Drain water during OR after rain?

[jtb777]

Hi all,

My area is currently getting a lot of rain, and the pool water level is creeping closer to the top of my skimmer (it's usually halfway up). I have a couple of questions about draining water (if I need to do this):

1) Should I drain the water now while it's raining? Or, should I wait for the rain to stop?
2) I have a spigot attached to my pool plumbing, which runs water when my waterfall is on. Can I use this spigot for the purpose of draining excess pool water?
3) Is there a rough timeframe that it would take to get the water level down? I have a 30,000 gal in-ground pool.

Is there anything else I should know before doing any of this? (I'm still a somewhat new pool owner trying to learn the ropes!)

Thanks so much! I really appreciate the help!!

 

[mfifield01]

You don't want the pool to overflow, so I would drain well before it gets near the top. I have a new build and learned that the auto-drain was clogged in September. The water got close to the top of the pool. I hooked up a hose to the spigot on my pool plumbing and drained it in the driveway (to the road). It took a while to drain. I would set a timer and check on it every 15 minutes.

 

[Newdude]

1) Should I drain the water now while it's raining? Or, should I wait for the rain to stop?

10 years of pool ownership taught me one critical thing. Murphy's wins every time. As a matter of fact, I can control the weather by draining my pool, or letting it go, because the weather will do the *exact opposite* of what I wanted. Everytime.

For big rains, step in when you're clearly going to overflow as said above (if its safe to do mid storm). Little storms adjust afterwards so you don't have to guess.

2) I have a spigot attached to my pool plumbing, which runs water when my waterfall is on. Can I use this spigot for the purpose of draining excess pool water?

You can but it will take some time with little flow.

3) Is there a rough timeframe that it would take to get the water level down? I have a 30,000 gal in-ground pool.

It depends how much you need to drain. Time filling a 5 gallon bucket and do some maths.

Or use a submersible pump. I got a stainless steel 1HP on Amazon recently for $66 that's 3700 GPH and would make quick work of it.

Or plumb a 3 way diverter valve in-between the pump and filter to be able to drain with the pump.

 

[jtb777]

You don't want the pool to overflow, so I would drain well before it gets near the top. I have a new build and learned that the auto-drain was clogged in September. The water got close to the top of the pool. I hooked up a hose to the spigot on my pool plumbing and drained it in the driveway (to the road). It took a while to drain. I would set a timer and check on it every 15 minutes.

Thank you! Good to know I can use the spigot for draining. And, I didn't realize pools can have an auto-drain feature... I'm guessing my pool doesn't have one since the water level is getting high. I appreciate your reply!

 

[mas985]

A pool that "overflows" is no worse than a solid surface of equivalent area. The amount of water draining to the edge of the deck is exactly the same. It isn't a torrent but more like the amount of water draining off a driveway.

For a vinyl pool, this could be a big issue as water could get behind the liner but for a gunite pool, I don't think there is much risk.

BTW, I have an auto drain but leave it plugged most of the time as I don't want to lose salt or CYA. On occasion, the water level has gotten close to the top of the deck without any problem.

 

[jtb777]

10 years of pool ownership taught me one critical thing. Murphy's wins every time. As a matter of fact, I can control the weather by draining my pool, or letting it go, because the weather will do the *exact opposite* of what I wanted. Everytime.

For big rains, step in when you're clearly going to overflow as said above (if its safe to do mid storm). Little storms adjust afterwards so you don't have to guess.



You can but it will take some time with little flow.

It depends how much you need to drain. Time filling a 5 gallon bucket and do some maths.

Or use a submersible pump. I got a stainless steel 1HP on Amazon recently for $66 that's 3700 GPH and would make quick work of it.

Or plumb a 3 way diverter valve in-between the pump and filter to be able to drain with the pump.

View attachment 461543

Thanks so much! Very helpful!!

 

[jtb777]

A pool that "overflows" is no worse than a solid surface of equivalent area. The amount of water draining to the edge of the deck is exactly the same. It isn't a torrent but more like the amount of water draining off a driveway.

For a vinyl pool, this could be a big issue as water could get behind the liner but for a gunite pool, I don't think there is much risk.

BTW, I have an auto drain but leave it plugged most of the time as I don't want to lose salt or CYA. On occasion, the water level has gotten close to the top of the deck without any problem.

Thank you! In general, do you know where I would check to see if I have an auto drain? I'm guessing I don't have one because the water level is rising, but maybe it's just plugged? I Googled and couldn't find an image of what this looks like. Thanks again!

