How to shut off water flow to clean impeller

[concretegardenstx]

Ok, so after turning the motor shaft I realized that the impeller is clogged, which is why my water isn't pumping. However, I can't figure out how to keep the water from flowing into the pump basket. I've attached a picture of my plumbing setup below. The three pipes on the right are the ones that flow into the pump. The far right is the spa suction, the middle is the skimmer, and on the left is the main drain. I've tried moving the skimmer and spa into the off position, but there is no valve to shut off for the main drain. When my motor stopped the last time, I drained the pump basket and everything for the winter. At some point the water stopped flowing. My husband thinks that the water will keep flowing until it gets below the skimmer line, and that's why the water stopped flowing last time, but there was always water in the main drain, but the water stopped flowing before. What am I missing? I would like to get the impeller cleaned and get the pool running again. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Is your plumbing below your pool?
If it's not, the water will only flow till the filter is empty.
Water won't flow uphill from the main drain.

 

[concretegardenstx]

Is your plumbing below your pool?
If it's not, the water will only flow till the filter is empty.
Water won't flow uphill from the main drain.

Ok, it looked like the water was flowing in from the plumbing. The filter was mainly empty because I had just cleaned it, that is when the pump wouldn't turn back on. So what I am hearing is that the water will backflow from what was already in the pipes above ground and what is in the filter, and then it will stop?

 

[Bama Rambler]

As long as your equipment is above the waterline, that's correct.

 

[concretegardenstx]

As long as your equipment is above the waterline, that's correct.

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, I'm off to do that now!