Would this setup work to drain water quicker?

[Rick Sass]

I have a 20,000 gal, in ground pool with a Sta-rite 1.5 hp pump and a Sta-Rite cartridge filter. In the past I would attach a garden hose to one of the drain ports on the filter housing and wait 1.5 days to the lower water in the pool.

Would this setup work better? I would install a shutoff valve before between the pump and the filter and then install a tee between the shutoff valve and the pump fitted with a 2" female threaded adapter that I could attach a 2" drain hose to. I would close the 2" shutoff valve and then turn the pump on to lower the water level. All the plumbing is 2". Would this setup work at lowering the water level in the pool more quickly?

[Me...]

Sounds like a pretty standard way to do it as long as you a place that will take all that water so quickly.

[panth3r]

I too have a cartridge filter system. Moved into a home that had a neglected pool. Fighting a recent algae bloom, and without the ability to "vacuum to waste", I was stumped as to how to evacuate the dead algae and related sediment that had settled at the bottom.

I did something very similar to what you are considering. With 2" lines throughout my system, I cut into the return line from the filter, added a 2" tee and a 2" shutoff valve, with the shutoff valve being closest to the pool on the return line, after the tee.

I 90 degreed off the tee and added about 3 feet of pipe to direct the water evacuation away from the pool equipment. At the end of the 2" pipe, I reduced to a 1" threaded nipple that I could cap. I purchased a 50' drain hose @ 1-1/2" from Home Depot ($25.00) that I can attach to the 1" threaded nipple.

To remove water, I close the shutoff valve, remove the 1" cap and attach the drain hose. Turn on the pump and I am now able to drain water to my lawn. When done, I cap the 1" line, and open the shutoff valve. The pool recirculates as normal.

I chose to use the return line only because there wasn't enough 2" line between the pump and the filter housing to add the tee and shutoff without designing an elaborate, multi-elbowed "spaghetti looking" grouping of pipes hanging off of the pump line.

This works great for lowering the pool level quickly. The only downside, compared to teeing off pre-filter, is the need to remove the cartridges when vacuuming to waste, as they would clog much too quickly. Also, I have enough lawn to handle a 150-200 gallon run-off. The water does come out quickly and in large volume.

As a side note, do not go "cheap" on the parts and supplies. You are adding a permanent section of pipe to your system. You don't want it to fall apart or leak. Schedule 40 PVC pipe and quality fittings. Check other threads here on the correct primer/glue requirements.

Robert