Bottom drain cleaning (full of mud)

[mdramir]

Hello,

I drained my 13,000 pool and decided to take off the drain cover to clean the drain out. I was not having any "noticeable" issues with the pool. I just wanted to clean it out before the summer. The drain was really dirty. Lots of leaves, mud, sand that were easy to scoop out. One of the drain pipes/holes is completely filled with mud and sand. This would be the drain hole at the top of the picture. I put a stick in it and the mud is fairly compacted in there.

What is the purpose of the three different drain pipes? Is the mud and sand normal? Will it fix itself once the pool is refilled and the filter starts running? Or do I need to call someone to vacuum this up (or is there some other fix)?

Thank you so much for reading and any suggestions.

 

[HermanTX]

I assume the bottom drain was functional - correct? You can set it to bottom drain only and the water circulates?
Some bottom drains have a connection to a skimmer. So if the water level drops below the skimmer intake from the pool, then water will be sucked from the bottom drain to the skimmer to protect the pump. Yours may not be hooked up thus you have that sludge in it most likely accumulated over time and settled in those blanked off ports.
Others may have additional thoughts.

 

[Newdude]

+1 on blank ports. Each of my skimmers had one. They were sand/hard mud traps. If the hose won't break it free, I wouldn't go too crazy trying to disturb it, it will be full again soon enough anyway.

 

[mdramir]

Thanks for these replies. Yes, the bottom drain is functional. The mud was only in the top pipe about 5 inches deep. I think that top pipe just stops about 5-6 inches in. It doesn't seem to go anywhere. Not sure what the purpose is.

But everything seems to be working good.

I assume that one side near the off switch is where the skimmer water enters the pump and the other side is where the pop ups shoot water into the bottom main drain (above post) and the middle or bottom pipe in my original post sucks up water to this pump. I am slowly learning how the pool works.

 

[HermanTX]

The mud was only in the top pipe about 5 inches deep. I think that top pipe just stops about 5-6 inches in. It doesn't seem to go anywhere. Not sure what the purpose is.

See my earlier post - (copied it again below for easy reference)
Some bottom drains have a connection to a skimmer. So if the water level drops below the skimmer intake from the pool, then water will be sucked from the bottom drain to the skimmer to protect the pump. Yours may not be hooked up thus you have that sludge in it most likely accumulated over time and settled in those blanked off ports.

I assume that one side near the off switch is where the skimmer water enters the pump and the other side is where the pop ups shoot water into the bottom main drain (above post) and the middle or bottom pipe in my original post sucks up water to this pump. I am slowly learning how the pool works.

Your picture is for suction only - you need to figure out which side of the valve the 2 pipes lead to but my guess is one from your skimmer and the other from the bottom drain. You can move that valve from close (off) to one or the other or somewhere in between. One suggestion is that you have it 80% open to the skimmer and 20% to main drain - quite similar to how the valve is set now - the only issue is that we do not know which side is skimmer and which side is main drain. Suggest you completely move the valve to OFF to close 1 pipe and see if you have any suction in the skimmer. If so then the open side is the skimmer. Rotate the valve to close OFF the other pipe and the opposite will occur - you should not have any suction on the skimmer.

Not sure what you mean by "other side is where the pop ups shoot water into the bottom main drain" as you normally do not have a return to the main drain (but anything is possible). Suggest you take a picture of the pipes going to the pool (after the filter). I think you have an inground cleaning system as you refer to "pop up jets" in your signature. A picture will help clarify all of that