Calling Those of you without main or floor drains

[Steve_in_C]

I have trees around my pool. If I run the pool on 100% skimmer during any period with leaf fall, my skimmer may stop up in just an hour and cavitate the pump. I must run my suction on partial skimmer / partial main drains to keep this from happening. If I lived in an area without the trees or much surface trash, I could forgo the main drain.

This reminds me of the 70s when overhead lights went out of style: "Just use lamps". Then the short-lived fad died out and those houses don't have any wiring for overhead lights. Bummer. Why not put in plumbing during the build for main drains during the build. Just seal over. Then you could always put a drain in if needed as the plumbing would be in place.

 

[Dirk]

I got all excited when I saw the title of your thread. "Oh, I know, I know!" I thought. But you've already heard my take!!

You could always get one of these (did I already share this, too?):

http://www.poolfittings.com/channel-pebble-top/

It eliminates virtually all of the downsides of having a drain. Have it plumbed to your pad, not your skimmer, and keep it shut off if you want to up the level of safety a tad. Use it if and when you need to. I don't disagree with Jim about the safety of modern drain systems. I just know my kids play at the bottom a lot, and it's nice not to have to think about a drain down there, and what it can or cannot do.

All pool systems can fail, and not do what they're supposed to, especially when humans have a hand in them. That includes pipes to drains, valves for drains, skimmers, auto-fillers and VGB covers, too (they have to be in place to work). So you have to weigh the options, the risks (real or imagined, as peace of mind can be important to some of us, too), and the costs and just do the best you can.

Fortunately, in this instance, you really can't go wrong. I had originally mentioned it to you so you would just know there were options. I think it's great that you're exploring them.

 

[Divin Dave]

no main drain here. There really isnt any benefit to having one.

 

[JasonJoel]

Yes, there is, as has been mentioned numerous times in this thread.

Whether it is a benefit/feature YOU want is a judgement call on your part.

 

[BMK]

I feel that any pool located in close proximity to trees should absolutely be built with main drains. More than once, after storms, my skimmers became full of leaves from nearby trees, blocking water circulation severely. Luckily I had bottom drains to help save my pump.

I see no downside to having bottom drains. I do see several potential problems, in some specific situations, with not having them.

 

[Lkruse]

Previous owners concrete drain because it was leaking. I had the concrete busted up and a screw top drain inserted. Have soil problems here and if pool is empty and water backing up under the pool could lift it out of ground. At least if I took off screw top water will back up into pool. I have 2 skimmers and I frequently leave the vacuum...that connects to skimmer...in the bottom of deep end to get better circulation where leaves collect.

 

[Steve_in_C]

I got all excited when I saw the title of your thread. "Oh, I know, I know!" I thought. But you've already heard my take!!

You could always get one of these (did I already share this, too?):

http://www.poolfittings.com/channel-pebble-top/


Search for "AVSC drain" to find this type of drain.

 

[PoolGuy3838]

I just got an Aquasport and I’m planning on doing the double main drain...do you have any issues with yours? I don’t think the drain above can be used in an Aquasport..can it?

 

[Household6]

Our concrete pool is 35+ years, from what neighbors have said. We’ve owned it for 10 of those years, 8 of which it was a rental property.

Evidently the pool originally had a main drain, but at some point was filled with concrete. Other than being a good conversation topic (house was seized in a drug raid and wonder if any remaining drug money is hidden in there) there has been one time it would have been useful - when we drained the pool to do a DIY resurfacing about 4 years ago. The solution was to rent a pump -seems it cost around $40.

As for worrying about your skimmers getting full or the pump going dry while on vacation, we turn everything off if we will be gone over 2 days (no timer and the pump cost around $4/day to run). Have yet to return to a nasty pool and never takes more than a day or two to get things back in line.

I value not having to worry about a main drain - just one less thing to go wrong.