how do I completely drain a pool FAQ

Mar 21, 2012 14 Replies

I have a pool that I need to drain for some upcoming repairs. Where should I let the water go? Is the water OK to go to the creek just outside the property or is this more of a wastewater thing? Is the community sewer system OK then?


Definitely not straight into the creek! At least not before you call you municipal authority's Environmental Health Services or an official performing the function and have their written permission (which they are unlikely to provide). These are the people you'd go for a well permit to. You might have already dealt with them if you dropped off water samples for pool water quality testing.

There are some nasty chemicals among the sanitizers (bromine, chlorine, cyanuric acid) and they could be in quite a high concentration.  Normally you're not supposed to drain it into a body of water (lake, stream, wetland). It is also recommended that you stop adding  sanitizers a week or more before draining to reduce the chlorine level. If the acid and chlorine levels are low, you may be able to use the drainage as an opportunity to water your lawn very well.  

There's another side to completely draining the pool and that's a potential damage to the pool caused by ground water pressure from beneath the shell, what is described as "popping out". If you've never done it before, I would strongly recommend to have a professional pool company do it for you, and take notice of steps they've taken in case you need to repeat the process.

This question has been discussed in the forums. Check out this interesting thread for more suggestions (and warnings!) on draining a pool:

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This process appears to be a very economical process but there is however another water heater which is much more efficient. The device employs the strength of the sunshine in order to heat the swimming pool. Not only is a swim season prolonged, your pool heat expense drastically drops, occasionally disappearing wholly. Slap a few energy cells on the roof and start taking whole benefit of all those daylight hours.

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There are built in drains under the pool and if you manage to have one it would be an easy thing to do. Just take precaution into the suction pressure because it can be fatal. 

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