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Any time you jump into your swimming pool, you expect to feel clean and cool water. Every person who owns an inground pool uses a sanitizer to maintain the pool fresh and clean. Yet, many years passed since you filed your pool; it is time to drain pool water and put a fresh one.
The inground pool demands a lot of maintenance, yet fortunately, it does not require draining water from it very often. You do not have to drain a pool entirely. If you do it, you damage the pool liner and the pool’s structure. Despite the regular maintenance of your inground pool, it will need repairs sometimes.
It is pretty hard to fix your swimming pool floor sports if you do not drain the water first. Yet, draining your inground pool brings extra water costs, as you need to fill the pool with new freshwater. Because of that, you should drain it only if it is necessary.
Drain a swimming pool
If you consider draining a pool, then you should keep in mind the difficulty of doing it. It is essential to know when to drain a pool, and not always seem a good idea. We provide you with some reasons to drain your ground pool.
Replace the pool liner
If you need to repair a pool liner, you do not have to drain the pool water. On the other hand, if you want to replace it, you should entirely drain the water. You should replace the pool liner if there is a leak or tear.
Remove total dissolved solids (TDS)
Total dissolved solids are the measure of total soluble substances dissolved in the pool water. Sooner or later, they cause unstable water chemistry. It means that there is a need for many chemicals to maintain your pool water within proper quantity.
If your swimming pool water has a high level of total dissolved solids and contaminated, you need to drain the pool and refill it with new water. But, sometimes, it is not necessary to completely drain your pool to solve the problem.
Fix your pool chemistry
Pool owners can fix a more significant number of chemical imbalances without draining the ground pool water. Still, the condition of chlorine lock requires to do it. Unfortunately, chemicals cannot fix the chlorine lock condition. Certainly, if you add more chemicals, it will be worse.
If there is too much chlorine in the swimming pool, it can irritate swimmers. As well as if there is slight chlorine, it will grow algae. These conditions are the pH imbalance and excess pool stabilizer, and you can solve them only by replacing the pool water. When your ground pool pH levels are higher than usual, you will see cloudy water.
On the other hand, if the pH level is lower than usual, it can damage surfaces and the pool equipment. If you find that your pool chemical levels are always too high or too low, it may be time to drain your pool and start over balancing your chemicals.
Replace ground pool water with new
Pool owners know that it is essential to refill the pool water with a new one. No matter how regularly you keep maintaining your pool, there will be times when you actually must change the water and refill it. Who doesn’t want fresh and clean water?
Repair and paint the pool
Swimming pools hold thousands of water gallons with years, and over time, the surfaces and the pool’s liner need repairs. Plus, the hot sun damages the color of the gunite or concrete pool within the time, so it is recommended to paint the pool every 2-4 years. If you plan to repaint or paint your pool surface, it is necessary to drain the pool.
The first thing that you should do is to drain your pool. It would be best to keep in mind that there must be a warm and hot day because you will need to let the pool dry before painting the surface. The water draining process can take an hour or longer, depending on the size of your pool.
Fast steps to drain your pool
For those who did not drain a pool previously, we provide you with some steps and tips on how to do it faster:
Plan where to dump the water
Knowing where you will dump the pool water is the first step to take. There are thousands of water gallons to direct, so before you start pulling it out, you should direct the water away from the pool. It is quite probable that your yard cannot handle thousands of water, and you do not want to dump the pool water full of chemicals directly in your grass. Don’t you?
Many municipalities prohibit pool owners from draining swimming pool water into storm drains or streets. So, before you do it, check your city rules, especially if you want to empty the entire pool. Even if you plan to use storm drains or gutters, you will need to check if they can handle too much water.
Pick appropriate method
There are different methods to drain your pool, and just two of them make sense: garden hose and submersible electric pump.
Garden hose
Many pool owners use the traditional garden hose for draining your pool because it is the cheapest method. It is slower than the electric pump, so you will need to keep in mind the time you will waste if you choose this method. This method allows you to use more garden hoses if one is not enough. Insert one end of the hose into the pool and the other hole hose in your hand. Then, lower it beneath the water surface.
Now, lift the hose end out of the pool water, pull it to the drainage area, and lace the hose close to the drain. Finally, start the siphon after you remove the end of the hose. As the process of draining your pool is quite long, check from time to time to make sure the pool water level changes and there is no flooding. To stop the siphon, remove the garden hose or raise the drain end.
Submersible pump
A submersible electric pool pump tends to drain a pool faster than the garden hose. It will almost completely drain water from your pool. The first thing you need to do is drop the pool pump intake hose into the water. Make sure you drop it close to the center of the pool. Then, place an outlet pump hose at the place you have to choose previously and turn the pool pump on.
Make sure you connected all the cords and hoses. Also, to avoid any flooding, ensure that the drainage hose remains in the proper location. If the water level is too low and the submersible pump cannot pull it anymore, remove the hose.
If you decide on using a pool pump to drain water, then use a smaller submersible pump for less electricity bill. Ensure you follow the instruction on the pool pump pack, so the draining process is simple and easy.
Remove any excess water
No matter what method you will use to drain the water, they cannot pump pool water at the bottom. So you should remove the excess liquid left on the deep end. You will find many ways to do it, but the most effective way is to siphon the water with a dry or wet vacuum.
If you cannot handle the expenses, use containers or buckets to drain water as much as you can. Another different way to complete the draining process is to remove the pool liner and flip it somewhere at your property so you can get rid of all the extra water.
Let the pool completely dry out
There will certainly some water dumped during the pool draining process, so it is essential to let the pool surface dry out before putting a new liner. In that way, you can prevent algae from growing and avoiding to develop bacteria under the pool surface. The fastest way to dry out the pool surface is to use a leaf blower because if you use towels to wipe the water, you will need a lot of time and many towels.
Ending thoughts on how to drain a swimming pool
No matter what type of pool you own, the learning process of how to drain a pool is an essential part of overall pool maintenance. Every pool care requires a draining at least every 3-5 years. To begin this process, you need to plan earlier what will be the method you will use and ensure that you obtain proper pool equipment. Also, it is pretty important to check the weather forecast to avoid damages.
People who own a pool have fundamental reasons to drain it, along with other pool maintenance reasons. Before a pool drain, think about what you are doing and go ahead if it is necessary to do it. If you plan to drain your pool, make sure you monitor the process quite often. If you follow all the steps provided and have the right equipment, the pool draining process will be successful.
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