How do I drain my pool

[Taysvea]

My boyfriend and I tried to set up our AGP ourselves and it’s not level we have to take the whole thing down to get the ground level.

Fortunately, I found someone to level the ground since we obviously don’t know what we’re doing. The guy whose doing it wants us to drain the pool(~5700 gallons). What’s the best way to do this?

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! In your case, you'll probably need a sump pump that you can drop in there. They rent them at places like Home Depot or Lowe's if you don't want to buy one. They also provide hoses to direct the water where it needs to go. Good luck!

 

[Newdude]

Welcome Tay !! In the above ground pool section of the forums are oodles of setup threads from this year alone. Leveling is a project for sure and it’s understandable if you don’t want to tackle some or all of the install. Learning about all the steps will benefit you either way.

seeing how you have a bit before it’s all completed, Check outTest Kits Compared. Reliable testing is the cornerstone of TFP and you will need one of those kits to be trouble free. Search around quickly for horror stories of new members and what the pool store charged them when they didn’t know what to do. The tests kits may seem pricey at first glance but they will pay you back many times over their cost.

ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry is what to do with the test kit. The related articles in pool school detail the simple generic chemicals that can be bought at all of your regular stores. No need for fancy labels and price markups. Baking soda, bleach and a few others.

Enter all your info into PoolMath and it will tell you exactly how to get to where you want to be.

 

[zea3]

If this is an Intex style soft side pool there should be a drain plug near the bottom in the same area where the hoses connect to the pump and filter. I think it is a 2 stage plug, where you open the outside first and attach a drain hose, then open the plug from the inside of the pool. If you could post the brand and size of pool we could give you recommendations suited for your pool.

 

[Chasarms]

If you have the time and patience, you can drain it without renting a pump using a garden hose to create a siphon. With a one hose siphon, it will take about twice as long to drain it as it took to fill it.

To create a siphon, you need the hose completely full of water (no air) and one end on the bottom of the pool and the other end lower than the bottom of your pool and in an area that 5,700 gallons of water will drain away without causing problems.

The easiest way to do it is to use the return on the pump to fill the hose and then just drop it to the bottom of the pool.

If the pump is not yet hooked up, you can do it with two hoses and your outdoor spigot. Just couple the two hoses together with one hose attached to the spigot, the coupling of the two under the waterline of the pool and second hose's other end in your safe drain area.

Turn on the spigot to get good flow. As soon as you get water flowing to the drain area, reach under the water and separate the two hoses while keeping them underwater. Once separated drop the drain hose to the floor of the pool and it should keep flowing. Don't forget to turn off the water that is now running into the pool from the first hose!