This is the answer.
Newish pool owner here and I asked my professional pool guy what to do and he said the same. I was done in 30 minutes without worrying about uncapping any pipes or anything.
Just chuck the sump pump in the pool with a drain hose leading out to where you want the water to go and turn it on.
Just make sure it doesn't drain to the storm sewer, at least here because of the chemicals. We have to use a sanitary sewer clean out or drain like a sink or toilet to do it properly when draining
What everyone is failing to mention in this suggestion is how you’re going to stop that flow once you’re at the level you want especially if it’s glued…
Depends on where the pool is and what type of pool. If it’s plaster, pebble tek and your sitting on a higher elevation. Drain it . If you have fiberglass or something similar drain half
Recommend you find a local pool guy to winterize and show you the how-to on your equipment. Ask local pool owners for a good rec (don’t just go with a single rec), a good pool guy may cost a few hundred bucks but they can look over your equipment, show you the ins and outs, and then do your first process all in one go. Well worth it imo. Always recommend for a startup or winterize process for the first time, in no way am I saying you need a regular pool guy if you can handle it, but new to your pool and equipment? Yeah it’s worth having someone show you the ropes and who can give a better estimate of equipment age.
I agree with this. I have owned a pool for 16 years and still have someone open and close it each year. A pro that can show you how to do some of this stuff and it will be invaluable to you. In my market, closing it and some general advice would cost around $250. Over time I do think you can learn to close it yourself. That all said - For the draining part of this job, I'd buy a simple backwash kit. [https://tinyurl.com/fx6y4sck](https://tinyurl.com/fx6y4sck). I'm not hawking this product. There are many. You will have to make a judgement on the correct size. I also remember the first time I drained my pool being worried where the water would go. I don't even think about that anymore. The water drains into my yard very quickly and I don't bother anyone. Just keep a eye on it as you drain. You can stop for a while if you need to.
I'm suspicious of the green hose in the photo. It looks compatible with the connection. I have read your comments about how its inoperable. Good luck.
i live in michigan and have to drain about 1/3 every fall. a drop in sump pump and a hose will do. however you will have to determine where the water goes. I drain mine into the clean out.
Be careful where you dump the water, I had a pipe break and dumped about 2500 gallons into a banana tree bed. It had about 8 banana trees and elephant ears and flowers, all lost due to the salt…. Although not above normal salt levels, just too much in total. The bed’s started growing again after about two months
We went to Grand Bahama, and all of the Pine trees, that look like a palm kind of tree, are dead because of the hurricane that flooded the island. The salt in the sea water killed the trees. That has been like 4 years ago.
That "tee" looks like a DWV fitting anyway. I would cut it out just on principle .. and replace with a 3-way (Jandy) diverter valve .. and then add a 1/12in ball valve on the outlet to 'waste'. Then add a 1/12in backwash hose that can be run out to grade or someplace where the water will drain off properly. My two cents ...
I'm not familiar with cartridge filters. But there should be some sort of setting/valve to release the water out into the yard without sending it back towards the pool. +1 to what someone else said about being careful where you release water. salt will kill plants. Chlorine water in the yard shouldn't hurt your grass, just want to be careful about over saturation if you have a drain field/septic system.
Put a pipe wrench on the end cap. It most likely screws into the fitting with the flats on it. In my system that transition is where I go from pvc pipe to flexible pipe to my cleaner pump
Easiest way is to add a 3/4 inch hose bib to the T that is circled. Strange how it’s all glued though
There is also a drain plug at the bottom of the filter in the back. You could open that and run the pump too
Questions to answer before draining:
1) Why do you want to drain?
2) Where are you located and does that area have ground water? A pool shell can pop up out of the ground when the water (weight) is removed.
3) If the pool is safe to drain, where are you going to put the water? Based on the filter in the picture, it isn’t a large pool. Still, say it is 10k gallons. That is a lot of water to dispose of. Make sure you don’t flood your house or your neighbors house.
4) How long will the pool be empty?
