Properly draining a plaster pool (in AZ)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
S

scottyja

0
Jun 24, 2009
11
I have a 9,400 gallon plaster pool in Southern, AZ. My CYA is > 200 from using chlorine bricks (before discovering this site). Using the pool calculator, I need to drain approximately 80% of my pool. When doing a google search for properly draining a pool, just about every site says not to, or I run the risk of the hydrostatic pressure raising or popping my pool. This scares me quite a bit. What do I need to do to get this done safely? I'm sure I could pay the pool company to do it for me, and the liability rests with them, but what are they going to do or have that I couldn't?

The pool was built in 2004 by the previous owners, so I'm not sure if there's a hydrostatic release valve or not. I'm not even sure what to look for with this. The guy at the pool store said just to drain it and refill in the same day and I'd be fine, but given all the warnings online I'm a little hesitant. Does anyone else in this part of the country have experience draining a pool?
 
scottyja said:
I have a 9,400 gallon plaster pool in Southern, AZ. My CYA is > 200 from using chlorine bricks (before discovering this site). Using the pool calculator, I need to drain approximately 80% of my pool. When doing a google search for properly draining a pool, just about every site says not to, or I run the risk of the hydrostatic pressure raising or popping my pool. This scares me quite a bit. What do I need to do to get this done safely? I'm sure I could pay the pool company to do it for me, and the liability rests with them, but what are they going to do or have that I couldn't?

The pool was built in 2004 by the previous owners, so I'm not sure if there's a hydrostatic release valve or not. I'm not even sure what to look for with this. The guy at the pool store said just to drain it and refill in the same day and I'd be fine, but given all the warnings online I'm a little hesitant. Does anyone else in this part of the country have experience draining a pool?
Click to expand...


OR, you could just contact these folks and save most of your water... www.calsaway.com
 
In Arizona a calcium removal service like Calsaway is a good option. In general, you can drain a plaster pool as long as the ground water level is low enough and the daytime highs aren't too high. I expect that both of these will be fine in most of AZ this time of year, certainly the high temperatures aren't going to be too high. Ground water levels are a little more difficult to be sure of, but are not a big issue in most of AZ most of the time. You can find out more about ground water levels if you have a well, or other hole in the ground, that is nearly as deep as your pool or deeper, or by talking to other people in the area to see if you can find someone who knows what ground water levels typically are in your specific area.
 
Services like Calsaway are usually very competitive with water replacement as long as you are inside their main service area. This kind of service has been around in limited areas for several years, but it isn't available most places.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply