Install a pump in pool under a mesh cover?

[NomDePlume]

Hello, I've been looking around for suggestion for this, but can't find anything so far (sorry if this was answered already): we just closed our pool, installed the mesh cover (Merlin, Smartmesh). Last year every couple of weeks or so, I had to go and pop 5 or 6 of the cover retaining spring clips to check the water level, sometime more often in case of big rain.

The guy closing the pool advised to put a pump on one of the pool stairs, and leave it there for the winter connected to some hose, so that it automatically maintains a safe level. This is quite a harsh environment (high chlorine) to leave a pump in.

Anybody doing the same? Any pump recommendation? Also what happens during severe frost?

Thanks very much for any suggestions/experience with this

 

[toofast]

I have the same questions...meaning in OH we get ICE and then thaw all the time. This will be my first winter and for sure I will have to drain many times over the course of the winter. I am really TORN on how to maintain this with a mesh cover. Hopefully the experts will chime in.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

I haven't had to deal with this - but I wonder if you could use a sump pump dropped into the lowest level of the pool and then wire an external float valve to control the pump and place that float at the level you want the water to be maintained below.

 

[toofast]

Well the issue really is the FREEZING that is going to happen. Ice is wacky as we know it, so the temp might lower, the water is still flowing in the pool...storm comes, dumps snow...snow melts but then the HOSE sticking out of the mesh is too cold and it is frozen...but then pump kicks on and pump will burn out, etc.

It seems there is NO SOLUTION to keeping a pump in the pool, you just have to manually uncover (which stinks) and drain some water then remove the pump and do it all over again.

This is ONE REASON I am hedging toward a solid cover, I just don't get the value of MESH for a winter cover in our climates.

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Well the issue really is the FREEZING that is going to happen. Ice is wacky as we know it, so the temp might lower, the water is still flowing in the pool...storm comes, dumps snow...snow melts but then the HOSE sticking out of the mesh is too cold and it is frozen...but then pump kicks on and pump will burn out, etc.

It seems there is NO SOLUTION to keeping a pump in the pool, you just have to manually uncover (which stinks) and drain some water then remove the pump and do it all over again.

This is ONE REASON I am hedging toward a solid cover, I just don't get the value of MESH for a winter cover in our climates.

There are probably some ways to mitigate this by making the drain hose freeze resistant but this can get pretty crazy in terms of complexity. If there was a way to automatically drain the line and fill with air or a water and RV antifreeze mix to below the freeze depth each time after the pump ran that would be ideal but I'm not sure how that could be accomplished.

 

[samt]

I also had the same problem, after I would drain the pool put the cover on , remove the pump and then it would rain and fill back up.

I bought a little electric pump from Northern tool , online, and would use that to lower the water with.

It cost about $60 or so and it works good. It came with a 5 ft. Hose that you would attach to one side of the pump. And then you use the garden hose to the other side for the waste.

It would take about an hour to lower the pool level about an inch ( 16x33).

This year I will use a siphon hose.

I have a loop lock cover and I just unsnap one strap, put the small hose in from the pump / long garden hose in the yard, and plug it in. It's not fast but it works good.

This is the one I bought. I see the price went up a bit.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200352045

You could buy a bigger pump that would go faster if you wanted but for the money it will get the water out if time isn't a factor.

It takes it out as fast as a garden hose puts it in.

 

[NomDePlume]

I also had the same problem, after I would drain the pool put the cover on , remove the pump and then it would rain and fill back up.

I bought a little electric pump from Northern tool , online, and would use that to lower the water with.

It cost about $60 or so and it works good. It came with a 5 ft. Hose that you would attach to one side of the pump. And then you use the garden hose to the other side for the waste.

It would take about an hour to lower the pool level about an inch ( 16x33).

This year I will use a siphon hose.

I have a loop lock cover and I just unsnap one strap, put the small hose in from the pump / long garden hose in the yard, and plug it in. It's not fast but it works good.

This is the one I bought. I see the price went up a bit.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200352045

You could buy a bigger pump that would go faster if you wanted but for the money it will get the water out if time isn't a factor.

It takes it out as fast as a garden hose puts it in.

samt, thanks, that's a huge improvement over my current setup which is to undo a bunch of these mesh straps and by the way each time as much as I try not to, risk damaging a slight bit more the stamped concrete deck with the tool to pop these straps. With this setup at least I'd just have to find a suitable spot to install the inlet +hose, hold it maybe with a rock or something on one of the stairs at the right level, so that I'd only have hook the pump to the hose sticking out of under the cover, and let it do it's thing while keeping an eye on it (probably letting it run dry would kill the pump in no time).

 

[toofast]

So I have a silly follow up question...since the cover is not see through, how do you know exactly how high the water is without removing the cover ?

 

[samt]

So I have a silly follow up question...since the cover is not see through, how do you know exactly how high the water is without removing the cover ?

I keep my pool about 3" below the skimmer, I leave a 5 gal bucket out as a rain guage.

But I can also pop 2 corner straps if I need too with no problem or lift the edge to the loop loc and take a look at the skimmer face.

 

[samt]

Here is another way that I'm going to do this year. Siphon with the garden hose.

This is how it works and I did a few times this summer when we had some big rains.

If you take a garden hose that is filled with water from the outside faucet and trap the water inside by putting your hand on one end, unscrew the other end at house and drop one end in the pool and the other end lower than the surface level in your yard and let go it will siphon the water out.

Like I said I tried it this summer and it works good.

So to make it easier to trap the water , I bought 1 on / off hose valves at HD garden center that screws on the end of the garden hose that goes to the house.

The other end goes in the pool, turn water on, fill up hose , turn valve off at house and disconnect and put lower than the surface level and open valve. Then the siphon should draw the water out.

This summer I did this a few times as a test and the end that goes in the pool, I would position the end of the hose right where I wanted the water level to stop at.

Once the water gets down to that point the siphon will stop. And the level will be where you wanted it.

This is great because you don't have to worry about taking out to much.