Is it necessary to drain a winterized pool early?

[garybtru]

Hi all,

My neighbor told me to be sure to drain the pool as soon as it fills up with rain before opening the pool. (I didn't ask why though!) They use chlorine pucks and blame acid rain for turning their water cloudy, so I take what they say w/ a grain of salt.

I've only closed/winterized our pool twice, and at the end of winter it's inevitable that the pool is filled to the top of the skimmer w/ water after all the melting snow and rain. Last year on our first warm (~50º) day I hooked up a small pump I bought that has a garden hose hooked to it, let it run for like 6 hours, and lowered the water level so it's just barely coming into the skimmer. I asked a pool store employee if this was necessary and he said no, the water will spill over the gap above the plastic part of our skimmer basket and just seep into the ground.

So, is it really necessary to drain the pool as soon as possible? What's the worst that could happen if I don't? Obviously I'll eventually lower the water level when I open the pool and hook back up our pump & filter etc. but do I need to drain the pool before then, or is there no point to that?

Thanks!

 

[jblizzle]

The only reason I can think of to drain water after the winter would be if the water is too high for the skimmer. I think I would rather pump it off to somewhere safe than just let it spill out over the skimmer. I have no idea what your neighbor is thinking.

 

[Richard320]

I can think of a coupler easons to keep the water level down.

1) No pool is absolutely level. There's always going to be one spot lower than the rest. That's where the overflow is all going to drain. That section of ground is going to end up soggier than the rest, and if the pool is going to sink in the mud, that's where it'll do it. Which will make more water flow there, softening it further. It's better if you decide where the overflow goes.
2) If there is a pinhole anywhere above the normal level, maybe a poor seal on the skimmer gasket, you probably wouldn't know it. But the water will find it and it can get behind the liner that way.

I see no reason to rush out there to drain it unless there is a danger of the skimmer filling up and freezing and breaking, but I still wouldn't let the water linger up above the normal depth for long for the reasons I just stated.

 

[atlas71]

The only other reason you would drain if it was high, would be int he middle of winter if we had a warm spell and the ice melted, than a lot of rain/snow came, raised the level and it froze. that will potentially bust up some of the brick around the pool edge. Also, depending on where your pool is built, my earth below 12" is all clay...