How do I drain water after heavy rain

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NoobDude

Bronze Supporter
Jun 14, 2020
38
New York
Heavy rain added about 2-3 inches of water to my pool over the past 48 hours. The water level is above the skimmer. My pool installer never told me how to drain water if I need. I have a ClearWater 2 cartridge filter.

can I just unscrew the cap in the back and let water out or do I need to do anything first? Shut pump off?

2894B20E-005A-4D47-9568-B498D46896CC.jpeg

image.jpg
thanks.
 
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Run a garden hose from the pool to where you want the water to drain. Drain end has to be lower than the end in the pool. Hold the end in the pool in front of a return until you see water flowing well from the other end. Drop the hose to the bottom of the pool. You have created a siphon. It will take a couple of hours. Just don’t forget to check on it.
 
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It looks like if you unscrew that black cap it will dump water on your electrical conduit for the pump, which is not a good idea. I would go with the siphon method. For the future I would either invest in a small submersible pump or plumb a waste line between the pump and filter.
 
Chasarms said:
Run a garden hose from the pool to where you want the water to drain. Drain end has to be lower than the end in the pool. Hold the end in the pool in front of a return until you see water flowing well from the other end. Drop the hose to the bottom of the pool. You have created a siphon. It will take a couple of hours. Just don’t forget to check on it.
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That’s pretty funny. The first time we ever filled the pool I forgot and overfilled it. Then drained it and forgot and drained too much. Rinse and repeat maybe 1 more time.
 
zea3 said:
It looks like if you unscrew that black cap it will dump water on your electrical conduit for the pump, which is not a good idea. I would go with the siphon method. For the future I would either invest in a small submersible pump or plumb a waste line between the pump and filter.
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I have a giant hose that will clamp on to that black cap and will reach all the way to the street. I was told I’d be able to use that to drain the pool but they never showed me how. A little scared to try it
 
Crank up the heat on your pool and then evaporation at night will lower the water level in a few days and you will not lose any CYA or salt in the process.

Or buy a submersible pump tomorrow and pump some water out.

Submersible Pumps - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

Check your CYA and salt levels after you adjust the water level by whatever means.
 
NoobDude said:
I have a giant hose that will clamp on to that black cap and will reach all the way to the street. I was told I’d be able to use that to drain the pool but they never showed me how. A little scared to try it
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You are assuming the clamp will hold. If it does not you will have a flood on your pool pad mixed with live electrical wires.
 
Why not leave it alone? The pic shows me 5-6" of pool remaining before the water runs over the edge. If that completely covers your skimmer, your skimmer is too low.

Regardless, You will lose perhaps around 1/4" daily with splashout and evaporation in the summer so I see no issue with leaving it.

Oops! I think I see your skimmer mouth now and it is tiny. That said, I think I would just leave it and skim by hand until the water lowers enough for the skimmer to work well.
 

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NoobDude said:
I have a giant hose that will clamp on to that black cap and will reach all the way to the street. I was told I’d be able to use that to drain the pool but they never showed me how. A little scared to try it
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There is no valve on that cap. Once you take it off water will go everywhere! I used to have a similar problem with my old DE filter. Whenever I needed to drain it I had a big swampy mess and it is hard to fight the flow of water to attach a hose! I added a ball valve and a barb hose fitting to the drain line and that solved my problem with turning my pool pad into a swamp.

If you decide to use the drain for the filter, first shut off the valves for the pump and return to the pool
shut off the breaker to the pump
cover the electrical with a folded up tarp and use some large rocks to hold the tarp down
if you can cover the tarp with an upside down ice chest and have someone hold it in place
drain just the filter
add a valve and hose barb
attach the hose and open the valves
allow gravity to drain the pool.

That being said unless a lot more rain is expected I would probably let it evaporate out, and add the valve over the winter. Then you don't have to worry about messing up the electrical.
 
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duraleigh said:
Why not leave it alone? The pic shows me 5-6" of pool remaining before the water runs over the edge. If that completely covers your skimmer, your skimmer is too low.

Regardless, You will lose perhaps around 1/4" daily with splashout and evaporation in the summer so I see no issue with leaving it.

Oops! I think I see your skimmer mouth now and it is tiny. That said, I think I would just leave it and skim by hand until the water lowers enough for the skimmer to work well.
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I may leave it. The skimmer is barely working though that was my only concern. Nothing is really getting sucked into it. Not as much as usually anyway. Or maybe I’m just imagining things. Brand new pool owner (~3 weeks).
 
Whether you drain it or not a utility pump or sump pump will come in handy. I bought a sump pump from Harbor Freight. A sump pump will pump the water out much faster. Living in New York You will need to drain your pool to close it. Even if you hire someone to close it, which I do, my guys charge me by what they do and draining it myself saves $35.
 

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