Pool frozen, Waterfall not working

[Dadthepoolboy]

Good Morning! Last night the temps dropped to 10 degrees, I woke up to a thin layer of ice and pool pump was making a horrible sound. The water level dropped about 2inches. When I looked to see if water was running at the pump (looked thru the clear cover), I do not believe I saw any water. I shut off the pump and began troubleshooting. I broke up the ice and opened the pool pump lid. There was water in the pump. Everything appeared fine. I fired back up the pump and everything seems to be operating normally except my waterfall is still not working. I'm sure the lines are frozen. There's no water coming out of my Polaris P39 like it normally would. I did not run the booster pump overnight. I have normal pressure on the filter gauge. I opened up the valve and water came out. I now can see water moving thru the pump. I believe it will be above freezing for 3 hours today. However, I will be at work. What steps should I take to minimize any further damage? Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

[Texas Splash]

First priority is certainly the water flow to the pump to protect that investment. Make sure the water level to the skimmer is good and if you have any doubt about ice forming in the skimmer, place some cut-up pool noodles in there - I did that for the first time ever yesterday. Ugh. If you have a main drain, you can pull water from there as well. For your waterfall, I don't suspect there's much you can do for that line as you probably can't evacuate the water line at this point. Since it's not a restricted (closed) line where ice has nowhere to go, it might still be okay. Keep the equipment pad covered if possible. If you're using a drop light or something for some basic warmth, continue that until this freeze breaks. It sounds like your booster pump may have frozen since it wasn't on. If that's the case, I wouldn't try to operate the booster pump at this point, but if there is a drain plug I would remove it and try to drain any residual water to avoid internal swelling. Perhaps make sure that pump is well covered as well. Hope that helps. Good luck!

 

[Dadthepoolboy]

Thanks!!! I am currently refilling my pool water level. I have pool noodles keeping the skimmer doors open. I do have a main drain. The valve is pulling from the main drain and skimmer. Should I move the valve over to main drain?

 

[Texas Splash]

Should I move the valve over to main drain?

I would let water get pulled from both locations to keep the lines flowing. The MD line will serve as a fail-safe just in case the skimmer line gets restricted.