Waiting for the freezing weather

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WBW

WBW

Gold Supporter
Nov 13, 2022
126
Spring Branch, Texas
Pool Size
6000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Last year in TX we had record freezing weather with periods of grid downtime. We are a new time and first time pool owner. One month in! Our pump equipment is lower than our pool by several feet. We were told as a result of the equipment location, we will not be able to drain our pumps if freezing weather and electric will be out for hrs or days. Is this true? Does anybody have this situation and if so, any recommendations or suggestions? I have an electrician coming after the holiday to take a look at hooking up a breaker for a portable generator. But is this correct about not being able to drain our pumps? IM thinking about buying some insulation and heavy outdoor water proof blankets. Overkill? Tks all!
 
WBW said:
Our pump equipment is lower than our pool by several feet. We were told as a result of the equipment location, we will not be able to drain our pumps if freezing weather and electric will be out for hrs or days. Is this true?
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Depends. Do you have main drains or just skimmers? Do you have a spa with the pool, or just a pool? Do you have water features?

Pics of pool and pool area and the equipment pad would also help...
 
PoolStored said:
Depends. Do you have main drains or just skimmers? Do you have a spa with the pool, or just a pool? Do you have water features?

Pics of pool and pool area and the equipment pad would also help...
Click to expand...
Being new to pools I hope to provide with correct info. We have two skimmers. Main drain? I assume so as I believe in the middle of our pool for our in-line cleaner. No spa and no water features. I’ll provide pics tomorrow. Tks
 
WBW said:
Main drain? I assume so as I believe in the middle of our pool for our in-line cleaner.
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Are there things like this on the bottom of the pool?...these are main drains. Is there ANYTHING on the bottom of the pool.
1669345624825.png
When you say "middle of our pool," do you mean on the floor? Or do you mean you have a suction/pressure line that comes out of a port that is in the middle (between two ends) and on a SIDEWALL of the pool, some number of inches below the surface of the pool? It would look like this:
1669345688270.png
 
Ok, we have a main drain. Pic that you have, on the floor in the middle of the pool. Sorry for the ignorance. Haven’t had pool school from our PB and learning from this site.
 
WBW said:
Sorry for the ignorance. Haven’t had pool school from our PB and learning from this site.
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Seriously, no worries! We have lots of good folks with regional (TX) experience. All good. May take a day or two to get those in the know about texas pools to respond, given the holiday.

Having only skimmers makes it easy. Drain the pool below the skimmers and drain the rest of the plumbing. With main drains, a little bit of a difference story.

Let's call in some help.. @Texas Splash @HermanTX @Newdude @mknauss
 
PoolStored said:
Having only skimmers makes it easy. Drain the pool below the skimmers and drain the rest of the plumbing. With main drains, a little bit of a difference story.
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You still have water in the return pipes with that scenario.
 
You need to get properly equipped with plugs that can plug your skimmers and returns. Once you plug the skimmers and returns you can drain your equipment pad and the pipes leading to it.

You need to know if your main drain is piped to the skimmer or directly to the equipment pad to know how to handle it.

Post pics of your equipment pad so we can see what valves you have.

You will find information on winterization plugs in Closing Pool for Winter - Further Reading

Also read Preparing Pool for Cooler Months - Further Reading
 
PoolStored said:
Seriously, no worries! We have lots of good folks with regional (TX) experience. All good. May take a day or two to get those in the know about texas pools to respond, given the holiday.

Having only skimmers makes it easy. Drain the pool below the skimmers and drain the rest of the plumbing. With main drains, a little bit of a difference story.

Let's call in some help.. @Texas Splash @HermanTX @Newdude @mknauss
Click to expand...
Thank you! Looking forward from others.
 
WBW said:
Last year in TX we had record freezing weather with periods of grid downtime. We are a new time and first time pool owner. One month in! Our pump equipment is lower than our pool by several feet. We were told as a result of the equipment location, we will not be able to drain our pumps if freezing weather and electric will be out for hrs or days. Is this true? Does anybody have this situation and if so, any recommendations or suggestions? I have an electrician coming after the holiday to take a look at hooking up a breaker for a portable generator. But is this correct about not being able to drain our pumps? IM thinking about buying some insulation and heavy outdoor water proof blankets. Overkill? Tks all!
Click to expand...
Pictures of your equipment pad would help determine if you can drain or not. Also picture of your pool just to cnnfirm skimmers and main drain setup.
Will your portable generator just be for the pool equipment? You only have 1 pump so not much load. You do not indicate if you have a heater so that is one less item to be concerned with.

When it was significantly below freezing for several days in Feb 2021, I put up a tarp around my equipment pad to stop wind chill as well as any build up of ice/frost. I was fortunate to maintain power for majority of time, but was fully prepared to close valves and drain pump, filter, heater, etc.

Picture of tarp enclosure
5DFC6EBF-6348-448F-B62F-6292A7BFD3A9.jpeg2510C2BA-69DF-426A-8B97-FC46CB615A52.jpeg
 
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If you were to purchase the right supplies before hand (blow through bungee plugs, blow through gizzmos and a cylcone) you could empty the plumbing in a matter of 5 minutes if the need arose. You wouldn't even have to drain, just screw in the plugs, adjust some valves while blowing and walk away.
 
