Keeping leaves out of skimmer

[fairplay13]

Hi everyone,
I am sure this question has been asked a thousand times, but i am wondering what people recommend for keeping leaves from building up in the skimmer basket?
I am going to be going away for 12 days, i have someone keeping an eye on the pool, but we have a tree right over our pool and i am concerned about leaves filling up the skimmer basket.

I created an external filter, similar to the picture below with pvc piping and plastic netting material. It seems to work ok for now, but i tested it by putting a cloth all over the whole thing, even the bottom, and i found that it took about 10 secs to it to run dry. I am sure it will never get that bad, but i still have it on on mind.

Does anyone have any other recommendations?

Thanks

 

[jblizzle]

Do you also have a floor drain? If so, leave the skimmer and floor open so if the skimmer clogs, water will pull from the floor.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short

 

[zea3]

You can use a pool skim to cut down on the amount of leaves floating in the water.

 

[Bjarni]

Do you also have a floor drain? If so, leave the skimmer and floor open so if the skimmer clogs, water will pull from the floor.

This topic is confusing me, isn't this valve configuration the normal for a pool? I don't understand why both the skimmer and floor drains wouldn't be open all of the time.

 

[jblizzle]

There are a few different ways that pools seem to be plumbed. And there are many pools that do not even have a floor drain.

If the floor is plumbed to the skimmer (both of my pools have been this way), then you need a float diverter in the bottom of the skimmer to allow suction from the floor if the skimmer clogs or the water gets too low.

Or the better way is that both the skimmer and floor are plumbed separately to the equipment pad with a valve to adjust where the suction comes from.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short

 

[Bjarni]

There are a few different ways that pools seem to be plumbed. And there are many pools that do not even have a floor drain.

If the floor is plumbed to the skimmer (both of my pools have been this way), then you need a float diverter in the bottom of the skimmer to allow suction from the floor if the skimmer clogs or the water gets too low.

Or the better way is that both the skimmer and floor are plumbed separately to the equipment pad with a valve to adjust where the suction comes from.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short

Thanks for the clarification Jason.