Pump or not to pump–the water behind the vinyl

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mcleod

mcleod

Gold Supporter
Jan 2, 2022
179
east texas
Pool Size
16171
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I've had billowing in my new vinyl pool several times and have chosen to let the water table subside. It turned out well—everything returned to form. This last storm (once in a generation, though I've heard that before) has produced floating vinyl beyond my imagination. See the picture below.

Should I be patient and let the water find its own way out? I suppose this will require some looking after to manage the potential for wrinkles. OR start pumping some, if not all, of the water from behind, again with brushing of wrinkles, etc. Thoughts anyone? @Dirk?

McLeod

IMG_7801.JPG
 
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A vinyl pool in Texasl

Rural location with an inground vinyl pool. New vinyl was installed this summer. The current storm has dumped a lot of water and the sides of the pool are poofing out. One, is this typical? Two, what, if anything, should be done and when? Three, how might this be prevented going forward? Happy...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Water Table Issues with Vinyl pools. Who to call??

I've been watching some YouTube videos lately on mitigating water table issues. The standard approach seems to be installing pipes or digging holes with sump pumps. In heavy rains, pillowing of the sides occurs on every side. I've discussed this with the PC; his answer seems too pat (dig a...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
JamesW said:
Typical ground water issue.

You probably need dry wells to monitor the ground water and keep it low enough to prevent the problem in the future.

You can see water standing in the background.
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Same issue, same advice.

Get something to control ground water or the problem will just keep happening.
 
An update on the floating pool...
The picture at the top of this thread evidenced the issue. The photo below is where it is this morning, literally overnight. From the perspective of looking into the pool, the liner has returned to its original shape without wrinkles. Hmmm? The liner remains extended in many places, all on the vertical–about the dimensions of a speed bump. A large bumpout remains, which you can see in the photo. The PC is coming to "pump" out the remaining water behind the vinyl today (should I have them come?). will continue to post this saga.

McLeod

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mcleod said:
The PC is coming to "pump" out the remaining water behind the vinyl today (should I have them come?).
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In my opinion, trying to address the issue by removing water from behind the liner is the wrong approach.

In my opinion, pumping water out of the ground is the correct approach.

In my opinion, this will keep happening every time it rains a significant amount unless you install a sump with an automatic pump.
 
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Rerouting it in the yard may help if it's heavy rain slowly filtering down and having nowhere else to go verses the ground water table rising up. It could also be both that are causing you problems.
 
Depending on how the pool was built and backfilled it may be acting as a reservoir. What is the soil in your area, sand and well draining, clay and poor draining? is this from the water table raising? Are you in an area where the water table is close to the surface?

If it's not the water table I would dig a hole just outside the fence and see if the fills with water and can be pumped out. If all the ground around the pool is poor draining and the pool was backfilled with permeable material you basically have a pool within a pool. In this case you should be able to pump the water out and prevent this from happening. If it's high water table or you're is larger area of permeable area over a non-permeable soil you're in a pickle, not sure there are much option other than filling the pool as much as possible to try and keep the pressure inside more than outside.

I was going to say convert to salt but you already are, salt water is a little more dense. At pool salt levels i am guessing this is negligible.
 

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JamesW said:
In my opinion, trying to address the issue by removing water from behind the liner is the wrong approach.

In my opinion, pumping water out of the ground is the correct approach.

In my opinion, this will keep happening every time it rains a significant amount unless you install a sump with an automatic pump.
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I concur. The PC was coming to "pump" the vinyl so that it would recover its original shape. We waved him off when the vinyl returned to its shape overnight. Now, I have a leak–I lost an inch of water overnight. Now I have rerouting ground water and a leak to contend with.

McLeod
 
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With that much water movement in the soil in that short period of time, settling is a concern. I would start looking for the leak at all the opening in the liner (steps, returns skimmers, lights, etc). How old is the liner?
 
Bill1974 said:
With that much water movement in the soil in that short period of time, settling is a concern. I would start looking for the leak at all the opening in the liner (steps, returns skimmers, lights, etc). How old is the liner?
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Liner is about six months old
 
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