You ought to have a valve ahead of the pump on the suction side that can be closed. Once closed, you can then pull the 2-3 drain plugs on pump/filter and be done with it.

If you don't have a valve ahead of the pump, that's a very simple, inexpensive addition.

Anyways - pictures would help tremendously.
 
HermanTX said:
Pictures of your equipment pad would help determine if you can drain or not. Also picture of your pool just to cnnfirm skimmers and main drain setup.
Will your portable generator just be for the pool equipment? You only have 1 pump so not much load. You do not indicate if you have a heater so that is one less item to be concerned with.

When it was significantly below freezing for several days in Feb 2021, I put up a tarp around my equipment pad to stop wind chill as well as any build up of ice/frost. I was fortunate to maintain power for majority of time, but was fully prepared to close valves and drain pump, filter, heater, etc.

Picture of tarp enclosure
View attachment 463665View attachment 463668
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Thank you for the reply. I’ll take some pics and circle back. In the meantime, to answer your questions, we do not have a heater. We have two pumps, one is for the inline cleaner. Our equipment pad is blocked by a 5ft stone wall, orders by the HOA. A possible saving grace for freezing temps here in central Texas is the wall faces due north! So any north cold winds will be immediately blocked. The tarp is a good idea. Tks for the suggestion. Haven’t decided on the portable generator and the capacity. The electrician will be coming later next week. Last year we managed during the loss of grid without any damage. But the exposed pool pipes has me taking steps for prevention. I would like to think TX has its act together after last year and being located between Austin and San Antonio, maybe within a day of no electricity! 😂 WILL get back with pics
 
reggiehammond said:
You ought to have a valve ahead of the pump on the suction side that can be closed. Once closed, you can then pull the 2-3 drain plugs on pump/filter and be done with it.

If you don't have a valve ahead of the pump, that's a very simple, inexpensive addition.

Anyways - pictures would help tremendously.
Click to expand...
I’ll take some pics and circle back. I don’t believe we have such valve but will post pics to make sure if I’m mistaken.
 
Newdude said:
If you were to purchase the right supplies before hand (blow through bungee plugs, blow through gizzmos and a cylcone) you could empty the plumbing in a matter of 5 minutes if the need arose. You wouldn't even have to drain, just screw in the plugs, adjust some valves while blowing and walk away.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the reply. Not sure if I comprehend the course of action you are suggesting. As others have asked, I’ll post pics of the equipment pad and pool skimmers/ main drain. Tks again
 
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WBW said:
Thank you for the reply. Not sure if I comprehend the course of action you are suggesting. As others have asked, I’ll post pics of the equipment pad and pool skimmers/ main drain. Tks again
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@Newdude forgets that us Texans have NO CLUE what other people do to normally close pools in colder climates.
 
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Generator is a good option - it's relatively straightforward to power a pool pump if you'll be installing an interlocked gen inlet connected to your main panel.

Having said that, if you know a big freeze is coming and may lose power overnight or while you're away from the house, it's probably preferable to just drain the equipment ahead of time, if relatively easy to do so.
 
reggiehammond said:
@Newdude forgets that us Texans have NO CLUE what other people do to normally close pools in colder climates.
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The joke is GREAT. Big +1 for that. :)

But believe me, it is etched into my memory from The Great Freeze. We were able to walk everyone through how to drain their equipment, which was great, but had to helplessly watch as other plumbing froze and split. Not all the breaks were above ground where it was relatively easy to repair.

Or they saved the big pieces of equipment and lost valves/actuators/swgs/etc.

So if anyone wants to truly be prepared, we need the proper plugs and a way to blow the lines before it's needed. In this particular case with the equipment below the pool, the pipes will remain full above ground unless they are blown, so it's higher on the importance list.
 
gkw4815 said:
Generator is a good option - it's relatively straightforward to power a pool pump if you'll be installing an interlocked gen inlet connected to your main panel.

Having said that, if you know a big freeze is coming and may lose power overnight or while you're away from the house, it's probably preferable to just drain the equipment ahead of time, if relatively easy to do so.
Click to expand...
Yea, I think the portable generator will be the way to go for me. Being new to all the pool equipment it might just be easier for me to use a plug and play concept. I’m just getting my head wrapped around water chemistry! 😂. I’ll still show some pics in tomorrow in case of options. Thanks
reggiehammond said:
@Newdude forgets that us Texans have NO CLUE what other people do to normally close pools in colder climates.
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lol 😂
 
Even with the Feb '21 freeze, the pool water didn't freeze, at least not in my case, but the equipment pad was a concern. Fortunately for us, the "forced" blackouts that year were short-lived and I had my pipes wrapped with insulation and covered with a pipe. If you wrap the pipes and even the filter body you're a step ahead. Maybe have a couple pieces of cut up pool noodles ready to stuff in the skimmer just in case. Be ready to drain the expensive stuff (pumps and filter) if needed, but hopefully you won't have to. We had a discussion about this situation in the video below. Enjoy the new pool. :swim:

 
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