What Is Collected Surface Water
Surface water naturally flows downhill using whatever path it chooses. If someone takes some action to concentrate the flow of surface water, this water is called “collected surface water”. If you collect surface water, you have an obligation to discharge that water where it will not cause problems to downstream property owners. If the discharge of collected surface water causes problems or damages on downstream properties, this could be grounds for a lawsuit.
Examples of collected surface water include:
- artificial ditches
- drainage from eavestroughs and downspouts
- water collected from the roofs of greenhouses
- discharge from storm water management ponds
- street curbs and gutters
- road crossings.
Things To Do To Your Pool After It Rains
Have you ever wondered if theres something you should do to your pool after it rains? As a pool owner, its a definitely a question worth asking. Because after heavy rain, pools undergo a few changes on both a chemical and physical level.
Rainwater affects pH and Alkalinity levels, while excess rainfall adds extra water in the pool that you dont need. Not to mention all the contaminants that rainstorms sweep into your water.
That said, the amount of rain that gets into your pool is important to consider. Light rainfall and showers wont have a big impact on your water when compared to a 3+ hour tropical storm. Nonetheless, theyre both going to affect your pool chemistry.
To avoid a pool chemistry nightmare, follow the next few tips in this post. We show you 7 things to do to your swimming pool after it rains to keep your water crystal clear and ready for swimmers.
Can I Use A Sump Pump To Drain A Pool
Sometimes you need to drain your pool fast that is when you need a drainage sump pump. This type of pump drops to the bottom of the pool and pumps water out via a hose. They are much more powerful than cover pumps since they have to pump water much higher and are normally made of solid metal instead of thermoplastic.
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Where To Drain The Pool Water
- Sanitary Sewer: If your community allows you to drain the pool water directly into the sanitary sewer, this is often the most efficient way to route the drainage water. You will also need access to the sewer, usually via a storm drain. Discharge hoses range from 50 feet to 300 feet long, though discharge will also be limited by pump capacity.
- Gutter: Gutters eventually lead to the sewer main. Be sure not to overflow the gutters. In especially hot weather, much of the pool water may evaporate as it travels the gutter to the sewer.
- Irrigation: If the water quality is conducive to plant life, permits often allow you to discharge pool water to your own property.
So Whats The Pool Water Turnover Rate
There is no one answer. How often you need to change your pool water can vary from two months to as long as five or seven years. There are various factors that influence the frequency such as number of daily users, climate, type of water and pool maintenance frequency. For residential pools, industry experts recommend you replace your pool water every five to seven years.
Pool water that is too hard, old or has been unmaintained can also damage the surface of your pool. Even if you use soft water to fill the pool, overtime environmental conditions can often turn the water hard. This will eventually leave calcium and mineral deposits that can easily damage pool tiles and grout.
At the same time, swimming pools lose a significant amount of water everyday due to evaporation, splashing and carrying . To substitute this water loss, fresh water is continuously added to the swimming pool. Therefore the pool water is continuously changing.
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Using Your Yard For Drain Your Pool
Avoid pool drainage directly onto your neighbors yards and driveways. While your pool may be big enough to handle the runoff, you dont want to cause a flood for others. Try using as much of your property as possible to absorb the pool water then, only send overflow water in more concentrated areas. Do remember not to let the water reach the street or any other public places because this would be considered a violation. When you choose to drain pool water into your yard, you agree to take responsibility for any damages caused by that decision. Remember, its always best to explore options such as re-routing the water before draining it anywhere near a neighbors yard or private property.
How To Drain Water From A Swimming Pool
Many pool owners have never drained the water from their pools. They wouldnt know how to drain water from a swimming pool or why they need to drain the water. When the time comes to drain water they usually hire in a professional pool service but this is not necessary.
There are several ways to drain water from a swimming pool which depends on the type of pool and the setup of the pool plumbing and filtration system. Some systems are easy, you just turn a valve and run the pump to remove water from the pool. Otherwise a submersible pump is mandatory to drain an inground pool and highly recommended for an above ground pool otherwise its a slow process.
