Draining Down Your Swimming Pool After Heavy Rain

You might need to drain water off after heavy rains to prevent the water from spilling out of the pool. Or you might need to do a partial or complete drain of the pool if your Cyanaric Acid level (CYA), Calcium Hardness or TDS numbers are high. Along with a Sump Pump I show various other methods you can use.

The first method is very effective but it requires having a hose bib or spigot installed into the pool plumbing. If you are having your pool built I suggest having one plumbed in. You can plumb one in after the pool is built but that takes some effort. If you have the hose bib, simply connect a garden hose and then turn on the pump and the pool will drain down as it is running. Very easy to use.

A submersible pump is also a great way to drain water out of your pool. These are self contained pumps that you drop into the pool. Simply attach a garden hose or pool hose to the pump and plug it in. Depending on the HP of the pump depends on how fast it will drain water out of your pool. If you are going for a partial drain or full drain down, a Sump Pump is the way to go. The other methods I show usually will require you to stop draining the water when the level drops below the pool skimmer  since it uses the pool equipment to operate. A Sump Pump or Utility Pump are not limited by this and thus you can drain all the water out of your pool with one of these.

If you have a Sand Filter or D.E. filter with what is known as a Multi-Port Valve, you can use the "Waste" setting on the valve to bypass the filter and drain water out of the pool. Again, in many cases once the level drops below the skimmer you will need to stop. But this is very effective in draining out rainwater from the pool. If you have standard D.E. filter with a rotor backwash valve or a push/pull type, it is unwise to use this to drain the pool down. Any backwashing longer than a couple of minutes can damage the grids inside the filter. So only use the backwash feature to backwash the filter and not to drain water out. If you have a cartridge filter, there is no valve to drain water out at all.

The last thing I show is an in pool drain system. This is installed when the pool is constructed and will keep your water level steady for you. It is great to add to your pool when you are having it constructed if you live in an area where you get a lot of rainfall. Just be sure to keep it free of leaves as they tend to get clogged.

If you are balancing your pool and find the CYA level over 100 ppm you can do a partial drain of the pool with a Sump Pump, depending on your pool size anywhere from 2 feet to 4 feet of water will do the trick. If your Calcium Hardness or Total Dissolved Solids level (TDS) is really high, a complete drain with a Sump Pump and refilling with fresh water is the only way to fix this. So having a Sump Pump or Utility Pump is something most pool owners should invest in. They are relatively inexpensive and will last a very long time. To learn more on Sump Pumps you can visit my website:

http://www.swimmingpoollearning.com/#!superior-pump-sump-pumps/s5rqt