Skimmer is too high

[Household6]

Amy suggestions for some sort of device or gadget that essentially lowers the location of a skimmer?

Incoming hurricane has us thinking about how to prepare the pool. If our pool were “normal” I would douce with bleach and drop the water level a foot or two (have entirely drained before and no concern about pop-out or floating).

But due to its age, our pool is in no way “normal.” Among one of its issues is the shallow end has dropped/sunk a few inches over the years. As is, our water level needs to stay about 3” from the top of the concrete deck for the skimmer and pump to function well.

We can drop to around 5”, but beyond that we’d have to turn off the pump.

Is there some way to lower the pool water past the skimmers and still operate the pump?

I’m thinking there should be some sort of fitting that goes over the current skimmer opening, has a pipe attached that’s adjustable in length which attaches to another skimmer that’s at the lower water level. No?

 

[AimeeH]

I can't imagine any way to lower a skimmer but maybe someone else could chime in.

If you are going to stay and can monitor the level, I'd say just drain when you can. Draining preemptivly could cause problems if the ground becomes saturated before rain fills it back up as it could cause the pool shell to be floated up or pushed up from high water table.

I haven't seen anyone suggest this but from our own mistakes I know that leaving your filter turned to waste and the pump OFF, will drain it rather slowly. If your going to be experiencing a deluge and can keep an eye on it you might consider that option.

We are keeping a close eye on the impending storms too.

 

[PoolguyinCT]

Keep the pool full.

It’s possible the shallow end didn’t sink, but the deepend rose.

 

[AimeeH]

I can't imagine any way to lower a skimmer but maybe someone else could chime in.

If you are going to stay and can monitor the level, I'd say just drain when you can. Draining preemptivly could cause problems if the ground becomes saturated before rain fills it back up as it could cause the pool shell to be floated up or pushed up from high water table.

I haven't seen anyone suggest this but from our own mistakes I know that leaving your filter turned to waste and the pump OFF, will drain it rather slowly. If your going to be experiencing a deluge and can keep an eye on it you might consider that option.

We are keeping a close eye on the impending storms too.

I need to correct myself on this. If we leave our filter set to waste and the pump off, our pool will drain almost completely. I know this because DH accidentally has done this twice. But, our filter and drain line are downhill from the pool deck and we have a main drain in the floor of the deep end.

During the flood of '15 we did that in the rain. It won't necessarily work in different equipment set ups. Sorry--was just thinking from my own experience.

 

[jimmythegreek]

If ur skimmer has threaded top fitting u could make a u shaped piece of pvc to go up the skimmer over the deck and into the water. If u are trying to make the skimmer work like a skimmer does and not juat suck water I don't know of a solution. I see u mentioned main drain can u just run off of the drain and keep water lower

 

[PoolguyinCT]

If ur skimmer has threaded top fitting u could make a u shaped piece of pvc to go up the skimmer over the deck and into the water. If u are trying to make the skimmer work like a skimmer does and not juat suck water I don't know of a solution. I see u mentioned main drain can u just run off of the drain and keep water lower

With the relevant safety measures & mechanisms of course.

 

[ride525]

I use a Skim-A-Round, and I think it will act as your skimmer with the water much lower.
Use the original model.

http://www.skim-A-Round.com

 

[Household6]

If ur skimmer has threaded top fitting u could make a u shaped piece of pvc to go up the skimmer over the deck and into the water. If u are trying to make the skimmer work like a skimmer does and not juat suck water I don't know of a solution. I see u mentioned main drain can u just run off of the drain and keep water lower

Don’t have a main drain.

 

[Household6]

I use a Skim-A-Round, and I think it will act as your skimmer with the water much lower.
Use the original model.

http://www.skim-A-Round.com

I believe this is PRECISELY what I need. Now to see if we can fit it into the budget while buying a generator and if we can get it in time!

 

[Dirk]

Why can't you just attach a vacuum hose to your skimmer?

Prime the hose, run it through the skimmer opening and into the suction port in the skimmer. Attach the other end of the hose to anything that will keep it under water. Even shorten the hose as much as you like. If the hose seals well to your suction port, you should be good-to-go.

 

[JohnT]

Don't lower the level in the pool. No reason to do it and plenty of reasons not to do it.

 

[Household6]

Don't lower the level in the pool. No reason to do it and plenty of reasons not to do it.