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Why Would You Need To Drain A Swimming Pool
Since draining your pool is an event that should only really be necessary every few years, there are only a few situations that require it. If the below doesnt apply to you, think twice about whether this is really a task you need to do. Hey, Im all for saving you time and money whenever I canand hello, this is one of those cases.
Draining Pools And Spas
Local water-waste ordinances and some water providers’ service rules prohibit discharging pool water to the street or storm drain. Pool water must be drained directly to the sanitary sewer system, which allows the water to be recycled and reused. Find your pool clean-out port in order to drain to the sewer.
Never drain a pool into a septic tank, which can quickly overfill. Monitor pool draining to assure the pump capacity does not exceed the sewer line capacity. Any equipment inserted into a sewer pipe, such as a garden hose, should be considered contaminated and used only for similar purposes in the future.
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How Often Do You Need To Drain A Swimming Pool
Draining a pool often is something you want to avoid, if possible. Because keeping your swimming pool in good working order can be quite a task. Draining and refilling the water is a big part of maintenance. Its essential to maintain the water chemistry and ensuring that its clean and safe for whoever uses it next. Besides, it is vital to keep the shape of your swimming pool intact when draining and refilling otherwise, you risk weakening the pools structure and affecting its appearance. But dont worry with the right tools, your pool-draining experience can be a breeze.
Also, theres a point where your pool becomes more of a hazard than anything else. If you get a reading of 1,500 parts per million of total dissolved solids, or 350 parts per million of calcium hardness occurring, the times come to drain the pool and start over.
You will need to drain your pool if you notice any of these symptoms:
- Excess algae growth or cloudiness.
- Foul smells or green color in the water.
- Pool plaster thats beginning to crack and crumble.
- A TDS reading thats higher than expected.
- The most common cause of pool water restoration is over-chlorination.
- A pool that has been sitting for a long.
- A pool that is affected by the weather.
Guidelines For Draining Your Pool Or Spa
Whenever possible, please drain your pool, spa, filter backwash, and pool wastewater into the sanitary sewer cleanout or down a drain leading to the sanitary sewer. Water flow into the sanitary sewer should not exceed 20 gallons per minute and should be pumped during low flow times of midnight 5 a.m., or noon 5 p.m. This will not increase your utility bill.
If it is not possible to drain the water into the sanitary sewer, you may drain the water ontograssy areas following these guidelines:
- De-chlorinate the water by allowing it to stand untreated for 7 to 10 days before you drain the pool/spa.
- Drain the water directly onto the grass in your yard. Be a good neighbor allow the water to only drain onto your property so that it does not cause erosion or flooding in your neighbors yard.
- Drain the pool water slowly to allow it to be absorbed into the ground and to prevent erosion and ponding. Standing water can lead to mosquito problems in as little as 48 to 72 hours and may be a code violation.
- Maintenance discharges from swimming pools, fountains, and spas such as filter backwash, acid wash, and plaster wastes shall never be discharged to the public right-of-way or storm drain system.
When disposing of filter rinse water and backwash:
Report illegal discharge to City of Pflugerville’s Stormwater Specialist at 512-990-6300.
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Preparing To Drain: Neutralize Ph And Cut The Chlorine
If you know you need to drain your pool, stop adding chemicals to the water for at least a few days. Before you drain, test the water you’re looking for a chlorine level that’s either zero or close to it. Chlorine is particularly toxic and could damage your landscaping or infect wildlife should any water enter your local drainage system. You also protect your neighbors’ plants from water that enters their yard.
You also want to balance pH levels. Highly acidic water damages landscaping and plants just as chlorine does, both in your yard and beyond it. Again, we’re talking about thousands of gallons of water. Unless you empty the pool with a bucket, it’s almost guaranteed that some of that water will wind up in a neighbor’s yard, surrounding greenbelt, or the local sewer system, so do everything you can to make the water as safe as possible.
To Prepare For A Hurricane
You must prepare your pool in case of a hurricane or tropical storm, as it might cause it to overflow. Its very important to know that in a case like this, you must NOT drain your pool completely.
