Never completely drain a fiberglass or in-ground vinyl liner pool; doing so can damage the integrity of the pool surface or liner in the form of bowing or cracking. The best practice is to partially drain these types of pools. Always complete partial drains by 1/3 of the water at a time.
Draining a pool is risky business for several reasons. Your pool is not meant to be empty. Whether you have a vinyl, concrete, or fiberglass pool, it is at its best when it's full of water. Once the water is drained, you open yourself up to all sorts of damage, so drain a pool only when there is no other option.
A freshly chlorinated pool should not be discharged into the yard; the chlorine is harmful to yard plants and the environment as a whole. Using a test kit, your pool water needs to reflect a certain concentration of chlorine, such as 0.1 ppm (parts per million), before it is safe to drain into your yard.
Using the Multiport Valve
If your pool has a sand or DE filter, it also must have a multiport valve, which is used to backwash the filter when it gets dirty. You can use one of two settings on this valve -- Backwash and Waste -- to drain water out of the pool. Both settings send water out of the drainage port.
If you can pump around 30 GPM (gallons per minute), which is also equivalent to 1800 GPH (gallons per hour), it should take you 2.78 hours or 2 hours and 46 minutes to drain your pool using a hose.
Although you normally clean your pool with a manual pool vacuum or a vacuum device often called a "creepy crawler,'' you can clean it with a standard wet/dry shop vac. The disadvantage to this method is it takes a long time because you have to repeatedly empty the water from the shop vac.
The first choice for draining swimming pool water should be to drain pool water into the sanitary sewer. In-ground pools typically have a sanitary sewer drainage inlet near the pool equipment. Pools and spas not plumbed with a sanitary sewer drainage inlet can be drained to a sanitary sewer line plumbed to the home.
in the ground and close to the home, often near a water spigot. The port should have a rubber or threaded cap with a square wrench fitting and be about three to four inches in diameter. submersible pump. Lower the pump into the deepest area of the pool, near the drain.
Pool industry experts recommend you drain your pool and refill it every five to seven years. No two pools are alike, so there is no set number at which you must drain your pool.
Even with proper and regular pool maintenance, it's often necessary to drain your pool — completely or partially — every 3-5 years. Draining your pool often isn't necessary, especially if you're following a proper and regular maintenance program.
Completely removing the water from these pools can cause bowing or cracking of the surface. Once you have assessed the groundwater situation and the needs of the type of pool you have, the safest way to drain your pool is to use a submersible pump.
While uncommon, there may come a point that you have to completely drain your above ground swimming pool. We recommend working with a pool professional, but draining your above ground pool is something many pool owners can safely do on their own with a little time and elbow grease!
This siphoning process is simple enough. Immerse the entire hose in some water, then cover one end of the hose with your hand and quickly pull it out of the pool, pointing down below the water level. If you don't cut the hose, you may need to attach the hose to your spigot and fill it with water.
Put one end of your garden hose inside the port. Thread the hose to the back of your house. Attach the other end of the garden hose to a submersion pump and place the hose and pump in the deepest area of your pool, near the drain. The pool will begin to drain.
If you plan to drain the pool with a garden hose regularly, purchase a specialty pump/siphon device that attaches onto the hose. This allows you to siphon water out of the pool without the faucet and serves as a pump for the last remaining puddles that are difficult to remove by siphon.
Drain the water down to no more than 6 inches from the bottom of the skimmer if you plan to use a standard floating winter cover. Use your pool filter, switched to the "Drain" setting, to empty the pool water. Attach a pool hose to the end of the filter opening that leads to your yard's drain to avoid flooding.
Locate the Drain Valve
The drain valve is located on the outside of the pool. Run a garden hose out, with the female end near the drain valve. Connect the other end to a sprinkler, and water your lawn or garden (if pH is good and chlorine low). Remove the cap.