How Often Should You Drain Your Pool

Keeping the water in your pool clean over the winter and covered up keeps the amount of work and money you will spend in the spring down considerably. Sooner or later, though, you’ll need to empty your inground pool for one reason or another. Some Inground Pool owners recommend certain times and reasons. How often should you drain your swimming pool?

• Regular maintenance: Every 3-5 yrs. for optimal H2O quality
• Hard water issues: Address scaling by draining as needed
• Algae or contamination: Drain for thorough cleaning
• Overstabilization: Reduce CYA levels by partial draining
• Water conservation: Follow local regulations and consider environmental impact

Emptying your pool can allow you to see things that aren’t possible when the pool is full of water as you will see from this article.

How Often Should You Drain Your Pool

When your pool is on a scheduled time when you will drain maintenance and refill the water, you need to take the time and check everything while the water is out of the pool. Make a Punchlist where everything inside the pool that is underwater and you can’t get to will be exposed and can be examined.

The frequency of draining a pool depends on various factors such as the type of pool, water quality, and usage. Here are some general guidelines:

1. Regular Maintenance: It’s advisable to drain and refill your pool every 3 to 5 years for regular maintenance. This helps prevent the buildup of dissolved solids and stabilizes water chemistry.
2. Hard Water Issues: If you’re dealing with hard water problems (high calcium and mineral content), you may need to drain your pool more frequently. Signs of hard water issues include scaling on pool surfaces and cloudy water.
3. Algae or Contamination: In cases of severe algae infestations, pool contamination, or other water quality issues, you may need to drain and refill the pool as part of the cleaning and treatment process.
4. Overstabilization: Continuous use of stabilized chlorine products can lead to high cyanuric acid (CYA) levels. If CYA levels become too high, it may be necessary to partially drain the pool to reduce CYA concentration.
5. Water Conservation: Consider local water conservation regulations and environmental impact when deciding to drain your pool. Some areas may have restrictions on water usage.

Before draining your pool, it’s crucial to test the water and consult with a pool professional to determine the appropriate course of action based on your specific circumstances. Additionally, always follow local regulations and guidelines regarding pool maintenance and water disposal.

If you are painting always give it enough time for the pool to dry and the paint to cure. The paint manufacturers specify exactly how long you need to do this. I made the mistake of refilling my pool too early. Do the research and follow instructions for the specific paint.

Don’t empty the pool during hot summer months or when there are drought restrictions. Don’t try and empty the pool when the grounds are saturated after days of rain. If you schedule the maintenance you’ll have plenty of time to inspect the inside and get everything that needs to get done.

A good time to drain the water in your in-ground pool is every 3-5 years. in Spring when there are no draught restrictions, for reasons that the pool needs painting, structural maintenance, inspecting, or replacing items that are done when the pool is empty.

Pool Maintenance: Pool Wall Repair Tips

Make a Pool Punchlist:

• Clean & Scrub Stains on the Pool-Use Muriatic Acid to etch walls and floors-Rinse Clean
• Check your Pool Light 
• Wiring Chord & Housing 
• Replace your Drain Cover- If your pool has a missing, broken, or just old drain cover, have it replaced with one that is up-to-date and compliant with the new ANSI/ASME test standard. Replacing your cover will provide Anti-entrapment protection for your pool.
• Check Screws for Drain Cover-Discharge Adapters
• Plan to Paint- Give yourself a solid week depending on how big your Inground Pool is. Check the fade in your pool paint whenever you paint your pool keep a piece of the label or a little leftover in a can to compare with down the road. Plan to paint every 5 years or so. Chlorine and other chemicals beat up and fade pool paint. There is a Chlorinated Rubber Paint and an Epoxy Based Paint for Inground Pools. Try and use the same type of paint when painting over top of each other. Some pool paints use a primer and some Rubber-based ones don’t. Make sure the pool is cleaned and acid-washed before you paint.

