Help, need to leave for about 2 months Jan-March, Pool in North Texas

[Djlincer]

Hi All,

I am leaving for about two months in Jan-March and am shutting the main water supply to the house off because, in No. Tex., if it is going to freeze it will be during this time. I normally do not shut my pool down for winter because...Texas.

I want to leave my pump running but because I am shutting the water off, it will not be able to fill the pool when the level gets low. So, I have a few questions:

1) Can I run the pump with just the main drain feeding it and shut off the skimmers? I do have a leaf cover on the pool to keep debris out of it.
2) I have a Pentair EasyTouch 4 with two actuated valves but I am not sure how to close the valve to the skimmers and if i do so does the pool automatically pull water to the pump through the main drain?
3) I also have a poolside spa, that spills over into the pool, with what looks like two drains in the bottom of it, will those drain the spa if I am using the main drains to feed the pump?

My apologies, I purchased the house with the pool and do not have complete knowledge on the easy touch operations. Everything has been working the way I want it to since I moved in (if it ain't broke, don't fix it). I can do basic things in the easy touch menu like changing the schedule and such, but I'm not sure how to address the valves. The manual is not very helpful.

Thank You,
Doug

 

[mknauss]

I would winterize it and shut it down. Sounds like you will have no one to check on it, and thus, too many things can go bad.
Winterize in your area would be to drain the surface equipment and stuff some cut up pool noodles in the skimmer.

Clean up the mess when you return.

 

[suzook]

I would winterize it and shut it down. Sounds like you will have no one to check on it, and thus, too many things can go bad.
Winterize in your area would be to drain the surface equipment and stuff some cut up pool noodles in the skimmer.

Clean up the mess when you return.

What's the cut up noodles do?

 

[mknauss]

Keeps the skimmer from cracking if the pool ices up.

 

[suzook]

Keeps the skimmer from cracking if the pool ices up.

Oh, OK. So like the Gizmo plugs I used on my last pool, same sorta theory.

 

[mknauss]

Oh, OK. So like the Gizmo plugs I used on my last pool, same sorta theory.

Yes. Sort of. The Gizmo kept the water out of the suction line after it was blown dry. In Texas you should not need to g to that extreme. Just be sure all surface equipment is drained. Pumps, filter, heater, etc