I have a 17,000 gallon in ground pool that I need to drain. I have a spigot above my pump between the pump and filter. Can I hook a hose up to the spigot turn on the filter and safely drain my pool or do I need to bite the bullet and rent a pump?
Drain pool using spigot above filter?
- Thread starter Seitas
- Start date
Seitas,
Welcome to TFP... A Great resource for all your pool questions....
Yes, you can use the spigot. But unless you have way to shut off your skimmers and select only the main drain, you will not be able to drain anything below the skimmer bottom.
You can also use the siphon method with a garden hose. Just like when your were stealing gas from your neighbor's car.
Or maybe that was me...
Thanks for posting,
Jim R.
Welcome to TFP... A Great resource for all your pool questions....
Yes, you can use the spigot. But unless you have way to shut off your skimmers and select only the main drain, you will not be able to drain anything below the skimmer bottom.
You can also use the siphon method with a garden hose. Just like when your were stealing gas from your neighbor's car.
Or maybe that was me...Thanks for posting,
Jim R.
- May 23, 2015
- 25,703
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
I would add this - if your pool surface is plaster, you really don't want a plaster surface to sit dry for any significant length of time. Pool plaster can and will crack if it dries out and the temperature cycling throughout a typical day will add to the stress on the plaster. Remember that the plaster normally has 17,000 gallons of water pressing up against it and water temperatures change very, very slowly.
Honestly, renting a submersible pump is not all that expensive and you can drain a pool in a few hours using one. Using your pool pump or the siphon method can take days to drain a pool because a garden hose has very limited flow rates. A submersible pump with a 2" discharge hose attached to it can move water at a rate greater than 3000 gallons per hour or more depending on the size of the pump you rent.
Why are you draining the pool if I might ask?
Honestly, renting a submersible pump is not all that expensive and you can drain a pool in a few hours using one. Using your pool pump or the siphon method can take days to drain a pool because a garden hose has very limited flow rates. A submersible pump with a 2" discharge hose attached to it can move water at a rate greater than 3000 gallons per hour or more depending on the size of the pump you rent.
Why are you draining the pool if I might ask?
Thank you
- - - Updated - - -
I will probably just rent the pump. I am replacing water because my cya is out of control and I can't keep chlorine in it at all. I used the pucks but after lurking in this community switched over to bleach. I had to add a gallon per day to maintain any FC. I'm ditching the pucks and starting over with the bbb method.
- - - Updated - - -
I will probably just rent the pump. I am replacing water because my cya is out of control and I can't keep chlorine in it at all. I used the pucks but after lurking in this community switched over to bleach. I had to add a gallon per day to maintain any FC. I'm ditching the pucks and starting over with the bbb method.
- May 23, 2015
- 25,703
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Depending on how high your CYA is, you might only need to do a partial drain. Fully draining a pool is always fraught with difficulty because not only can plaster be damaged by drying out, but a pool can float out of the ground if the water table is high enough. So if you can avoid a full drain, it's always a little safer. If your water table is low d you rent a high speed pump, then you should be fine.
Good job on ditching the pucks. They have their time and place for use but not for daily chlorination. Bleach is best and SWGs are a great way to automate chlorination if you can afford the upfront costs. Stenner pumps are nice option too for automating bleach dosing. Anything you can do to make the pool easier to operate is a big help.
Welcome to TFP
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Our water table in Fresno is very low. I still have concerns because it's my first drain and long over due. My cya is in the neighborhood of 150+. I burned through a solar cover in one season. The chlorine just ate it up.
- Jun 13, 2013
- 224
I don't have a floor drain but typically have to drain my pool about 30% every fall for winterizing. I toss the vacuum into the pool, hook it up via the skimmer plate, and set the pump to drain. Water draws from vacuum at bottom of pool, pool drains. Simple, and fast - the pool pump moves a LOT of water when on high speed..but do NOT turn off the pool pump until you've reached the level you want - using this method however if you shut it off with the water below the skimmer level it's difficult to get the system primed again.
I use a garden hose with a small stream pointed at the point the vacuum hose couples to the skimmer plate however as I discovered the first time I drained via this method that once the water dropped below the skimmer level, the hose and fittings were drawing in a tiny bit of air which will (eventually) cause the pool pump to break prime. The little stream of water keeps things primed and stops any air from hosing things up.
Here's a time lapse of closing a few years ago using this method. It's 22 seconds in time lapse but real time was about 60 minutes, and the water drain portion was probably only about 30 minutes. I could probably drain the pool completely in a little over 1-1.5 hours, so even a much larger pool you'd only be talking a few hours.
Closing our pool in 22 seconds flat - Time lapse
I use a garden hose with a small stream pointed at the point the vacuum hose couples to the skimmer plate however as I discovered the first time I drained via this method that once the water dropped below the skimmer level, the hose and fittings were drawing in a tiny bit of air which will (eventually) cause the pool pump to break prime. The little stream of water keeps things primed and stops any air from hosing things up.
Here's a time lapse of closing a few years ago using this method. It's 22 seconds in time lapse but real time was about 60 minutes, and the water drain portion was probably only about 30 minutes. I could probably drain the pool completely in a little over 1-1.5 hours, so even a much larger pool you'd only be talking a few hours.
Closing our pool in 22 seconds flat - Time lapse
Or use the sheet or tarp method:
New User - Doing first drain - What do I need to know? - Page 3
The fun starts at post #52
New User - Doing first drain - What do I need to know? - Page 3
The fun starts at post #52
Here at TFP we have done extensive testing on this product and found it does NOT work
We so wanted it to but it did not work. The company even donated some to a PO to try out and he followed the directions to the T and it did not work.Kim TFP MOD
Following up on the CYA remover, there was a lot of excitement when this forum first found it. Many, many. many members found it to be simply ineffective.
This is interesting. Definitely considering this method. Makes sense. Finding the right tarp and the cost are the only negatives but that seems much less costly than replacing the pool. I might check with party rental stores around here and see if I can rent a tarp. I'd need about 40x50 to be safe. Pool is 30x14 with 7.5 ft max depth. I do have a wall that adds about 2.5 feet of height to one side of the pool I need to account for.
Thank you for the suggestion.