I use a Chlorinated Rubber Base that doesn’t need a primer on my concrete pool. Make sure the pool is dry and cured before refilling.

•  Inspect walls and floor for cracks and holes and repair them. This is the only time you will be able to get at them so inspect the structure of the wall and floor thoroughly. If you have steps that come down into the pool check them for stress cracks, tiles, and under the coping stones for loose bricks stones or whatever you can patch or resurface.
•  Determined the Main drain with a hydrostatic valve is functioning as the main drain in your swimming pool is working.  A hydrostatic valve is a pressure relief device installed on the bottom of a swimming pool underneath the pool drain cover at the deepest end of the pool.  It prevents groundwater pressure beneath the pool from damaging the liner or even raising it out of the ground. The hydrostatic valve achieves this by allowing groundwater to flow into the pool thereby relieving the pressure on the liner or concrete shell. The Hydrostatic Valve is a 20.00 PVC fitting you can buy at any Pool Supply Store. It’s good practice to replace it when you take your pool water down. Considering what kind of damage it can do if sticks and doesn’t do its job while you got the pool down a painting or making some structural repairs.

Pool Repair on Concrete and Pool Care Fiberglass Pool Maintenace

Concrete Pools – Concrete pool shells are hydrostatically balanced in the ground via a relief valve that is installed on the floor of the pool. This allows groundwater from under the pool to come through the concrete floor and into the shell should the pressure from below the pool be greater than the pressure of the water pushing down from inside the pool.

Fiberglass pools are the same as concrete pools in that a fiberglass pool is hydrostatically balanced in the ground.

A hydrostatic relief valve needs to be operating in the floor main drains to allow the pool to balance the hydrostatic pressure of the groundwater surrounding the pool. 

This is even more practical in a fiberglass pool than in a concrete pool because a concrete pool weighs so much more than fiberglass material. This makes it easier to experience a floating pool with a fiberglass pool than a concrete one under similar conditions. These valves ensure that the pool can stand empty at least until the maintenance work is completed. They are very important and easy to check on.

Draining Pool Water: Fiberglass Pool Maintenance

These things, along with insurance purposes and County Inspections put them at another level. They normally will go 2 seasons before taking the pools down, resurfacing, and painting them on a schedule.

The bigger Public Pools have larger crews that can everything done a lot faster than what you can do in the backyard.

If your regular maintenance program for your pool is done properly and the number of people that use it, is normal then draining it every 3-5 years should be fine. Schedule the in-ground pool to be emptied for painting and maintenance when it’s down. Implement large group orientations, particularly for young children, and bathroom break policies to promote healthy swimming.

They run a higher risk of RWIs and other hazards that you normally won’t see in a private inground pool in your backyard. There are just a lot more things that can happen in a Public Pool.

How Much Does It Cost to Drain Pool Water and Pool Maintenace

Your water rates are normally calculated by the quarter and priced per 1000 gals. The Sewer quarterly charges where I am are almost 2x what the Water rates are. Water costs are different in all parts of the country.

There sometimes is a penalty for Consumption or use of Water/Sewer in most parts of the country that helps contribute to keeping usage down. which is a few dollars higher. The prices can add up, especially during the summer months Filling your swimming pool takes a big bite, especially in Inground Pools like mine which holds over 45,000 gallons.

Plus, you are running the garden and washing cars besides topping your pool over the season. As you already know, it can get very expensive. Just filling our pool gets me into a higher penalty for water consumption.

My guess is this is the same on the East Coast and a lot worse on the West Coast. The prices in California and the Southwest are probably nuts. Suppose you can fill your pool at all. Most people get through 4-5 seasons without emptying their pool. This can save a huge amount of money.

 As an example say your pool is 10 by 25 by 6 feet.

 Anyone with a swimming pool should know its dimensions of it. When you know the dimensions it’s easy to figure out the amount of water it holds. You’ll know exactly how many chemicals to buy and to use to treat your pool so you can budget.

