If you’re a new pool owner or you’re considering installing a pool, one topic you should definitely seek to understand is the process involved in draining your pool. There are certain circumstances when it will become necessary to drain most or all of the water out of your backyard pool. When that time comes, it’s important to know how to go about performing this task in a smart, safe and economical manner.
The last thing you want to do is accidentally flood part of your neighborhood, ruin your grass, or damage your pool liner and equipment. If you’re not careful, you can even dislodge the pool from the ground around it! To avoid these unfortunate circumstances, follow the helpful pool draining tips we’ll point out in this article series.
What are the Reasons to Drain Your Pool?
If your pool’s water or surfaces get in certain undesirable conditions, the best way to get your pool back in working order is to completely drain out the water. Then, take care of the problem, and refill it. Here are some of the issues that could warrant either partially or completely draining your pool.
1. A Severe Algae Outbreak
Though some algae outbreaks can be cleared up by a regimen of pool brushing, adding chemicals, and running your pool pump, others are too stubborn. If you’re dealing with an algae outbreak that won’t go away and that’s caused your pool’s surfaces to stain, you should probably go ahead and drain the pool. This will allow you the opportunity to scrub off those stains and start over with fresh water.
2. For Liner Repair or Replacement
If your pool’s liner is getting worn out or has severe damage, it will need to be repaired or replaced. In this case, you’ll need to drain all of the water out of your pool.
3. For Surface Cleaning
Sometimes pool surfaces need to be cleaned more thoroughly than normal. In such instances, you’ll likely need to perform a complete or partial draining. If you go with a partial drain, just leave the pool about half or one-third full of water. You can immediately refill the rest of the pool as soon as you’re done performing your cleaning.
4. Due to High TDS
TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids. It’s a measurement of all soluble substances that are dissolved in a body of water. Freshwater swimming pools should have a TDS level of no more than 1,500 ppm (parts per million). If the level gets too high, you could start to notice stains on pool surfaces, hard water, a salty taste, or cloudiness. This TDS value will not be accurate for pools that use salt-chlorine generators. Those pools will reflect a higher than normal TDS due to a large amount of salt that this chlorination method adds to the pool.
If your pool’s TDS measures too high, drain and refill it to take care of the problem. Whether or not it will need to be completely or just partially drained will depend on how high the TDS level is and how badly it seems to be impacting the condition of the pool water and surfaces.
In the next article in this series, we’ll take a look at different methods for draining different types of pools, followed by some practical tips.
Read More About Swimming Pools
Lyon Financial
Since 1979 Lyon Financial has made the backyard resort dream come true for over 400,000 families across the U.S. Through our solid relationships with more than 3,000 pool contractors and our continued commitment to putting our clients first, we have built a reputation as the first choice in providing pool financing solutions. For more information, visit lyonfinancial.net or call (877) 754-5966 today.
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