HELP please - confused about water level for closing

[pfitz4]

I have two skimmers , two returns, and a wall drain which is about 5 inches below the skimmers. Here are the measurements: Bottom of skimmer is 10" below the top of the pool, returns are 18" below the top, wall drain is 20" below the top. My pool is 42" deep in the shallow end and about 8' in the deep end.

At first, I drained the water to a few inches below the skimmers. Then I read that I need to keep going until it is all the way below the returns/wall drain. Is this necessary? In the past, a pool company has closed my pool but I'm doing it myself this year. They have never blown out the lines because my pump system is downhill from the pool, and I'm guessing that causes the water to drain out of the lines. I live in Alabama - we do have freezing temps over the winter but usually nothing drastic. In past closings, they would put gizmos in the skimmers and plug the returns.

I went ahead and drained down almost to the wall drain but this seems so low! I do not want to risk damaging my vinyl liner. Right now the water level is 18" below the top of the liner. So there is 24" of water in the shallow end. I am concerned I dropped the level too low.

 

[mas985]

Does the pool water ever freeze solid? If not, I would not worry about the water level. Also, frost depth is less than 12" for your area so any plumbing deeper than that will not freeze underground. A water level below the skimmer should be fine.

 

[pfitz4]

Thank you for the feedback. No, the pool water has never frozen solid.

I ended up with a water level about 6" below the skimmer, or about 18" below the top of the pool. Do you think this is too low - I just don't want to cause any problems with the vinyl liner.

 

[pfitz4]

One more question. Do I need to plug the wall drain? I plugged the returns and polaris return, and I put gizmos in the skimmers. I also took the drain plugs out of all the pump and filter equipment.

 

[mas985]

Given your weather, I don't think you need to lower the water much below the skimmer and I don't think you need the wall plugs either. In fact, you could possibly leave the pool open if you wanted to. You would just need to take some precautions when temps dip below freezing.

The Physics of Freezing and Freeze Protection

Recently, there have been a lot of questions from those living in moderate climates about using automatic freeze protection or running pumps to prevent freezing and what a pool owner should do when temperatures drop so I thought it might be useful to have a thread which dealt with the issue from...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[pfitz4]

I will definitely research this option for next year. Thank you for the link.

Since I have already dropped the water level and plugged the lines, do you see any concerns with the water level being 18” below the top (measurements listed in the original post)? Will the liner be ok at this level?

 

[mariane]

Thank you for the feedback. No, the pool water has never frozen solid.

I ended up with a water level about 6" below the skimmer, or about 18" below the top of the pool. Do you think this is too low - I just don't want to cause any problems with the vinyl liner.

My 2 cents: this is what we do every year for the past 13 years, actually even lower, but our water freezes solid. We have to drain so the ice doesn't rip the face plates on the skimmer and return openings. And we have an above ground pool. I don't think you'll have a problem. Your freezing temps will probably never freeze the water solid and cause the water/ice to rise from expansion.

If the pool is covered, the liner will be fine.

 

[pfitz4]

Thanks for the 2 cents, I'll take all the advice I can get!