Pool Draining Questions Intex 15X48

[jtk]

Hi everyone,

It's that time of year in Chicago unfortunately. I had a plan of action in place, but after doing some reading I wanted to run a few things by the community before proceeding.

1. I have read that vinyl lining AGP's should not be drained due to the vinyl drying out and becoming misshapen, deeming it useless. However, I'm the suburbs of Chicago and winter is coming. Is this true? I've heard of the beach ball in the water and the cover on to assist in the expanding and retracting, but I'm a first year pool owner and prefer not to have the worry.

2. I have plenty of room on the property to drain, and several hundred feet of line to reach out to a wooded area of dead ground vegetation. However, I have a salt-water system and I'm on well water. Is this a safe practice? I would hate to pay a service to come out and drain it, as I already paid more to fill it than the pool itself cost. But, I'd also feel pretty dumb if I contaminated my own well .

I would appreciate your input, thanks in advance,

jt

 

[SuzyQ52]

I'm in the process of draining mine- also a 15x48 Intex with a SWG. I just used a siphon hose out to the edge of the yard. Behind and below that is an area that a storm drain empties into, so water is no big deal there. There doesn't seem to be any more water back there than there was yesterday, so the water must have soaked into the ground. The hose alone drained it down to @ 1-2 inches in about 24 hours. It got dark, so I'll finish the rest with the shop vac tomorrow.

This is exactly the same thing I did last year with no ill effects on the vegetation in the water's path. Once I get to the shop vac part, I just dump it on the grass (it's not like I could lift or move the full shop vac more than a few inches - woman in her sixties here!). Again. no ill effects to the grass. I would imagine that if the grass is not harmed in any way, your well should be fine.

As to the vinyl lining becoming misshapen or damaged due to drying - well, the Intex liners are something of a different animal from the liners in higher end AGPs. They are intended to be taken down yearly.

Somewhere, maybe somewhere here on TFP, I read to sprinkle talcum powder around on the dried surfaces of the pool before you fold it up- theory being that it will not stick to itself and cause holes in storage. I did that last year, and this year opened up with no holes. There had been several pinholes when it came out of the box, brand new. So, at least for me this year, it seems to have worked. I store the pool in the basement - liner in a huge tote, and pump, SWG, hoses and all that jazz in another.