Reason to do it is because of the large amount of rain we are about to receive. If our pool floods to a large extent, the chance of our house flooding is pretty high.

 

[Household6]

Why can't you just attach a vacuum hose to your skimmer?

Prime the hose, run it through the skimmer opening and into the suction port in the skimmer. Attach the other end of the hose to anything that will keep it under water. Even shorten the hose as much as you like. If the hose seals well to your suction port, you should be good-to-go.

BRILLIANT!
THANK YOU!
But just one question - our hose doesn’t go directly into the port. We have a “plate” that goes over the entire basket hole. Guess we can pile in a bunch of (clean) rocks to ensure it stays put.

 

[Household6]

Keep the pool full.

It’s possible the shallow end didn’t sink, but the deepend rose.

Nah, you can tell from looking at it the shallow sank.
But thank you for your thought!

 

[Dirk]

BRILLIANT!
THANK YOU!
But just one question - our hose doesn’t go directly into the port. We have a “plate” that goes over the entire basket hole. Guess we can pile in a bunch of (clean) rocks to ensure it stays put.

Skimmer plate. I think that'll only work if you maintain water in the skimmer. I don't believe they seal perfectly. You'll need to account for if the skimmer runs dry. I was talking about removing the basket (and in your case the skimmer plate, too) and connecting directly to the suction port under the basket. That's what I meant by "if it seals well enough." If the seal isn't good when the level drops below the skimmer opening, the pump will suck all the water out of the skimmer and create an air leak.

But do heed the advice about not draining your pool at all. I'd be more tempted to run a sump pump from your pool to wherever is OK to drain water, and then a cord back to somewhere you can access easily (maybe even while staying dry). Then just run the sump pump whenever the water gets too high. There are some in the $50 range on Amazon that might do the trick (though I don't know how much water were talking about here).

 

[Adamphotoman]

BRILLIANT!
THANK YOU!
But just one question - our hose doesn’t go directly into the port. We have a “plate” that goes over the entire basket hole. Guess we can pile in a bunch of (clean) rocks to ensure it stays put.

Can you in wedge a number of cut off noodles to keep that plate in? Then lower the pool perhaps a foot?

The hose could be attached to an upside down vacuum head to take the water from the bottom.

 

[JohnT]

Reason to do it is because of the large amount of rain we are about to receive. If our pool floods to a large extent, the chance of our house flooding is pretty high.

No, it doesn't change anything. It will be exactly the same as if the pool wasn't there. If rain is falling on a pool that is 20X40 at 1" per hour you get about 500 gallons per hour hitting the surface and spilling out if the pool is full to the coping. That's exactly the same amount of water that would be landing on that area if it was grass or concrete. Unless your yard layout already predisposes your house to flooding, the pool won't change anything.

It won't hurt to lower the level toward the low end of the skimmer level. It's not as important as most other things like securing furniture, protecting your pump from flooding and preparing your household, but you don't want to drop it too low since ground water can come up faster than the pool water from flowing surface water.

 

[Dirk]

No, it doesn't change anything. It will be exactly the same as if the pool wasn't there. If rain is falling on a pool that is 20X40 at 1" per hour you get about 500 gallons per hour hitting the surface and spilling out if the pool is full to the coping. That's exactly the same amount of water that would be landing on that area if it was grass or concrete. Unless your yard layout already predisposes your house to flooding, the pool won't change anything.

It won't hurt to lower the level toward the low end of the skimmer level. It's not as important as most other things like securing furniture, protecting your pump from flooding and preparing your household, but you don't want to drop it too low since ground water can come up faster than the pool water from flowing surface water.

John is right, or course, with two considerations:

If you lower the pool or use a sump pump to send water away from the house, either before or during the storm, then the rain that falls into the pool will be that much less water that can get to your house. So in that regard the pool would change things.

If the pool floods, most of the water flowing over the edge will likely be rain water, as it will be floating on top of your slightly more dense pool water (because of accumulated salt). But that's not a guarantee, so the spill over could be in part pool water, which wouldn't be all that great for your landscaping, if that's even a consideration given the more important things to worry about, etc.

 

[Winnie-the-Pool]

And just to compound everything else... the current timeline has Florence making landfall right around dusk... so we are going to initially be dealing with the rising water in the dark

Please Everyone Be Careful!!!