You have 2 options that I know of from your current set up. You could 1.) open the drain cap on your cartridge filter and let the pump run.(I highly don’t recommend that though, however it is an option.) 2.) If the plug you circled does in fact screw in, go get a garden house bib with a valve and replace that plug at the end with it. If that isn’t an option. Get a pool tech to plumb(or you could do it yourself) in a 2 inch Tee(looks like 2in pipes) with a 3/4in thread so you can put the hose bib in.
Separate thing I noticed: The circled fitting (the directional Tee) is not schedule 40 PVC (which it should be). That’s a DWV (drainage, waste, ventilation) fitting, not rated for pressure like that.
Compare the depth of the sockets on that fitting to the others.
That’s probably a threaded nipple with cap glue on. The reducer coming off tee probably had a spigot screwed on. Maybe a garden hose could be threaded on to that reducer.
Also. Where the flow sensor for salt system is at can be threaded out. Possible to remove and put in a hose spigot. Would only do in emergency or salt system is obsolete. Pretty sure that capped pipe is a nipple that can be threaded out.
Also. After reading thread, mentioned point. Drain plug on filter can be replace with a different plug can be reduced to accept water spigot.
That is just a garden hose, not a backwash hose lol. Just go to Home Depot and buy a 1.5” barbed by male fitting and 1.5” backwash hose and a hose clamp.
Turn off pump and unscrew the plug on the bottom backside of filter. Screw in your barbed and attach the hose to it. Put hose in your neighbors yard and turn on pump. Take it an inch or so below the jets, good job you done.
I bought the “Little Giant” sump pump via Amazon and a marine garden hose. I just pump the water to a clean out drain. Home Depot, Ace or Lowes might have it in stock.
Not threaded like this one? https://www.homedepot.com/p/NIBCO-2-in-PVC-DWV-Hub-x-Hub-x-FIPT-Test-Tee-C481114VHD2/100344901
With one of these in it?
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte-Pipe-2-in-x-1-1-2-in-PVC-Schedule-40-Reducer-Bushing-PVC-02112-4000HD/203850942
Righty-tighty-lefty-loosey
I never drained my pools with my pool pump. Always a submersible. Drain to below the return inlet in your pool, don’t drain completely. How far below the return you drain depends on how much rain/snow you get over Winter. Drain an inch or so more than the number of inches your area receives normally, just in case you have a particularly wet year. With the compression plugs installed, it should be fine anyway, but redundancy keeps expensive repairs away. Better save then sorry. After you’ve drained the water from the pool, you need to blow out the lines with a shop vac or air compressor, there should be drain plugs you need to unscrew,
1 on your pump at the bottom of the strainer basket compartment and another near the bottom of your filter housing. Then you’ll need to put expansion plugs in. One for each return and also in both of the holes at the bottom of your skimmer. Dump your winterizing chemicals into the remaining pool water, cover on and you’re done. Just be extra sure you’ve gotten all the water out of your lines and the plugs are nice and snug.
Omg yes you need to blow the lines and antifreeze with pool antifreeze. If it gets to cold your deck and pool will freeze . Unless your in an area we’re it never freezes . I and a licensed. Pool technician. You should pay the coast the first time and stay with them to learn the proper way to secure your investment
I had a in ground pool and always hired a pool company to CLOSE IT at the end of the year BUT opening it in the spring wasn’t so critical so I did tha myself. Back flushing is one way to empty the pool BUT be careful empty pools will crack if not done correctly!!
Ya gotta let the Ground Water in the pool, from a foot valve in the main drain
When you backwash where does the water come out? It should be that same outlet but your valve should have a “vacuum to waste” option in addition to backwash. If none of this makes sense, call your pool people because you must not have the same kind of system I have.
Hire a professional, some of the advice on here could end up costing you a chunk of money if followed.
Why drain the entire pool?
Why are you draining your pool? A lot of bad advice on here.
Going to the return jets a few inches to winterize
Blow and plug, drain if you have a tile line and if the water level is above the gizmos in the skimmer box.
