Shutting down waterfall pump for winter

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M

mfifield01

Well-known member
May 11, 2022
187
Bee Cave, TX
Pool Size
16000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
My pool has two VSPs, one for the standard pool circulation and one for a waterfall (sheer descent). I'm in a warmer in environment, so I don't winterize the pool. Last winter we had a couple of cold snaps. I have the pumps set to run below 34. This seems fine for the standard pool pump. I'm not a big fan of the waterfalls running in freezing temps. Last year, I had a lot of water freeze and damage the back wall from the waterfall. I'm thinking about draining the waterfall pump if a freeze is predicted. It would just be two drains on the pump. The other option would be to drain/winterize that system for the winter. Any thoughts?

We did have a freeze without power last year and I drained everything. I didn't see any issues with equipment.
 

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01,

I do not have a separate pump for my waterfall wall, but in the winter I shut off the valve going to the waterfall and use a small pump to remove any water in the pipe going to the water fall that is above ground level..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
mfifield01 said:
Wouldn't gravity move the water down those pipes?
Click to expand...
01,

It just depends on your plumbing.. In my case my plumbing to the waterfall is a big 'U' with the upper part of the 'U' well above the ground level on both ends of the plumbing. I just drain so that there is no water above the ground level in the 'U'.

In a lot of waterfalls, if you drain the pump, all the water in the waterfall and supply pipe, will just drain back into the pump and then out on the ground. I don't have that option..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
I position them so that water cannot be trapped on either side of the valve (ie any water in the valve can expand either towards the inlet or outlet side of the valve.

FWIW, we bought our house a few months after the 2021 Texas freeze. The house was vacant during the freeze. Most of the pool plumbing survived, but one casualty was a waterfall Jandy valve that had been left fully-closed and froze/cracked.
 
gkw4815 said:
I position them so that water cannot be trapped on either side of the valve (ie any water in the valve can expand either towards the inlet or outlet side of the valve.

FWIW, we bought our house a few months after the 2021 Texas freeze. The house was vacant during the freeze. Most of the pool plumbing survived, but one casualty was a waterfall Jandy valve that had been left fully-closed and froze/cracked.
Click to expand...
Makes sense. I will probably do something similar. I think gravity will get most of the water out of the pipes/valves, but I might blow them as well (via pump drain). I believe the pool builder installed both pumps on the same breaker, so I need to add another breaker first.
 

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I do both of the above and lube the little o-rings, then put them in a ziplock baggie in the pump basket or a skimmer basket. (All in my basement)
 
mfifield01 said:
My pool has two VSPs, one for the standard pool circulation and one for a waterfall (sheer descent). I'm in a warmer in environment, so I don't winterize the pool. Last winter we had a couple of cold snaps. I have the pumps set to run below 34. This seems fine for the standard pool pump. I'm not a big fan of the waterfalls running in freezing temps. Last year, I had a lot of water freeze and damage the back wall from the waterfall. I'm thinking about draining the waterfall pump if a freeze is predicted. It would just be two drains on the pump. The other option would be to drain/winterize that system for the winter. Any thoughts?

We did have a freeze without power last year and I drained everything. I didn't see any issues with equipment.
Click to expand...

What did you end up doing this year?
I'm in the exact situation. I have a separate VSP for my waterfalls. I usually only run them for about 1-2 hours a day just to keep the water flowing and mixed with chlorine. Otherwise the water in the pump will begin to grow algae in the hot North Texas summers. When the freeze protection kicks in and the pump runs for long periods of time, the pump looses prime. I'm not sure if is the o-ring of the lid or I am running the pump too slow. Either way, I have to re-prime the pump every 12 hours or so. It's a PITA! We are in the middle of a 3 day freeze right now so I'm thinking about just draining the pump (winterizing it) for the rest of the winter. I would just disable it in the app. Remove from the daily run schedule and remove from freeze protection. I don't think I have a separate breaker.
 
I waited until the pool water temp dropped below 60, then I drained the system (about a month ago). A standard NPT compressor quick connect fits in the drain plug. I set my large compressor to just under 10 psi and let it blow out some of the water in the lines. From the advice above, I left the valves half open. I put the plugs in the basket inside the pump. Before all of this I moved some breakers around, so this pump is now on a dedicated breaker.
 
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