 

[jtb777]

Another question please... where do people generally drain pool water? If I do drain, it would be to go from the the top of the skimmer back down to halfway. I wasn't sure if I could just drain to the grass, or if I need to find my closest sewer cleanout.

Really appreciate the help!

 

[mas985]

Mine is in the autofill but some are in the side of the skimmer. This is the autofill looks a lot like a skimmer:



As for draining, anywhere that can accept the volume of water is fine. Grass, drain tile, hose to the curb. Although in CA, draining to the curb is sometimes against ordinances depending on your location.

 

[mfifield01]

My auto-drain goes directly into my yard with the normal drainage flow. I drained out of the spigot to the street and it went down to the sewer drain. You might need to check your city to verify you can do this.

 

[Gary Davis]

My auto-drain goes directly into my yard with the normal drainage flow. I drained out of the spigot to the street and it went down to the sewer drain. You might need to check your city to verify you can do this.

My equipment is well below the pool so just opening a pump basket would drain a few feet of water if I left the Jandy valves open, as would any opening in the filter housing do the same (and yes, the filter housing has a drain too).

Yet, the pool itself also has multiple drain pipes plumbed into the side of the pool just below the deck that each into the same drains that drain the deck.
In addition, there are foot-and-a-half long by half a foot wide rectangular drains all along the outside edge of the decking, also plumbed to the same pips.

They apparently tie together underground and exit out of a three inch pipe that itself exits six inches above the driveway curb.
The funny thing is that I never see "pool" water on the driveway simply because they only operate when everything is already soaking wet!

I would think most pools are designed similarly, in that they have to account for periodic bouts of torrential rains occurring.

 

[tstex]

Another question please... where do people generally drain pool water? If I do drain, it would be to go from the the top of the skimmer back down to halfway. I wasn't sure if I could just drain to the grass, or if I need to find my closest sewer cleanout.

Really appreciate the help!

Being you are from CA, isn't water at a premium for most places?

Since you use CL to sanitize your pool, you could run a hose to a large, clean, plastic trash can and store the water for anything you need afterwards. The CL would dissipate after awhile...if you have a high CYA, you might ck into that, but there are a lot of plants that like/prefer acidic water. Just a way to recycle and repurpose the water....also, CA has tons of restrictions so running it into the street, or sewer, could have implications. You will have to examine your local/State laws. good luck

PS - you stated your pool is 30K, but your signature has 25K...just to let you know of the delta...

 

[RocketGhost]

There's really not much science behind adjusting the water level. I keep the level below the top of the skimmers so they can... skim. I keep the level about 2/3 to the top, but I take the forecast into consideration. If it's going to rain again soon I'll drop it a little lower. If a heat wave is coming I'll leave it a little high to account for evaporation. I really don't like throwing water away just to have to come back and pay for fresh water to bring the level up.

I plumbed an outlet on the discharge side of my pump. I hook a garden hose to it and run it around the house to the street. I open the valve just enough to get a decent flow from the house. Too much and the hose can't handle it. The way my property is I can't just discharge at the pump because it will flow into my neighbors' yards. Since it's a pain to drag the hoses around I don't like to drain unless I really have to. I also have a submersible sump pump I have used before.

How long it take really depends on the volume and discharge flow. It takes 1-2 hours to drain an inch on mine. Slow and steady. I set an alarm on my phone to check it every 30 minutes or so. Also I found that due to the elevation if I leave the hose valve open when the pump turns off it will actually create a siphon. So even with the pump off it will keep draining.

I'm certainly not going out in the rain to fool with it. I never preemptively drain it, cause I don't know how much it will rain.

I have a salt pool, so every time I drain I'm diluting the salt. I'm not draining a huge volume so I don't need to check my salt level that often.

 

[jtb777]

Being you are from CA, isn't water at a premium for most places?

Since you use CL to sanitize your pool, you could run a hose to a large, clean, plastic trash can and store the water for anything you need afterwards. The CL would dissipate after awhile...if you have a high CYA, you might ck into that, but there are a lot of plants that like/prefer acidic water. Just a way to recycle and repurpose the water....also, CA has tons of restrictions so running it into the street, or sewer, could have implications. You will have to examine your local/State laws. good luck

PS - you stated your pool is 30K, but your signature has 25K...just to let you know of the delta...

Thanks! Good tip on the water. I do have a highish CYA (~65), but I like the idea of repurposing water if I can. And, thanks for noting the pool size mismatch. My pool is roughly 27k gal, and I'm just used to rounding up to 30k for adding chemicals, etc..