pool about to overflow in the rain... need short term solution

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rachel🌊

Member
Jul 8, 2024
11
Marin County, CA
Pool Size
12000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
sorry reposting to the correct forum!

hello! it is raining pretty hard here and if i leave the pool untouched i am fairly certain it will overflow shortly. i am a new pool owner and i have no idea what to do.

i have a couple cheap home depot tarps that im considering putting over the pool just for the next few days until i can think of something better. i have not yet figured out how im going to secure the tarps or how to keep them tight so i am open to ideas here. i do have some climbing rope that i could use that is good quality rope.

my other idea is using 5 gallon buckets and just manually taking a bunch of water out of the pool... but i cant help but feel like there has to be a better way?

the only way im aware of for the pool system to drain water is through our broken solar pipe (if its not already obvious, it's not supposed to function as a drain, but the end cap blew off so thats all it can do now), but that water goes directly into the culver, which is illegal to dump water there so i cant empty it that way.

if anyone has any ideas please let me know!!!!!! i just need something that can withstand the next few days of rain until i have time to do something more substantial.
 
Buy the Superior utiliy pump that is in ajw22's link to submersible pumps. I have it and it works great. Since it doesn't have a float to turn it off when the water reaches a certain level, you should set an alarm on your phone to remind you to check the water level in the pool. If you don't, life occurs and then you smack yourself in the head for forgetting that pump has been running all day or overnight.
 
Homebrewale said:
Buy the Superior utiliy pump that is in ajw22's link to submersible pumps. I have it and it works great. Since it doesn't have a float to turn it off when the water reaches a certain level, you should set an alarm on your phone to remind you to check the water level in the pool. If you don't, life occurs and then you smack yourself in the head for forgetting that pump has been running all day or overnight.
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thank you for the quick response!!

one of my issues with the pump is im not sure where to pump the water - we just got this home and drainage has been kind of an issue. i cant pump it into the street, or into the culver, which only leaves my backyard, which doesn't seem ideal as i dont want to harm the landscape. am i missing something obvious, where is the water supposed to go?
 
rachel🌊 said:
sorry reposting to the correct forum!

hello! it is raining pretty hard here and if i leave the pool untouched i am fairly certain it will overflow shortly. i am a new pool owner and i have no idea what to do.

i have a couple cheap home depot tarps that im considering putting over the pool just for the next few days until i can think of something better. i have not yet figured out how im going to secure the tarps or how to keep them tight so i am open to ideas here. i do have some climbing rope that i could use that is good quality rope.

my other idea is using 5 gallon buckets and just manually taking a bunch of water out of the pool... but i cant help but feel like there has to be a better way?

the only way im aware of for the pool system to drain water is through our broken solar pipe (if its not already obvious, it's not supposed to function as a drain, but the end cap blew off so thats all it can do now), but that water goes directly into the culver, which is illegal to dump water there so i cant empty it that way.

if anyone has any ideas please let me know!!!!!! i just need something that can withstand the next few days of rain until i have time to do something more substantial.
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If your pool does, in fact, raise to the level of the deck, no more water will come out than goes in. It, essentially, becomes a flat concrete deck, it won't "overflow" like a full glass of water that is tipped. Usually, water will start running out of the skimmer lid as they are normally slightly lower than the edge of the decking, keeping the water from reaching the level of the deck.
All that would happen with a tarp is it would fill with water and likely end up in the pool and be difficult to remove.
 
rachel🌊 said:
i called around and the local hardware stores dont have that submersible pump, they only have the wayne brand, does that make a big difference at all?
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Get whatever pump you can.

Pump the water to the best place you can find.

The rain will dilute the chemicals in the water on your landscaping if that is the best place.
 

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Where does the pool deck itself slope to? As 1poolman mentioned, all that happens if it reaches the top is that *additional* water flows off as if it were a patio. Depending on the deck layout, it might be more evenly distributed than if you pumped to a single point in the yard. I might not do anything right now in the moment -- rushing around to buy things and messing with cords and such in a rainstorm might be riskier. This is the first significant rain; the ground should have plenty of ability (and maybe desire!) to absorb extra water right now, and any very diluted chemicals from some overflow isn't going to damage the lawn.

You may find (as I do) that as the water level reaches the top of the coping, it mysteriously never reaches the top -- I assume my coping to tile joint is not fully watertight after 60 years (if it was ever). Long term, having a way to drain is better, as there is probably some risk from having water seep through where not intended, but it's highly unlikely that you'll have any serious issues if left alone today. When the rain stops, play with the valves, see where that pipe goes, get a submersible pump if needed, etc.

Editing to add -- definitely don't mess with tarps; they'll be impossible to "tent" enough to keep water away -- and if they did you'd just be doing the same thing as letting it flow off the surface. Same with buckets -- an inch of water on for example a 20x20 surface area is 250 gallons., or 50 full buckets. At 42 pounds each, that's literally lifting a ton of water. Much more likely to damage yourself than any water could do to your property!

As to the solar system, we obviously can't tell you to do this, but in the middle of a rainstorm letting a bit of water "accidentally" to end up in the culvert that's draining acres and acres of area is not going to have any real environmental impact, and is extremely unlikely for anyone to notice...
 
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I would have a pump in hand, so if the overflow water is flowing towards the house or other undesirable places, you would have the tools to move the water elsewhere.
 
rachel🌊 said:
thank you for the quick response!!

one of my issues with the pump is im not sure where to pump the water - we just got this home and drainage has been kind of an issue. i cant pump it into the street, or into the culver, which only leaves my backyard, which doesn't seem ideal as i dont want to harm the landscape. am i missing something obvious, where is the water supposed to go?
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Why can’t you pump it to the street or culvert? If it over flows, that’s where it’s going to go anyway. Allowing it to overflow will do damage to the surrounding soils.
 
Bperry said:
Why can’t you pump it to the street or culvert? If it over flows, that’s where it’s going to go anyway. Allowing it to overflow will do damage to the surrounding soils.
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If there is a concern the town will object, I'd just sneak the hose to the sewer cleanout pipe. Mine was conveniently located behind a shrub.
 
Kentowen said:
Can’t you just backwash the water out or am I missing something? That’s what I do when mine gets high.
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Rachel has a cartridge filter that you do not backwash.

Backwash is only on some sand or DE filters.
 
i just wanted to say thank you all so so much for the in depth responses, this has been very informative and helpful. this is my first big storm with a pool but i feel very reassured and like i have a plan if things go haywire now, thank you!!!!!
 
Late to the party, but two things. One, the air bleed on at least one kind of cartridge filter (Clean & Clear Plus) has a fitting that's the right size to push a hose onto (unfortunately not a hose bib; you need to cut the hose). Mine passes about 800 gallons an hour. Two, yes my town also doesn't allow draining pool water into storm drains. It runs right to a local lake. Apparently the wildlife doesn't like CYA and chlorine. Letting it onto the yard is fine.
 

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