Hey gang! Thanks in advance for the help / information. I've done a fair amount of forum searching, but haven't really seen a protocol for this one.
Just bought a house with a pool a year ago. Took over care about 2 months ago. Huge thanks for all the help and information so far!
My pool has a (covered) hole in the middle of the deep end. I'm assuming this is a main drain. It never sucks water, and there appears to be 4 after-market screws in it holding it on--I'm assuming this because they look mildly out of place, but not terrible. (Image attached, but honestly you can only JUST barely see the screws anyway. Probably not very helpful).
In addition, my skimmer has two holes in the bottom of it under the basket. One obviously goes to the pump (verified). The other is ?????. Based on my research, it likely--but not definitely--goes to the aforementioned main drain. However I have not verified this and doing so is sort of the subject of this post. There are no valves or other apparatus at the bottom of the skimmer. Just two simple holes.
I have NO IDEA why the main drain is not currently functional, or whether or not it is clogged, intentionally plugged (safety?), etc. This obviously occurred prior to my owning this house.
I love the idea of my skimmer pulling from the bottom of the pool (in moderation) in addition to the top skimming. Seems overall like a great idea that would improve circulation in the deep end. And obviously this appears to be the function. What I'm hoping for some counsel on are the following, in no particular order:
Just bought a house with a pool a year ago. Took over care about 2 months ago. Huge thanks for all the help and information so far!
My pool has a (covered) hole in the middle of the deep end. I'm assuming this is a main drain. It never sucks water, and there appears to be 4 after-market screws in it holding it on--I'm assuming this because they look mildly out of place, but not terrible. (Image attached, but honestly you can only JUST barely see the screws anyway. Probably not very helpful).
In addition, my skimmer has two holes in the bottom of it under the basket. One obviously goes to the pump (verified). The other is ?????. Based on my research, it likely--but not definitely--goes to the aforementioned main drain. However I have not verified this and doing so is sort of the subject of this post. There are no valves or other apparatus at the bottom of the skimmer. Just two simple holes.
I have NO IDEA why the main drain is not currently functional, or whether or not it is clogged, intentionally plugged (safety?), etc. This obviously occurred prior to my owning this house.
I love the idea of my skimmer pulling from the bottom of the pool (in moderation) in addition to the top skimming. Seems overall like a great idea that would improve circulation in the deep end. And obviously this appears to be the function. What I'm hoping for some counsel on are the following, in no particular order:
- TLDR; Simply and generally, how do I go about restoring full operation to the main drain ASSUMING it was plugged intentionally for safety reasons (my strong speculation)? Can I do so without draining? What are the steps I should go through.
- Is my thinking incorrect regarding the bottom main drain and circulation? Is it not actually beneficial in any way? Only minimally beneficial? Etc. I mean, my pool works and has worked since I bought the house--so obviously it is NOT essential. However, pools are also obviously built like that for a reason. So...
- Is it generally advised for this to be part of the pump intake system or not, an why? What works best, or not best?
- Maybe most importantly, because I like to faff, tinker, and otherwise optimize:
- What is the recommended process for taking off the main drain cover and discovering how and why it might be plugged, clogged, etc.
- Assuming I can hold my breath long enough (lol), is there any harm to me or the pool in me swimming down there and at least unscrewing the screen cover and taking a look (as opposed to entirely draining the pool first)?
- If I take a look and find it is plugged intentionally, is there any harm in unplugging it to discover if there is a leak or something, or if it was just plugged for theoretical safety reasons?
- And also, I understand there are valve systems and/or other apparatus for the bottom of the skimmer basket to control the intake ratio between skimmer and main drain, and/or otherwise control the function. How would I go about acquiring the correct equipment to restore operation.
