Hello, I'm buying a house in Central NJ that has a 16x32 IG pool. The sellers had the pool winterized last week and I called the pool guy to follow up. He said he blew out the skimmer line and put the gizmo in it, but did not blow out or plug the returns since they are down far enough that they won't freeze. He says he built the pool 15 years ago and that the return lines are 3.5 feet down and so well below the level where the ground will freeze. I've never heard of this before and was suspicious. Is it okay to leave the returns like this or should I have another pool company blow out the lines as soon as I take possession of the house? (I can't do it now since it's not actually my pool yet and the sellers are unlikely to want to spend any additional money).
Can you close an in-ground pool without blowing out and plugging the returns?
- Thread starter Chris F
- Start date
I can see what he is saying and that's true BUT that water level inside that return has to come to the surface at / near the pump pad. That water will raise in the return pipe to the level of the water in the pool with no plugs in place. It will for sure freeze at ground level.
Thanks. That makes sense. It also is not that far down where they actually come into the pool.
3.5 feet down is really far, that would be at floor level in the shallow end for a lot of steel wall pools. It may be ok depending on how the plumbing is run. If (when) the water starts to freeze in the pipe it will likely freeze down and just expand towards the pool. As long as it isn't freezing from two directions at once it shouldn't burst. It's effectively the same thing as not blowing out a floor drain for the winter. You could try and pour some antifreeze down the return lines to mitigate any freezing that might occur.
I don't know much, but it seems that if the guy that built it has been closing it this way for 15 years, he must be doing something right.
Either that or he's looking to do some repair work in the spring. :0
Either that or he's looking to do some repair work in the spring. :0