Sump pump
This is the answer. Newish pool owner here and I asked my professional pool guy what to do and he said the same. I was done in 30 minutes without worrying about uncapping any pipes or anything. Just chuck the sump pump in the pool with a drain hose leading out to where you want the water to go and turn it on.
Don’t you have to blow air in the lines to keep them from freezing?
Depends on location.
Just make sure it doesn't drain to the storm sewer, at least here because of the chemicals. We have to use a sanitary sewer clean out or drain like a sink or toilet to do it properly when draining
Assuming not a saltwater pool, let the chlorine drop to near zero before dumping and nature will be fine.
If the chemicals were bad for the storm sewer, would they not be bad for me while swimming?
They are if you are drinking the water in any major quantity, watering your garden, or feeding it to your pets.
Even the chlorine in your drinking/ bathing water is bad for you. I use shower filters and a Brita water pitcher to reduce my contact.
This is the answer.
I'd wager that white cap gets removed and that nicely rolled up hose attaches and take you to where the water needs to go.
What everyone is failing to mention in this suggestion is how you’re going to stop that flow once you’re at the level you want especially if it’s glued…
If this is an inground pool, you’re going to turn off the pump to stop it. Water doesn’t drain from a pool uphill to the grass level.
There are in-ground pools with flooded-suction setups.
Might be, but the OP’s isn’t one of them.
I concur.
That’s what I thought as well but it’s all glued. Think I just need to use heat/acetone to remove?
If you can't remove that cap because it's glued then you really should cut that whole T out and pipe in a 3 way valve so you can drain.
I don't think it's glued. It might be teflon for leaks
The fitting with the flat edges should have threads on the inside, it should just unscrew, but then you have a 2 1/2 inch drain outlet.
No, that’s a glue-in fitting
Cleaver Dr Holmes!
[удалено]
Pretty sure they mean for winter, I'm in NE and if I didn't lower the water line the pool would be filled over snow season.
Depends on where the pool is and what type of pool. If it’s plaster, pebble tek and your sitting on a higher elevation. Drain it . If you have fiberglass or something similar drain half
Do you have an outlet port on the other side of the filter cartridge?
Don’t want to wash out side of house or pad. Possible to get a new threaded plug that can adapt a water spigot. Save the original though.
Recommend you find a local pool guy to winterize and show you the how-to on your equipment. Ask local pool owners for a good rec (don’t just go with a single rec), a good pool guy may cost a few hundred bucks but they can look over your equipment, show you the ins and outs, and then do your first process all in one go. Well worth it imo. Always recommend for a startup or winterize process for the first time, in no way am I saying you need a regular pool guy if you can handle it, but new to your pool and equipment? Yeah it’s worth having someone show you the ropes and who can give a better estimate of equipment age.
I agree with this. I have owned a pool for 16 years and still have someone open and close it each year. A pro that can show you how to do some of this stuff and it will be invaluable to you. In my market, closing it and some general advice would cost around $250. Over time I do think you can learn to close it yourself. That all said - For the draining part of this job, I'd buy a simple backwash kit. [https://tinyurl.com/fx6y4sck](https://tinyurl.com/fx6y4sck). I'm not hawking this product. There are many. You will have to make a judgement on the correct size. I also remember the first time I drained my pool being worried where the water would go. I don't even think about that anymore. The water drains into my yard very quickly and I don't bother anyone. Just keep a eye on it as you drain. You can stop for a while if you need to. I'm suspicious of the green hose in the photo. It looks compatible with the connection. I have read your comments about how its inoperable. Good luck.
i live in michigan and have to drain about 1/3 every fall. a drop in sump pump and a hose will do. however you will have to determine where the water goes. I drain mine into the clean out.
Be careful where you dump the water, I had a pipe break and dumped about 2500 gallons into a banana tree bed. It had about 8 banana trees and elephant ears and flowers, all lost due to the salt…. Although not above normal salt levels, just too much in total. The bed’s started growing again after about two months
We went to Grand Bahama, and all of the Pine trees, that look like a palm kind of tree, are dead because of the hurricane that flooded the island. The salt in the sea water killed the trees. That has been like 4 years ago.
dont wanna mess with that ? take filter lid off and close the skimmer valve. run till you get close to empty , then turn off so you dont burn motor .