An empty pool during a hurricane is vulnerable to floating, in other words, popping out of the ground caused by excessive groundwater pressure, that could create serious damage to your pool.
In such a case, you want to drain some water to prevent it from overflowing, but you should NOT drain your pool past the bottom of the skimmer.
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The Surface Water Off My Property Naturally Drains Onto My Neighbour’s Property Yet They Have Blocked The Flow Of Water And It Now Ponds On My Land Can I Sue Them What Can I Do To Resolve This Problem
A lower property owner has the right to protect their property from surface water.
Options to take before taking any action not agreed to by your neighbour might include:
- initiating discussions with your neighbour to solve the problem the solution could be formalized with a mutual agreement drain
- petitioning for a municipal drain to resolve the drainage problem.
How To Drain And Refill Your Swimming Pool
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Swimming pool water can get bad over the years so bad that chemicals lose their effectiveness. With this information and a free weekend, you can drain and refill your pool without spending much more than $200 .
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Hook It Up: Install A Submersible Pump
Again, your regular pool pump isnt going to cut itits designed to suck in water, and once your pool drains even a little bit itll be sucking in air instead, which leads to a myriad of permanent damages. Its better to rent or buy a submersible pump, which isnt exactly cheap but wont break the bank.
Making sure that the power cord is long enough to reach from the bottom of your pool to your outlet, place the submersible pump on the floor in the center of the deep end. Its safer to avoid using an extension cord. The submersible pump will have a hose connected, and youll want to place the other end of that hose wherever youre draining out all that water. Make sure that it reaches all the way, or youll have thousands of gallons of water gone rouge to deal with.
How To Drain An Above
Draining an above-ground pool is relatively straightforward. Just follow these steps:
Draining a pool can take up to 14 hours, depending on the size, so be sure to drain it on a day when you have sufficient free time. You need to be home to check on the pool, the hoses, and the pump frequently. Do not let the pump run dry or it can become damaged.
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Know Where Youre Going To Drain
Before you start draining your pool, you absolutely need to have a game plan. Remember, this is thousands of gallons of water youre about to moveand its got to go somewhere. Plus, your yard is not an option, and not just because you dont want chemically-treated water going into your grass. Pool pop ups happen most frequently when there is pressure underground around your pool. Introduce water to the ground near your pool and youre probably going to regret it.
So where should all that water go? Again, this is a time when you should consult with your local water authority. The usual process is to direct the water into one of your homes sewer cleanouts, but some cities allow you to drain into the streetand others have tight restrictions on when you can drain your pool. Go to your local dot gov to find out the regulations that apply for you.
To take extra measures to avoid the pool pop up, make sure your drainage hose is long enough to reach the sewer cleanout . And just in case any other drainage problems occur, direct the drainage hose downhill from the pool. You never quite know if your sewer cleanout is significantly clogged until youre trying to push thousands of gallons of water through. If something goes wrong and that water happens to come back toward you, you want to make sure its nowhere near your pool.
How To Drain An In
Draining an in-ground pool is much more involved than draining an above-ground one.
Your in-ground pool may have two or three hydrostatic plugs. Removing all of them is best, but make the one in the deep end the priority. It will release that upward pressure the quickest, and you wont have to fight running groundwater from the other plugs. Using this method, you should be able to avoid pool pop. Just be sure to replace the hydrostatic plugs before refilling.
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Draining Water From A Hot Tub
Hot tubs and inground spa pools are easy to drain.
The safest and fastest way is to use a submersible pump to a storm water drain. This should only take 30 minutes.
Some hot tubs have a valve at the bottom of the tub that opens to empty the water. But you better have a hose connected to the drain first.
Many people use a siphon hose to a drain and leave it overnight.
The reasons to drain a spa pool are the same as for an inground pool. It could be for repairs, maintenance or renovation.
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Turn Off And Remove The Submersible Pump
Youll reach a point where the water level is so low, the pump can no longer pull any water out of the pool, and youre left with a smallish puddle. This is normal, and acceptable. The amount of TDS in that little puddle isnt going to be enough to interfere with your chemical balance once you refill the pool.
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