Disaster--plug failure

[WKF]

Given the rather balmy temperatures of the past few days, I went out to inspect the pool. To my horror, a plug on one of the return jets has fallen out, and the line is now full of water (I had put a gallon of antifreeze in, but as I understand it's heaver than water, and so would be at the point in the pipes least likely to freeze). It's supposed to drop to the teens tonight with highs below freezing for the next two days, with another round of sub-freezing temperatures in the next week or so. And all of February to get through.

Of course, given what we've just been through, with highs below 20 for a week or so and lows near zero, this may all be moot. I don't know when the plug fell out. But, what to do?

I could put the drain plug on the filter, hook up the air compressor, and blow the lines out, but given the water level, would be unable to get antifreeze back in the line. Draining water would require hooking everything back up, and I don't really want to be running water through the pump and filter given the coming temperatures. I also don't want to make a mistake and possibly cause more damage (or increase the possibility of damage). I could cross my fingers...

What to do?

 

[Leebo]

Here’s one for ya......I forgot to put the plug in at all. Even after the temps we had last week or so the pipes hadn’t burst. There was clearly some ice in them, but no damage. My suggestion personally, just make sure the ice has room to expand when it freezes and hope for a day or two of warm temps. If it’s not frozen solid you maybe to blow out the pipes but there’s a good chance you won’t be able to.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

As an aside, this is why you should own a small submersible pump as it allows you to drain water without needing the equipment hooked up. It is, in my opinion, a critical piece of pool owner equipment. 1/4 to 1/2 HP sub pumps are cheap too.

Good luck with the next round of cold. As Leebo suggested, giving the water room to expand in should help minimize pipe burst risk.