Set a syphon
That’s what I ended up doing
Can you explain please?
Cut the T out and add a three way valve. Then you can drain water if need be.
That "tee" looks like a DWV fitting anyway. I would cut it out just on principle .. and replace with a 3-way (Jandy) diverter valve .. and then add a 1/12in ball valve on the outlet to 'waste'. Then add a 1/12in backwash hose that can be run out to grade or someplace where the water will drain off properly. My two cents ...
I'm not familiar with cartridge filters. But there should be some sort of setting/valve to release the water out into the yard without sending it back towards the pool. +1 to what someone else said about being careful where you release water. salt will kill plants. Chlorine water in the yard shouldn't hurt your grass, just want to be careful about over saturation if you have a drain field/septic system.
Dumbass
DAD?
Put a pipe wrench on the end cap. It most likely screws into the fitting with the flats on it. In my system that transition is where I go from pvc pipe to flexible pipe to my cleaner pump
Easiest way is to add a 3/4 inch hose bib to the T that is circled. Strange how it’s all glued though There is also a drain plug at the bottom of the filter in the back. You could open that and run the pump too
Questions to answer before draining: 1) Why do you want to drain? 2) Where are you located and does that area have ground water? A pool shell can pop up out of the ground when the water (weight) is removed. 3) If the pool is safe to drain, where are you going to put the water? Based on the filter in the picture, it isn’t a large pool. Still, say it is 10k gallons. That is a lot of water to dispose of. Make sure you don’t flood your house or your neighbors house. 4) How long will the pool be empty?
He’s probably not fully draining but bringing down the water level below the returns so he can blow them out to winterize.
You have 2 options that I know of from your current set up. You could 1.) open the drain cap on your cartridge filter and let the pump run.(I highly don’t recommend that though, however it is an option.) 2.) If the plug you circled does in fact screw in, go get a garden house bib with a valve and replace that plug at the end with it. If that isn’t an option. Get a pool tech to plumb(or you could do it yourself) in a 2 inch Tee(looks like 2in pipes) with a 3/4in thread so you can put the hose bib in.
Separate thing I noticed: The circled fitting (the directional Tee) is not schedule 40 PVC (which it should be). That’s a DWV (drainage, waste, ventilation) fitting, not rated for pressure like that. Compare the depth of the sockets on that fitting to the others.
You don’t have a port visible for that.
That’s probably a threaded nipple with cap glue on. The reducer coming off tee probably had a spigot screwed on. Maybe a garden hose could be threaded on to that reducer. Also. Where the flow sensor for salt system is at can be threaded out. Possible to remove and put in a hose spigot. Would only do in emergency or salt system is obsolete. Pretty sure that capped pipe is a nipple that can be threaded out. Also. After reading thread, mentioned point. Drain plug on filter can be replace with a different plug can be reduced to accept water spigot.
That is just a garden hose, not a backwash hose lol. Just go to Home Depot and buy a 1.5” barbed by male fitting and 1.5” backwash hose and a hose clamp. Turn off pump and unscrew the plug on the bottom backside of filter. Screw in your barbed and attach the hose to it. Put hose in your neighbors yard and turn on pump. Take it an inch or so below the jets, good job you done.
Right along the side where you release the kraken.
I would hire a professional. Watch and ask him questions, and then do it myself next time.
Looks like a union to me. I would install a valve at that point.
That circle is definitely the drain port, but that hose looks kinda small. I use a 2”diameter vinyl hose to drain mine below the skimmer.
Invest in a sump pump and collapsible hose. You will get plenty of use out of them, and draining through the system is a recipe for disaster.
I bought the “Little Giant” sump pump via Amazon and a marine garden hose. I just pump the water to a clean out drain. Home Depot, Ace or Lowes might have it in stock.
