spa empties itself into the pool.

[Arlene]

20,000 gal/IG/DE/pebble. I'm new to caring for the pool. Chemistry is kind of ok but mechanics not so good. The spa, for the second time in about 2 months, has emptied itself into the pool during the night while the pump was running. I have a pool company company coming tomorrow and until they get here, they told me to add water to the spa so the jets don't dry out. I started doing that and that water went into the pool. Now the pool level is above the top edge of the skimmer.
I turned a handle from Spa Suction to Pool Suction and I think the flow of water between the two has stopped. Now, though, I need to get some chems into the water. Is it ok to run the pump while the water level is so high?

 

[Melt In The Sun]

Sounds like you were sucking the water from the spa and returning it to the pool. Try doing the opposite thing now: set suction to pool and return to spa, and it should fill back up.

Water level being high won't affect chemistry at all.

 

[CombatYoga]

Arlene,

I don't know what your set up looks like, but it sounds like you may have a spa with a waterfall (where the water spills over into the pool).
You should be able to set your valves so that SUCTION is from the pool, and RETURN is to the spa (normally called spillover mode).
This will take water from the pool and fill the spa.

If both the pool and the spa are already completely full and your skimmers are covered, I don't think it necessarily hurts to run the pumps that way, but you might consider
setting the valve on your filter so that you pump some water out of the pool to lower the level a bit. You could even use it as an opportunity to backwash your filter.

It sounds like you need to play with the valves, etc. on your equipment to understand how everything works. You can take a picture and post on here and lots of folks will chime in and help you identify everything on your equipment pad. It might not hurt to get a sheet of sticky labels (avail. at a pool store) to label the pipes/valves.

It sounds like you figured out why the spa was draining into the pool - I'm not sure you need a visit from a pool company (which will be $75+).

Finally, I highly recommend that you edit your profile signature so that your pool and equipment is listed - it's much easier/faster for folks to help you that way.

 

[Arlene]

Thanks for tips! Playing with valves is way too scary for me!! Though I did get the water to stop flowing from spa to pool, it isn't set correctly. Normally, it's set so the spa spills into the pool just slightly, when the pump is running, so for it to suddenly dump almost all of the water into the pool seems to indicate that something isn't working right. Still willing to pay the pool company. Valves and pipes are labeled, but I still just don't understand how they all work together. Hopefully pool guy will give me a lesson and I will take copious notes!

 

[Melt In The Sun]

If you post a picture of the equipment, we can help (for free).

 

[XsAllOverIt]

Yes, you can empty your spa very quickly if you've got your spa drain on when you've got the spa spilling over into the pool. Lana can never figure it out, so I've got two settings - Pool mode with spa spilling over and Spa mode only. I took pictures of all the valves in both settings and put them on the wall. Take pictures when the pool guy comes over. The more you do it, the easier it gets... It's probably a little easier for me since I am an engineer and I vision it when I do it, but the pictures really helped Lana.

 

[mitch08]

I understand the way the flow of water to my pool / spa works perfectly.
But every year I have 1 time where too much drinking and partying gets to me and I suck the water out of the spa and go into the house and crash. The next day I come out to an empty spa with a pump that's been running dry all night.

So far I've gotten "lucky" and the only damage is the connections leak. Gotta pull things apart, re-tape and tighten everything up.

You really need to get a lesson from these guys on the water flow. Its very simple once you get the basic understanding.
Its all suction and return. You suck from pool and return from spa and you have "spillover mode". You suck from spa and return to spa and you have "spa mode". you suck from pool and return to pool and you have "pool mode". You suck from spa and return to pool and you have "call the pool guy cause there are gonna be problems" mode