Please help a n00b identify some holes

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kri5tian

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Jun 13, 2016
62
Palm Harbor, Florida
Hello all,

My pool was working ok last summer, but I have a lot to do with it before swimming season. Can someone please tell me what the following holes are for? [gosh, it sounds hilarious asking that question]

The first port looks like it is a vacuum line of some sort, but I never could get it to suck (or blow), no matter how I positioned my pump valves. Is it indeed a vacuum line? It is around the height that a return jet is.

View attachment 58308

The next hole is located on the pool deck right adjacent to the deep end. It has a twist off cap. When I twisted the cap off and looked inside, all I see is a pipe headed straight down.

View attachment 58309

View attachment 58310

I am VERY curious as to what this pipe leads to. I am getting ready to drain my pool, and a sewer is not nearby. I also do not want to drain into my yard, because the water is full of fungus and disgusting. I've read that I can drain it to the "main drain" of my house, but I don't know where it is.

ANY advice on what these holes could be would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks in advance!!!

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Here is another pic of the last hole, to give you all more perspective on where it's located. The hole is outlined by a red square:

View attachment 58311
 
Seems like an odd place for an umbrella.

How deep does the hole go?

It might be a well point to drain ground water in case you need to drain the pool.

Is the pool fiberglass or concrete?
 
misplacetexan said:
The hole on the deck is for an umbrella.
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08f86b96de6d8d216a9cdaeef4cbb321.jpg




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Wow, I am genuinely intrigued by the answers. I don't know how far down the hole goes. I will stick a broomstick or tape measure down there in the morning and try to find out. If it were a pipe to drain ground water under the pool, that would be cool. So - if it only goes down a foot or so, it must be an umbrella holder, eh? My pool is a concrete pool built in 1986. I bought this house last April.

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I ordered a pump to drain the pool. I still don't know where I will drain to. When i figure that out, I will drain to knee-depth, then try to find and remove the hydrostatic valve, which should be adjacent to the main drain. I hope knee-deep water is enough to keep the pool from popping up. It has been at niche-level for many months (had to remove the light cord, which was epoxied in place, and then pool started leaking, but stopped at the niche level.
 
kri5tian said:
Wow, I am genuinely intrigued by the answers. I don't know how far down the hole goes. I will stick a broomstick or tape measure down there in the morning and try to find out. If it were a pipe to drain ground water under the pool, that would be cool. So - if it only goes down a foot or so, it must be an umbrella holder, eh? My pool is a concrete pool built in 1986. I bought this house last April.

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Click to expand...

A question that I forgot to ask was, "Is this the only one around the pool perimeter?" If so, I would agree that it seems like an odd place to put the only umbrella holder...


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I agree that it's most likely an umbrella sleeve.

Dewatering systems for pools can be done several ways. For fiberglass pools, it's common to put a pipe about 8" to 10" in diameter as a dry sump well. This is not a well point. The well tube is large enough to drop in a sump pump to push water up and out.

What is a pool sump and why MUST I have one? - YouTube

A well point is a different way to dewater ground water. It works like a typical pipe for a well. It's basically a 1.5" pipe going under the pool and it has a well point on the end.

To pump out water, you connect a pump to the pipe and pull the water out of the ground.

The pipe can be somewhere around the pool or by the equipment.
 
By Jove James....that's twice tonight I've learned the *proper* names for things from you! Thank you!

<Yip scratches out "clear" and "well point" and writes "colorless" and "sump well" on a piece of scratch paper.....that she'll probably lose tomorow, but hey!.....>

Yip :flower:
 

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Ok guys, I stuck the end of my brush pole in the hole, and it would only go down 3 ft. So, I peered into the hole and it looked like it might curve at the bottom. I got out my plumber's snake and was able to fish it down the hole to 14 feet 2 inches before it bottomed out!!! Also, when I shook the snake around, it sounded like it was wet down there. When I pulled the snake back out, sure enough, the end was wet. This is the ONLY hole around the pool.

So - PLEASE get back with me guys! If this is a well point like James says, what do I do? I ordered the "Superior Pump 91330 1/3 HP Thermoplastic Submersible Utility Pump" from a website and it is arriving today. I want to empty the pool so I can begin my cleaning out process. Should I somehow try to attach the pump to this pipe and pump out the water below? I was planning on emptying the pool to knee-deep level (right now, the water is at niche-level), and then removing the hydrostatic valve by the main drain. I guess it's better for me to first try to pump out the water from this pipe?

One more big question - why can't I pump the nasty pool water into one of my toilets or my outdoor sink? Sure, I would have to constantly monitor for clogs, but it's doable, right? In the meantime, I'll search for this mythical "main drain" that is supposed to exist around my house.

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Also, I see one of the holes that I asked about (the one I thought was a vacuum line) did not post in my original thread. Here it is.
View attachment 58323

can you guys tell me what it's used for? It has a spring loaded cap, and my finger is holding it to the side.
 
YippeeSkippy, my pool is plaster.

JamesW - thanks for the reply. [I don't know why I'm not getting e-mail notifications when people reply to my threads! I have that box selected in my settings. Oh well...]

So I'll proceed with my plan to first try to pump the water out of the well point...and then get it knee-deep in the actual pool before trying to remove the hydrostatic valve. Thanks to all!!!
 
kri5tian said:
One more big question - why can't I pump the nasty pool water into one of my toilets or my outdoor sink? Sure, I would have to constantly monitor for clogs, but it's doable, right? In the meantime, I'll search for this mythical "main drain" that is supposed to exist around my house.

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It depends on how much water the pump moves. The volume of water going into a toilet or sink would probably overwhelm the capacity of the toilet bowl or sink and overflow.

Look for a cleanout near where the plumbing would enter the house, like close to where the kitchen sink or toilets are located. Most cleanouts are outside the house, but some houses have them in the basement. It will be a pipe kind of off by itself with a cap that screws onto it.
 
Go to Home Depot, get as much 2" hose as you need to reach the street, you must have storm drains in the street and you can use the same hose when you need to backwash.
you COULD......dump it in your main drain for the house...........there should he a T-Wye where your sewer line exits the house, on one side of that T Wye..........there will be a 4" plug.........for cleaning out the sewer, you can remove the plug and stick the hose in there, but I highly recommend draining to street if u can
 
Do you know how to open the vacuum valve so you will have suction.
you should have a valve for skimmer, a valve for main drain in bottom of pool and the other one is the one u open to get suction on the vacuum line.
 
Well, my sump pump arrived and it just dawned upon me that it won't work to pump the water from the well point (duh!). I need to research another method to do that. Also, there is obviously quite a few feet of air in that pipe before it hits water, so that could cause priming problems, depending on what pump/method I use. I almost want to roll the dice and just empty the pool to knee-height, then remove the hydrostatic valve, but nobody on here has given me their blessing to do that.
 
A self priming pump should be able to get prime on the well point.

The well point can give you a good idea about how far down the ground water is.

How far down did you hit water when you checked the depth of the well point?

Draining is risky unless you're sure that the ground water is not high enough to float the pool.
 

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