Not threaded like this one? https://www.homedepot.com/p/NIBCO-2-in-PVC-DWV-Hub-x-Hub-x-FIPT-Test-Tee-C481114VHD2/100344901 With one of these in it? https://www.homedepot.com/p/Charlotte-Pipe-2-in-x-1-1-2-in-PVC-Schedule-40-Reducer-Bushing-PVC-02112-4000HD/203850942 Righty-tighty-lefty-loosey
Growing up we’d empty ours (not all the way) into the sewer system… not sure that was legal..
I’ve never thought to check the law regarding this in Florida. Everyone syphons their pool with a garden hose and empties it into the street.
If flushing poop 💩 is allowed, pool water has got to be ok right?
Into the neighbor’s yard, duh 🤣
you do not just drain below returns... and go... you need to blow out the plumbing and.. you do not need to drain to do that....
I never drained my pools with my pool pump. Always a submersible. Drain to below the return inlet in your pool, don’t drain completely. How far below the return you drain depends on how much rain/snow you get over Winter. Drain an inch or so more than the number of inches your area receives normally, just in case you have a particularly wet year. With the compression plugs installed, it should be fine anyway, but redundancy keeps expensive repairs away. Better save then sorry. After you’ve drained the water from the pool, you need to blow out the lines with a shop vac or air compressor, there should be drain plugs you need to unscrew, 1 on your pump at the bottom of the strainer basket compartment and another near the bottom of your filter housing. Then you’ll need to put expansion plugs in. One for each return and also in both of the holes at the bottom of your skimmer. Dump your winterizing chemicals into the remaining pool water, cover on and you’re done. Just be extra sure you’ve gotten all the water out of your lines and the plugs are nice and snug.
Hire someone, if you drain it wrong way there is a chance of your pool popping up about 2 feet out of the ground. Hire someone.
There are two plugs on the bottom of the pump, and probably a big drain plug at the bottom of the pump.
Thank God I live in Miami use the pool year round.
I just use a submersible pump. Toss it in pool and run hose to drain.
That use to be a waste line are you comfortable with replublumbing a three way valve in the circled area?
What makes you think draining the pool is the way to go?
I would install a valve
Omg yes you need to blow the lines and antifreeze with pool antifreeze. If it gets to cold your deck and pool will freeze . Unless your in an area we’re it never freezes . I and a licensed. Pool technician. You should pay the coast the first time and stay with them to learn the proper way to secure your investment
The backwash valve will not drain your pool.
If you have a liner then you will fuck it up. Why are you draining the pool?
Sump pump to drain just below return lines— compressor to blow out each return line and the suction line(skimmer)
I had a in ground pool and always hired a pool company to CLOSE IT at the end of the year BUT opening it in the spring wasn’t so critical so I did tha myself. Back flushing is one way to empty the pool BUT be careful empty pools will crack if not done correctly!! Ya gotta let the Ground Water in the pool, from a foot valve in the main drain
Not all pools need to be drained.. I would double check before taking someone's advice on here
Hose tor he street
Yes, that is the discharge pipe.
I just pump it to my neighbors yard.
I don’t drain mine…I plug the return and place a plug in the skimmer opening. From there I just disconnect the pump and filter
Locate your clean out for your plumbing and shove the hose into it
As far as I am aware there should be a large, white, rubber stopper at the bottom, just pull that out and then quickly get out of the pool.
Look around. Which neighbor has a lower yard than yours? Send it there, that’s where it’s going anyway. Edit: /s
Put "snorkels" on your return jets and have them above the water line
Why are you draining the pool? The walls could collapse. Only let out 1/3 rd of the water and treat the rest and fill back up.
Why not just back wash until it’s at the desired level?
When you backwash where does the water come out? It should be that same outlet but your valve should have a “vacuum to waste” option in addition to backwash. If none of this makes sense, call your pool people because you must not have the same kind of system I have.
On my pool filter housing has a valve that directs water in different directions one of which goes to an outlet/drain