If your pool is 10 ft. wide and 25 ft. long with an average depth of 6 ft. deep/height of 4ft. at the low end and 8 ft. at the deep end is 4+ 8 = 12 ft. divided by 2 = 6 ft. average depth.

My Rate is $ 55.28 for  10,000/gals of Water per quarter

My Rate is $75.40 for 10,000/gals  Sewer per quarter

10 x 6 x 25 = 1500 cubic ft.

There are 7.5 gallons of water in 1 cu ft. 

1500 Cu ft. multiplied by 7.5 gals.

=11,250 gallons in the pool.

At my rates, where I live that uses a surcharge for going over 10,000 gallons in the Quarter,  the ballpark cost would be approximately $150.00-$200.00 to fill your pool.

My pool is 7 ft. by 18 ft. by 33 ft.

=31,185 gallons of water

My Rate is $55.28 per 10,000 gals.

The Sewer Rate is $75.40 per 10,000 gals.

The pool water is going to be in the ballpark of $500.00 to fill the pool including the Surcharge for going over the specific amount for the Quarter.

So you can see filling your pool can be quite expensive even where water is not a huge problem like where I am in the Northeast. It just doesn’t make sense not to use your pool water throughout as many seasons as you can.

The price of water has risen so much over the last 10 years mainly because of the problem of aging infrastructure and lack of groundwater used for drinking water in the Southwest where residents of San Jose and Los Angeles have 15 to 17 percent increases in Public Water service.

These cities’ water rates continued to rise over the last few years from 2015 because of the serious water issues that water scarcity and drought have brought to the West Coast. After the cost of the water, you’ll need to stabilize the water in the pool which will be drinking quality water.  Adust the Alkalinity then PH then Shock. Reset the timer on the Filter, prime the lines, and start filtering. This will cost a minimal amount of your chemical inventory that you should already have.

How Much is Pool Draining- Pool Water Delivery

The convenience of having water delivered to your home and filling your pool could be quite expensive, especially depending on what area of the country you are in. With an average 30,000-gallon pool. a 6,000 truck which is the normal size would have to make 5 trips. The price could be up as much as $1250 to 2000 dollars. The best part is that the trucks can unload a lot faster than a garden hose with 40 lbs. water pressure.

These potable water haulers normally fill new pools, fountains, or ponds and top off swimming pools at the start of the season. They also deal with Emergency deliveries. Loss of water supply can happen for many reasons, including natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods, city water main breaks, and water contamination.

On average, a professional water delivery service will charge anywhere from $175 to $380 per truckload. and the average truck will hold 6,000 gallons. With this formula, you may need three to six truckloads to fill your pool, effectively paying $525 to $2,000 in total. This price, of course, will depend on the size of your pool. Most inground pools in the United States hold 15,000 to 30,000 gallons.

Other companies may charge by the gallon, which may range from $0.03 to $0.06 per gallon. If the water only has to be topped off, it could be as little as $100. Regardless of how much you are getting, there will always be a minimum travel fee that usually starts around which is an addon of up to 100 dollars.

If you are going to schedule to empty the water of your pool or if you need to take the water out because of an emergency procedure that needs to be done. Take advantage of that time when the pool is exposed and remove stains on the walls and floor.

Use a Muriatic acid once the pool is rinsed clean. Etch the walls and floor clean even if you have no plans for painting.

Stains on the walls can stay on for a while and the longer they stay on the harder they are to get off. Scrubbing with muriatic acid doesn’t cost any money just some time and muscle.

Then when you are ready to paint, maybe the next time you take the water out, there will be fewer stains to cover and less paint you’ll have to use. With fresh potable water in the pool, you’ll need fewer chemicals to stabilize the water’s chemistry, and will be back in business in no time.

Water is getting more expensive every day. If you take care of the gallons in the pool you can go for quite a while without changing it. Taking care of it in the Fall and using closing chemicals along with your Pool Cover properly will ensure the water is capable for the upcoming Summer season.

Is Your Empty Inground Pool a Confined Space