Overflowing water can damage the pool wall structure by corroding and weakening the walls of the pool. The water can cause also cause decks to rot and patios to sink around the pool. Another concern from overflowing water is ice damage, which can cause: Cracked skimmers.
If the pool overflows, now only will the pool chemicals be diluted, but they may contaminate the pool deck and surrounding landscape. Removing excess water quickly is important to prevent this.
But make no mistake: you should NOT be draining water completely from the pool. In winter, the water in your pool is still your friend. Especially when properly winterized, it helps to protect the pool liner, keep it clean and prevent unnecessary damage from debris, harsh weather and other factors.
If the water level is too high the debris floating next to the opening may pass by without being pulled into the skimmer. However if the water level is too low it may cause the skimmer to suck air into the system. If this happens you may run the risk of burning up your pool pumps motor.
Another reason for a pool to lose water over the winter is due to the harsh elements. Ice, snow, and water can accumulate on top of the pool cover. When too much weight forces the pool cover into the surface of the pool, water may rise up and over the pool sides. This is called displacement.
An uncovered pool will lose water in the winter to evaporation in the same way it does during the summer. But the water loss is only about a quarter-inch on average during a 24-hour period when the pool is not in use. An uncovered or covered pool can have problems in the plumbing lines or pump.
During the cooler months of the year, it's common for pools to experience water loss. If your pool's water level is looking low, this may be why. Water evaporation occurs year-round, no matter what season it is. However, it can be intensified by the elements in colder seasons, like fall and winter.
The pool will only overflow by the amount of rain in excess of the amount of rain needed to fill the pool to the top. So if your pool is the normal 3” below the top, the rain would need to exceed 3” before any additional rain would be available to overflow onto the deck.
The lightweight materials Intex uses make it fast and easy to set up a pool. But this ease comes with the downside of the pool being more vulnerable to ice damage. Leaving your Intex pool out in colder temperatures can completely rupture your pool lining.
It's possible to leave your above-ground pool up all winter with the water in it, since draining it completely may cause it to collapse.
Lower the Pool Water Level
When winterizing your above ground pool, lower the water level around 4" to 6" below the skimmer. You can do this with a submersible pump or by siphoning the water out with a short garden hose.
But large quantities of precipitation combined with an overflowing pool and poor drainage can cause problems such as flooding, structural damage to the surrounding buildings as well as out of balance swimming pool water chemistry. No fun.
Since the pool is already full, the incoming water automatically spills over into the water tank, creating the overflow effect. Although the circuit is “technically” not closed, it is always the same water that flows in and out of the filtration system. So, no need to worry about issues of water consumption.
If you have a typical rainfall, or even several inches, your pool should be fine, since drains and skimmers are designed to remove the excess water. In most cases, your pool can even handle rain from most tropical depressions and hurricanes.
The extra filtering will help clean out the impurities rain has introduced into your pool's water. Pool pumps are made to withstand rain and it is beneficial to run your pump during or after rain.
Pool overflow will typically go into your home's drainage system or directly out into the city's systems.
Too much rain can raise the water level in your pool to overflowing if you're not careful. If the water in your pool is in danger of overflow, you may need to drain the pool. There are numerous how-to videos online that go over this process.
Pool Collapse – An above ground pool collapse is often caused by the results of ice damage, but it can also happen when there is too much snow accumulated on top of the pool and the frame cannot handle the weight.
On average, swimming pools lose about a quarter of an inch of water each day, yet variations in wind intensity, humidity and sunlight can drastically change water loss rates. Some of the strongest and most intense wind in the country can be found in mountainous regions.
Although it may seem scary to leave water in a pool during freezing temperatures, you can actually damage your pool more by removing too much water. Your water should only be drained so it sits just below the skimmer and jets. This helps make sure that no water can get into the pumping system.
If the water went down a similar amount in the pool as well as the bucket, then you lost water due to evaporation. If it went down more in the skimmer and not much at all in the bucket then you have a pool leaking.
Heated pools do result in more evaporation, so more make-up water is required to refill heated pools than unheated pools. Whether using solar heating, heat pumps, or gas heaters, heated pools do require more water.