Is overflow a problem?

[ar26pt2]

Hi! Inherited pool owner here. Our pool apparently has no overflow drain. We get a lot of spring and winter rain, and occasional heavy summer storm. I’m under the impression that an overflowing pool is no good for my coping and decking (stone cemented in). Meaning I feel like the overflowed water may be seeeping under the decking and could contribute to problems. So I periodically drain a few inches down. But that causes issues with diverting it away from neighbors.

Do I need to drain down some it or is it ok to just let it stay overfilled for potentially weeks on end?

Much thanks!

 

[Dirk]

Definitely keep the water level where it's supposed to be, draining when you need to. Overflowing can be bad for the coping, the deck, the expansion joint, the landscaping, neighbor's yards, your home's foundation, the pool shell, etc, etc. (All depends on where the uncontrolled flow is going.)

Some municipalities have codes about draining a pool, where the water goes. You might check with yours. You can't always just let it go into the gutter, or the sewer, or "out the back" into a rain-water drainage system or stream. In some cases you have to pre-treat the water to remove the chlorine. Salt can be an issue. You might even be subjected to heavy fines if you do it wrong. Do some research about that for where you live. I called my city and asked and they told me where it's acceptable to put the water.

 

[jimmythegreek]

Never a good idea to keep the water high. If possible you can tap the back of the skimmer and run a 1" line out if ita not encased in cement

 

[Dirk]

Jimmy brings up a good point. Is it possible your overflow exists in your skimmer, and it's just clogged up? They do sometimes get jammed up with twigs and leaves...

 

[ar26pt2]

Can find no overflow anywhere. I bought a Wayne Water Bug pump and 200’ of hose I ran to the front yard (solid black heavy duty hose to hide under mulch semi permanent). Here we are supposed to discharge pool water slowly to lawn so not entering storm drain OR to sewer system; there is a sewer cleanout port nearby I can direct to. I submerged the pump a foot in the water and secured it so it cannot drop lower. Pumps great!

Siphon problem: Do note this pump will allow flow when off and quite the strong siphon is created in my case threatening to over drain the pool. I was trying to make this simple and automatic- I got an Insteon control switch for the pump and just planned to leave it in the pool all winter, running it intermittently as needed hands-free. But since the siphon occurs there is no way to turn off the discharge presently.

Tomorrow I’m troubleshooting this, probably with just a stopcock in the hose, but maybe get advanced and rig up a reliable vacuum break so I can keep my system hands-off.

 

[wireform]

Can find no overflow anywhere. I bought a Wayne Water Bug pump and 200’ of hose I ran to the front yard (solid black heavy duty hose to hide under mulch semi permanent). Here we are supposed to discharge pool water slowly to lawn so not entering storm drain OR to sewer system; there is a sewer cleanout port nearby I can direct to. I submerged the pump a foot in the water and secured it so it cannot drop lower. Pumps great!

Siphon problem: Do note this pump will allow flow when off and quite the strong siphon is created in my case threatening to over drain the pool. I was trying to make this simple and automatic- I got an Insteon control switch for the pump and just planned to leave it in the pool all winter, running it intermittently as needed hands-free. But since the siphon occurs there is no way to turn off the discharge presently.

Tomorrow I’m troubleshooting this, probably with just a stopcock in the hose, but maybe get advanced and rig up a reliable vacuum break so I can keep my system hands-off.

Have this very problem you mention. Happened once after I had to drop the water level after a very wet fall season. Well I dropped the pump in and let run for some 30 minutes and then shut it off but still hung around pool deck for some time. I caught the water running full flow and was wondering "didn't I just turn the pump off " and went to double check and indeed it's off so what gives. Only to realize it turned into a siphon because the hose end went across the deck and down some causing the hose end to be lower then the pump. To rectify this I made the hose go over the fence top and then drop. Now once the pump is off water doesn't want to travel uphill.

 

[ar26pt2]

Test

To rectify this I made the hose go over the fence top and then drop. Now once the pump is off water doesn't want to travel uphill.

Caution with that. The final discharge of the hose should be above the waterline to ensure no siphon effect. Water will actually travel uphill quite a bit depending on how much net downhill and resistance there is. Mine goes up about 18" before a 6' drop in the front yard, and i cannot position the hose discharge high enough to stop the siphon. At the highest point put holes or a vent in the hose is an answer, but those can clog if not maintained and will leak when pump running. So maybe a tee with a vertical hose serving as air inlet, but getting unsightly. Or at the high point have the hose pour into a small open air drain pan that feeds to the rest of the downhill hose, but that risks flooding over with strong pumping action. All this work in search of the easy way.

 

[wireform]

Test

Caution with that. The final discharge of the hose should be above the waterline to ensure no siphon effect. Water will actually travel uphill quite a bit depending on how much net downhill and resistance there is. Mine goes up about 18" before a 6' drop in the front yard, and i cannot position the hose discharge high enough to stop the siphon. At the highest point put holes or a vent in the hose is an answer, but those can clog if not maintained and will leak when pump running. So maybe a tee with a vertical hose serving as air inlet, but getting unsightly. Or at the high point have the hose pour into a small open air drain pan that feeds to the rest of the downhill hose, but that risks flooding over with strong pumping action. All this work in search of the easy way.

Yes, you're correct. Forgot to enlighten that going over the top of the fence caused the termination to be above the point to cause the siphoning.