Tips on Draining Your Swimming Pool

Draining your swimming pool sounds simple enough. But there are many things to be aware of and some things that you overlook could cost you thousands of dollars and could cause potential damage to your pool.

The only in-ground pool types that you can safely drain are plaster/cement and Pebble Tec pools. If you drain a drop-in fiberglass pool down the walls may collapse and the pool can be damaged. If you drain in an in-ground vinyl pool the liner can separate from the wall and this will severely damage the pool to the point where you will need a new liner. The drop-in Fiberglass Pool and an in-ground Vinyl Pool should only be drained by a company the specializes in them. Otherwise, you can potentially damage these types of pools by draining them down.

The first thing to check is how your city looks at pool draining. Most cities in every region ban draining your pool down directly into the gutter outside in the street. Here in my area if you drain a green pool or a blue pool directly into the street in front of your house you will get cited and the fines can range from $5,000 to $10,000. A steep price to pay for not following the city rules.

The best place to drain a pool down is directly into the sewer line. Locating the serer line on the property can be the hard part. If the customer has never had his mainline snaked by a plumber, they may not know where it is even located. You are looking for a black pipe with a square cap that will fit an adjustable wrench. Usually, it is 3 inches or more in diameter. I find some right behind where the kitchen sink is located on the house. Sometimes they are next to a bathroom. Seen a few just on the side of the house. Mine happens to be in my garage floor covered with a metal cap. Some may be covered up by bushes or even dirt if it is set low enough.

One trick if you cannot locate the sewer line is to use the washing machine waste line. This also goes directly into the sewer. If the washing machine is in a downstairs room or the garage, simply remove the waste line and insert your pool hose, making sure it is deep enough to stay in and not fall out. Now you can drain the pool down into the sewer line through the washing machine’s waste line.

You also do not want to drain the pool directly into the yard around the pool. This may sound like a no-brainer, but it may seem convenient to just let the water run into the dirt around your pool area. The problem with this is that you are putting 15,000 or 20,000 gallons of water directly into the soil around your pool, raising the water table – meaning the ground is getting saturated with water and once the pool is empty the weight of the water is no longer holding the pool down. If the water under the pool is very wet, the pool may simply lift and pop out. This is called pool pop-out which is rare but draining the water into the soil around the pool could cause this.

Speaking of pools popping out, it is extremely rare. The ground will need to totally saturated with water and this can only happen if you drain the pool into the soil or if you have some serious rain, 4-6 inches in a short period of time. The pool shell is extremely heavy with all of the gunite and rebar so it is not a common experience. A pool builder in Florida constructed over 2,000 pools and only 2 pools ever popped out. Both pools were empty after the gunite and there was hurricane type rainfall. In most areas, you should not be concerned about the pool popping out.

One concern when the pool is empty is the ambient temperature. If you drain a pool in 95-100 degree weather and leave it empty for more than 24 hours there is a chance the Sun can damage the exposed plaster surface. After refilling you may notice cracking and chipping of the plaster. This is due to the Sun exposure and if the plaster is older or in poor shape you risk damaging it by draining the pool on a very hot day. You also do not want to drain a pool that his chips and cracks in it to begin with. This will lead to more chipping and cracking.

If you are in doubt, I would have someone who specializes in draining pools look at your pool first to evaluate it. Partial draining to lower the CYA or the salt content is common and doesn’t present much of an issue. Just be sure to drain it directly into the sewer line to avoid potential fines from your city.

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