Our CYA is 80, and I'd like to do a partial drain to bring it down. The pool calculator tells me I'll need to drain half of it to get it to 40. Can anyone tell me the steps I should follow to do this partial drain? I've tried to research it and am getting very confused by all the different information. Our filter has a backwash setting. Do we use that? A sump pump? Do we drain it into the sewer or into the ground? We have had tons of rain lately. Does that matter? A step-by-step explanation would be so great!
draining the pool
- Thread starter 302harrison
- Start date
If you live in town you will need to contact them as to regulations, instructions and sometimes permits for draining a pool. Also a submersible pump is always the safest bet.
Just finished draining ours 60% for the same problem. We used a sump pump and let it drain into a ditch by the side of our house. We are in the country though so we have no permits/regulations or anything to worry with. It took about 30 minutes to drain and we are refilling now!
You can certainly do a backwash if you want. I believe you can also just open it up to "waste", if that's an option. If you have a sewer close by, go ahead and drain into it. Our property sits on a hill, with acres of woods behind us, so we just drain down the hill into the woods. Since you live on the east coast you probably have had tons of rain and don't need to water your grass.
I have never heard of getting a permit to drain a pool around here. Sounds complicated, and besides, isn't that part of the water and sewage charge?
I have never heard of getting a permit to drain a pool around here. Sounds complicated, and besides, isn't that part of the water and sewage charge?
Draining that much water through the backwash setting is not really a good idea as any debris in the water will then be stuck on the wrong side of the filter. If you have a waste setting and can isolate the suction to only the floor, then you could use that method. Otherwise, you need a submersible pump.
With a liner, make sure you leave at least a foot of water in the shallow end.
With a liner, make sure you leave at least a foot of water in the shallow end.
With a lot of rain and if you have a liner IG pool, then don't drain too much water at once, you probably want to do 2 25-30% drains instead of 1 50%. As was mentioned above leave at least a foot of water over your shallow end to keep wrinkles from forming in a liner pool.
I rented a "trash pump" at HomeDepot in my town for about $40 for the minimum 4 hours and had the pool pumped, cleaned up and returned in that time. I pumped to the gutter in front of my house and into the sewer. The pump comes with as much hose as you need. It just plugged in.
Put a garden hose in it and siphon out as much as you want (or can). If you've on a well, you might want to try the water replacement over a couple of weeks. Drain some out, refill for an hour or so each day.
That's basically what I do and what's keeping my CYA low. I've got a leak and need to refill about an hour a day with the garden hose.
Good luck!
That's basically what I do and what's keeping my CYA low. I've got a leak and need to refill about an hour a day with the garden hose.
Good luck!
I am currently in the process of draining water to bring down CYA and CH. I bought a 1/3 hp submersible pump from Amazon. I did some pumping into the sewer clean out. Now I have a sprinkler attached to the garden hose. I set the pump at one end of the pool and refill at the other end of the pool. I only drain about 6 inches at a time so the skimmers can run every day. I'm pumping over 100 feet with a garden hose....