Spigot pool drain not working

[mprzybylski]

Last year I had high CH levels and needed to drain my pool. I used the spigot, connected a hose, turned the pump off, and opened the spigot and drained no problem. My CH was high again this year and I got help here to identify and finally solve the issue (my water softener wasn’t large enough because it was put in before pool build).

I now have the CH pretty well balanced but it’s still high from before the WS was replaced so I need to drain roughly 70% of my water according to the app to get it to a lower level and refill with soft water. I went to repeat the process I did this year and the pool will not drain through the spigot unless the pump is running. Did I forget something and miss a step? If I disconnect the hose and open the spigot, sure enough no water spewing out. If the pump is running, water spews out. I know that I’m not supposed to run the pump when draining and I can’t figure out what I did differently last year to make this work.

Please help and let me know what I’m missing :/

 

[proavia]

Your last reported CH was 775 - you would be better served by doing a full drain/refill and starting out with a CH in the low 200. Our tap water is usually 225-250.

You won't be able to do a 70% drain and refill with only soft water. Chances are you water softener is a 64k unit (possibly smaller) and it will run out of soft water well before your pool refills.
I don't know about your water rates in Gilbert, but here in Chandler refilling my 12,000 gallon pool from empty adds less than $40 to the monthly bill.

Is the hose spigot between the pump and filter? Unless you start a siphon drain, you will need to run your pump to drain. And draining from a small spigot and garden hose will take a long time.
You can rent a sump pump from Home Depot for about $50 (will include at least one 50 foot length of hose) or you can buy a similar pump on Amazon for about $90 including tax and have it to use in the future.

Amazon.com

 

[Rancho Cost-a-Lotta]

Try this. Before turning the pump off, open the spigot and allow the hose to fill with water. This should get your siphon going. I do agree this is an inefficient way to drain water. A submersible pump would be my first choice.

 

[mprzybylski]

Not sure why I didn’t get notifications for your replies even though had the box checked, but glad I checked back in this morning.

Yes the WS is a 64k unit. I went ahead and purchased the pump you linked on Amazon because I’d rather just have it and it will drain a lot faster, so thank you. Sounds like it’ll drain in a few hours so I’ll get that going when the pump arrives tomorrow. And I’m assuming the refill is with the hard water then, if I remember correctly, and I’ll set my leveler to soft water when it’s all filled up.

I actually did try to drain with pump on and turn off but the water would just stop flowing when the pump was shut down so I think this is probably my best bet for draining and having a pump on hand is a good idea.

 

[proavia]

Be sure to use a 1.5 inch hose or larger.
And check with the city of Gilbert as to where to drain to. In Chandler, we are required to drain to the sanitary sewer cleanout (located in the front yard) - no draining to the street.

Chances are it will take more than a couple hours to drain. I helped a neighbor drain their 11,500 pool last week and it took over 4 hours with a pump rented from Home Depot. We used 150' of 1.75" hose to get from the pool to the sanitary sewer cleanout.

Refill with tap water (unsoftened). Test CH after refilled and use tap water (hard, unsoftened) for make up water until CH is about 350 - then switch to soft water for your autofill.

Have some liquid chlorine on hand to increase your FC and maintain it until you get your chems dialed in.
Also, grab some CYA if you don't already have some. Maybe try for CYA of 40 for now and up it to 70 in the coming weeks.

 

[mprzybylski]

Yep, draining to the sewer cleanout in the front (that's what I did last time).

When you say to use a 1.5" hose or larger, that's mainly for speed, not an actual requirement for draining, right? I had bought a 5/8" 100' hose for draining which is what I used last time. I do realize this would take a lot longer but if i'm being 100% honest here, having 100+ feet of 1.5" hose laying around to store after this is all said and done (and the weight of that hose) is not exactly ideal as I don't have much storage space for that considering I have a woodshop in my garage :\

I do have a few gallons of LC on hand since i have a SWG and i use them in winter when necessary, so i'll go ahead and dump it in. I recall there is something you should add and not run the pump for 24 hours but now i can't find which chemical that is. I was trying to find order of adding chemicals, wait times in between, and what that one that says not to run the pump for 24 hours after adding but can't find that page anymore. do you happen to know which it is?

And yes, I have CYA as well, i had purchased a large bag previously and still have a good amount left.

Thank you for all your help, as always. It is much appreciated.

P.S. I did get an email notification for your latest reply, so not sure what happened last night when i didn't get any.

 

[proavia]

Using a 5/8" hose will take maybe 3x longer to empty your pool.
100' of 2" backwash hose will store in an approximately 16x16x4 space - just don't leave it outside.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=2+inch+backwash+hose+100+ft&hvadid=282678315796&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9030049&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8764612508315400917&hvtargid=kwd-480606518342&hydadcr=28697_10189931&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_3gtpgk4c55_e

A 1.75" hose will fit (tightly) over a 1.5" PVC pipe. 1.5" hose will not fit on 1.5" PVC pipe.
2" backwash hose may be your best bet. Personally, I'd consider the heavier duty hose, even though it costs a bit more.

Pump should be on for adding any chemicals.
Add the CYA using the sock method.

For me, the email notification doesn't consistently work. I just check in a few times a day.

 

[mprzybylski]

I had the realization after posting that this is a different type of hose like you linked and came back to ask how you would link two hoses together since they don’t seem to have fittings. I of course need roughly 115’ so I’ll need to get a 100’ and 25’ to connect together but I only see one product that has fittings, the others have clamps. How do you connect two hoses together if no fittings exist?

Sorry this is a new world to me.

 

[proavia]

Hose clamps and a short section of 1.5" PVC pipe if using 2" hose.
No expensive fittings needed.

 

[mprzybylski]

ah, that makes sense and is a much simpler/cheaper solution than the fittings i was just looking at

 

[proavia]

ah, that makes sense and is a much simpler/cheaper solution than the fittings i was just looking at

Lol - yup, simple works just fine. I tend to use 2 hose clamps at ecxh connection - so 4 clamps to connect 2 hose sections with a PVC pipe. I guess it would be possible to overlap 2 sections of hose on a short section of PVC pipe as well (seems like too juch hassle for me though).