Howdy folks! I just recently bought a home with an 11,700 gallon 21 x 54 above ground pool. I have no previous knowledge or experience with pools so feeling a bit overwhelmed. We had some professionals come out to open our pool yesterday and they set up the filtration system the previous owner had left. I need to go in to clean the cartridge filter since the water is pretty swampy and almost black (there were apparently holes in the previous owner's winter cover). So I plugged the skimmer and quickly realized I had not thought of closing the return line to be able to access the filter appropriately (a lot of water went gushing everywhere needless to say). All the videos I've seen show folks with valves they can shut off in order to do maintenance. I only see what I think is a waste valve on the current set up. Is the only way for me to effectively stop the return line to plug the hole where the eye/jet sits from the inside of the pool? The eye seems pretty stuck on there and I can't get it to budge. Posting some pics of the setup this pool has. Any insight would be appreciated! Apologies if it's something blatantly obvious that I am missing 
Trying to learn! 
Trying to learn! 
So yes, you have a pretty simple set-up and need a way to isolate the equipment when you need to to maintenance on the pad. With no 3-way or ball valves to help, you'll have to get creative. They sell wall plugs for Intex pools, but some may use a winterizing plug as well. Just about anything you can find that will squeeze into the wall port should work. At some point later, you might consider adding a ball valve or even better converting to had line PVC. Put that on your to-do list. Ha.
