM the pool is insane trying to shock in the 30's - and I probably haven't got close to that, for some reason I'm scared to.

So the PoolMath calculator says I need to drain about 50% of the pool, about 7,000 gals. I have the Hayward c1200, so down at the bottom I can rig up a hose to drain from, but once I get below the skimmer air starts to get pulled in, as I can't completely shut off the valve - it's really hard to turn.

Is there a cheap sump pump at Home Depot or something someone can recommend? I'm overwhelmed by all the options online, and not familiar with pumps at all. What's a common method?

Thanks TFP
 
I went to the pro counter at Home Depot and rented their utility pump. It was around $70 for a day, and it took about 2 hours to pump approx 9,000 gallons. Knowing what I knew now, I'd have rented it for 4 hours. The hoses typically are 50ft long, but if you need, ask for a few extra ones, they didn't charge more. I got 3 total, so I ran 150 feet of hose to the storm drain and let it rip. The pump needs to be primed with water first manually most likely, and make sure to keep the hose from kinking.
 
Hi! I had a very similar problem.

First, to check a CYA higher than 100 you can do a dilution test. Fill your tube up to the 7ml mark with pool water. Fill the tube up from 7ml to 14ml with tap water. Shake to mix. Empty tube back down to the 7ml mark. Now test as regular and multiply your results by 2.

As far as draining economically, I've seen two methods. Where I am, using a company to drain and refill half of my pool would be around $800. I checked with my water company and found to use the same amount of water out of my tap, would cost me around $50.00

Draining functionality, I have read that you can fill and drain at the same time. A quick search on the forums should pull up some results.

As far as my advice goes, I'm sure a mod will chime in here soon and verify whether I am right.
 
Thanks for your help everyone.

tim5055 said:
Central,Florida'isma big are! But you should have a Harbor Freight in the area. They have some inexpensive pumps.
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fajitas21 said:
I went to the pro counter at Home Depot and rented their utility pump. It was around $70 for a day, and it took about 2 hours to pump approx 9,000 gallons. Knowing what I knew now, I'd have rented it for 4 hours. The hoses typically are 50ft long, but if you need, ask for a few extra ones, they didn't charge more. I got 3 total, so I ran 150 feet of hose to the storm drain and let it rip. The pump needs to be primed with water first manually most likely, and make sure to keep the hose from kinking.
Click to expand...
Never used or even seen a sump pump or utility pump, but I am seeing that as the best option now. There is a sump pump on eBay for $39.. What is the difference between a sump pump and utility pump? What type of hoses connect to it? A sump pump has a clamp type connection and a utility has a hose type connection? Is that it? I have enough garden hose to reach the street.


Tonka Tuff said:
Hi! I had a very similar problem.

First, to check a CYA higher than 100 you can do a dilution test. Fill your tube up to the 7ml mark with pool water. Fill the tube up from 7ml to 14ml with tap water. Shake to mix. Empty tube back down to the 7ml mark. Now test as regular and multiply your results by 2.


Draining functionality, I have read that you can fill and drain at the same time. A quick search on the forums should pull up some results.
Click to expand...
Nice, I didn't know that about checking high CYA.
Right I could drain and fill, but I just feel like that will take longer and would have to compensate for draining a lot of the new (low CYA) water out, due to it mixing, but no biggie.
 
Is your yard sloping away from the pool? In the past I've just used a couple of garden hoses. Tie a sock full of rocks to one end of the garden hose and sink it to the bottom of your pool, then feed the hose into the water so that it fills up with water and does not have any air pocket in it. When the hose is full cover the end with your hand to prevent any air from getting in and pull the hose out of the pool, careful to keep it full of water. Bring the end down into your yard so that it is lower than the surface of your water and remove your hand. Water should start flowing out of the garden hose and by siphon action drain your pool, at least until it looses it prime when the water level in the pool is lower than the end of the hose. Two or three garden hoses siphoning like this will lower the water level pretty quickly.
 
Hi, fellow Floridian! I am in the same boat as you and will be pumping about 50% out, if I can get it done between rainstorms.

I used to take the pool down in the winter (in Florida!) and I bought a small pump on Amazon:

Easy and pretty quick, and inexpensive.
 

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How is it going, Doller? I started around 7am and water is down to the lower intake. Pool was extra full due to all the rain we've had in last week. I figure I'll be down to half or slightly under by noon. (Since this is second time I've had to do this, would rather drain too much than not enough!)
 
Sure, in fact, that is how I did it last time. Since I only wanted to go just below the lower intake, that worked. It's messy for me though because I don't have enough of the proper sized hose to direct the waste water very far. Also, I have the over the side skimmer, not sure that part of your idea would work for me.

But I'm draining well below the intake this time, and this little pump is surprisingly efficient. Just attach garden hose, put the other end of hose wherever you want water to go, sink pump, and plug in.
 
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