Lowering water level with cartridge filter

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arl0726

Member
Aug 23, 2022
16
New England
Hi - Thank you in advance. I'm very new to pools and don't know much about my pool system yet. Tons of rain brought our water level over the skimmer yesterday. I need to drain some water out, right? Can I use the system to do this somehow?

I have a Starite System 3 (S8M150) filter. I don't have any settings for waste, etc. These forums - and what I think is the owners manual I found online - tell me I can't/don't backwash it, but I have this valve between the pump and the filter that sends water out to the waste water pipe. Can I divert the water to that pipe and then turn on the pump and will that drain some water?

Thank you so much. It's frustrating to have all this new-to-me equipment and have so little understanding of how it all works!
 

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Yes assuming that pipe goes somewhere safe to dump the water that valve will do what you want. I would recommend that you just crack it open (turn it clockwise a bit) with the pump running and gauge the resulting flow and increase as desired. You will get the maximum flow when the handle points to the right (towards the pump) in the picture. Be sure to monitor closely and put the valve back where it is when you've removed enough water. There's plenty of stories of folks forgetting and coming back to find that the pool is empty, the pump is running dry or both. Do not turn the valve counter-clockwise from the position in your picture. That will cut off the flow entirely and could damage the pump or plumbing.
 
Ah, thank you so much. I had a sense that if I did something wrong there, that it could be a big problem, so I really appreciate the advice about what direction to turn it!! It is connected to our main drain/sewer stack in the basement (in theory anyway!), but I'm going to have to keep a close eye under the deck to make sure it isn't just pouring out somewhere under there. Previous owners said they backwashed this filter this way every 30 days, but it seems like they may have been just draining water from the pool... Thank you!
 
Very good advice, yes, thank you. I had someone out to show me basically how the components worked, and he kind of showed me how to open it. We have a weekly maintenance guy for now since I can't get up to speed as quickly as needed and he has checked it! No idea if it needed cleaning (he tells me nothing). Next season I will know more! Thank you again - the valve worked and the pool level is back to normalish!
 
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