Looking for a quick, step by step instruction on how to lower water level in pool

Jump to latest Follow Reply
C

Clyde

0
Jun 6, 2016
49
Western Connecticut
Hello. Per my signature line, I have a Pentair cartridge filter (hopefully you know what I mean...one of those big black ones). I think there is a way to lower the water level in the pool using it, but I am not sure how. Right now I just use a sump pump, which takes forever to lower the water level by an inch.

Does anyone have step by step directions that i can follow? Pictures or a visual would be even better. Thanks
 
There is not "clean" way to do that with just a cartridge filter. You could take the drain plug out or even take the top off, but the water will go everywhere.

Many people add a 3-way valve between the pump and the filter so they have the option to pump directly to waste before the filter.

Or, go rent a better sump pump from Home Depot which should be significantly faster than using your pool pump ;)
 
MouseMan54 said:
Or if you anticipate needing to do it frequently buy one for ~ $50.
1800 GPH
2000 GPH
3000 GPH

You'll pay about that much to rent one.
Click to expand...

These ratings are very suspect. There is no way it will get 50 GPM through a garden hose.

Sure the rental is about $50, but it also has 2" fire hose which will move a lot more water more quickly.

Although if you are in no hurry, then the smaller ones are good, especially if you are refilling at the same time to avoid exposing the plaster to the sun/heat or the liner floating
 
jblizzle said:
There is not "clean" way to do that with just a cartridge filter. You could take the drain plug out or even take the top off, but the water will go everywhere.

Many people add a 3-way valve between the pump and the filter so they have the option to pump directly to waste before the filter.

Or, go rent a better sump pump from Home Depot which should be significantly faster than using your pool pump ;)
Click to expand...

Put the valve in (2-way with 3 ports). Even with my 2 Speed Pump on low, it would pump PLENTY fast enough to lower the level.
In fact, I would never do it on High because it would rip a hole in my lawn if I did. On low it was fairly gentle and plenty fast enough. This is on 23K gallon pool.

You'd need one big sump pump to beat my filter pump on high (1.5 HP 220V).
You need to tweak the level periodically so you certainly wouldn't want to rent one every time you get heavy rains.

I've probably never ran it more than 15 minutes to lower the pool in 15 years. And I might do it 2-3 times a season (in the Northeast any ways).

By the way my pool goes down real fast if I leave the solar cover off (~1/2 inch day?). So when it is high level I try not to drain it so quickly, if I can get away with it, and save it for evaporation to cool the pool when it gets to hot.
 
jblizzle said:
These ratings are very suspect. There is no way it will get 50 GPM through a garden hose.

Sure the rental is about $50, but it also has 2" fire hose which will move a lot more water more quickly.

Although if you are in no hurry, then the smaller ones are good, especially if you are refilling at the same time to avoid exposing the plaster to the sun/heat or the liner floating
Click to expand...

They CAN use a garden house but can also use 1.5" discharge. This is very similar to a pump you would rent at Home Depot. Look at the 4th picture for the 3000 GPH link I posted. It's an adapter.

I own a similar pump, with a similar adapter. It may make sense if you need to pump out water frequently. For me, CH goes up quickly so partial drains sometimes, helps. Getting to Home Depot to rent and return is a bit of a hassle.
 
rmturner54 said:
Well I was gonna suggest a sump pump.
Anyway that is what I use. Saves on the extra wear of the main pmp, not that the pool has to be pumped down that often
Click to expand...

Lets see I run my pump 12 hours a day on low. That ends up 2000 hours a season (4 months).

I could empty the 23K gallon pool in 8 hours. Lowering the pool might be 1 hours worth a season (for me) which would roughly be a foot.

Why drag out cords, hoses and pumps, when you already have a massive pump all attached, ready to go.

A Pool SHOULD have a waste valve anyway.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply