Which pump to buy for pool draining?

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Matt Ush

Matt Ush

0
In The Industry
May 18, 2012
46
Which pump do the pros recommend for draining pools. This is going to be used commercially for a residential pool service company. My goal is to be able to lower pools for closings, drain pool covers for openings and to drain entire pools for acid washing. Id like a reliable pump with a good amount of power. For pool closings, im considering purchasing two to speed the process up. I also looked into having a gas powered pump for quick jobs but that will be another day.

Currently I am looking between the Wayne WAPC250 (http://www.amazon.com/Wayne-WAPC250-Cov ... Cover+Pump)

and the Tsurumi LB-480-62 (http://www.amazon.com/Tsurumi-Pumps-Sub ... urumi+Pump)

I like the Wayne because it is cheaper to replace but the Tsurami seems to be a better pump.

If you have alternative solutions, please post away.
 
For residential homeowner use either of those will be fine. For a service tech, neither of those pumps is going to completely drain a pool in a convenient amount of time. And even the larger one will be marginal at best for a service visit pool closing.

A 3810 GPH pump, even running at it's full rated GPH (which it will never do) could easily take an hour or more to lower the water level enough for a closing. In a real world situation it is likely to take three times that long, and even that is optimistic, due to water resistance in the hose and static head from lifting the water out of the pool. That is fine for a homeowner, who can start it up, go away for a while, and come back when it is done. But a pool service tech wants the water down right now, say 10 to 15 minutes worst case for a closing. Doing that requires a gasoline powered 4+ HP pump.

In many cases, lacking the gasoline powered pump, you are best off using the existing pool pump in backwash mode, assuming it has a backwash mode and the valves can be set so that it will drain below the skimmer(s).
 
Hi, I actually have real life experience with this.

To drain a pool down for winterization I use a gas pump http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... pla&ci_kw={keyword}&gclid=CNaz2qzF1rQCFYqZ4Aod-RsALw

I also use a quick connect coupling on the intake
25' and 50' 2" discharge hose

This can be carried with one hand unlike the beast you picked out.

I also use this pump for draining water off the cover quickly.

I know Honda makes the best but to be honest I've had a few of these and parts rattle off and the motor hasn't died yet.

For draining a pool to acid wash I would just use an automatic pump with a garden hose attachment. Something like this.
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Giant-Hors ... giant+pump

Because if you are trying to drain it down with with the gas pump you'll be left with a foot or so of water in the deep end that will need to be pumped out with the slow moving garden hose pump anyways. So what I would do in this situation is just setup that pump from the beginning and schedule to come back in two days when it's completely done. So you aren't paying workers to sit around managing a gas pump to drain the pool down. Also if you did drain a pool down quickly with a gas pump you sometimes get neighbors complaining about either water coming onto their property or being afraid there is a water main break. If you use the slow pump no one questions anything.
 
An option I remember someone mentioning was to use a pool pump on household electric power - often this means a 110v is easier to deal with. Put this on a cart and you have this plus the pool pump to drain with. Craigslist is good option for getting one cheap. A small quiet generator is another way to augment this for situations where there is no power.
 
Mike_W said:
While Honda certainly builds a quality motor, Harbor Freight has a similar no name pump on sale for $279.
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-full-tra ... 69746.html

Mike
Click to expand...

On another forum there is a whole thread about the low quality but good value of harbor freight tools. They are great for tools that you only want to use a few times.

read this blog post :)

http://jalopnik.com/5959822/i-love-you- ... astic-heck
 
Not to insult you, but some pools shouldn't be drained at all depending on certain variables and some should be only drained for a short time. The weight is what keeps the pool down. Just giving you a heads up if your just starting out.
 
He only mentioned draining them entirely for acid washing and lowering for winterization. You still take a chance regardless when draining entirely but that's why you open any hydrostatic relief plugs if applicable.
 

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