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We have a 12 year old pool. Our filters are clean. The cleaning system pulls through the skimmers, but not through the main pool drain. It works fine when on spa mode, too. We did have a time of lots of wind. and debris may have gotten stuck down main drain. We heated the pool and stuck a wire hanger down the main drain to try and unclog potential blockage - to no avail. We tried a "bladder" going through where the wire basket is to use water pressure to blow out anything- to no avail. Do we need to buy a "snake" or some other special tool to unclog this area? Any tips on how to proceed would be appreciated.

Help! The pool and hot tub floor drains do not drain any water. Bought a home with a pool and hot tub not in service. The Hot tub water level is above the level of the pool. The hot tub has a spillway into the pool. There are 3 pumps laying in a pile of misc valves and cut off lines, etc. There is also a sand filter and a propane pool heater. I pumped out all of the bad water and have now identified 7 out of 8 of the lines. My biggest question is why wouldn't the pool drain by gravity with all of the lines cut off? I can blow air into the backwash line or drain line and air bubble up through it into the pool bottom, same thing with the hot tub, but zero water will drain out. I figured there is a check valve in the hot tub floor drain to keep the water from draining into the pool if the pool and hot tub utilized the same drain line. The previous owner said that the the 3 pumps were for 1. Pool Circulation, 2. bubbles for the hot tube, 3. small fountain features which spill into the pool. There are two holes in the main drain in the floor of the pool. One is closed with a threaded plug. The other is open. There is one skimmer, also with two holes and one plugged with a threaded plug. I tried taking out the plugs and that didn;t allow the water to drain either. But I can blow air or water back up into both into the pool or hot tub but not out?? What is in the bottom are drains, right? You wouldn't cirulate water into the pool from below?

I have a 30+ year old gunite pool that was recently renovated and replastered. This year I opened it up to find over 80% of the water was gone. A few dye test leak detections later it appears that the main drain is leaking out right around where the pipe meets the drain (it's an old all-gunite main drain, there is no PVC drain box). The hydrostatic valve I have is just an old hockey puck heavy plastic disk around an o-ring right near the drain but seperate (this was the initial suspect for my leak, but turned out to be ok...). The main drain line was pressure tested and it holds pressure just fine at 10 psi, so it looks like the drain line is good (thank God)! So I am thinking about replacing/updating the main drain itself and that means moving to a modern PVC type box and should hopefully stop the leak. Now my question. I noticed that the new PVC main drain boxes have built-in hydrostatic valves. Should I have the pool company "fill in" my old hockey puck style hydrostatic valve opening with cement and plaster, and use the new spring loaded one that comes in the PVC main drain box, or should I continue with the hockey puck style one? The water table is not very high where I live but I guess it was high enough to warrent a hydrostatic valve to begin with... I live in the northeast. I don't like the idea of "all it takes is a grain of sand, running the vacuum over it, etc." and the valve can get stuck open (my current hockey puck style), but I am not sure how reliable the new spring loaded ones are... so any advice is appreciated! Does anybody have experiece with both kinds of hydrostatic valves and/or have rennovated an old style main drain before?

In the summer of 2010 I had my 28,000 gallon free-form gunite pool renovated (plaster, tile, coping, and all new equipment) to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. That summer and last year we have been extremely happy with the new looking pool! I have been a pool owner for 6 years now and I have been opening and closing it myself without issue... until this year. This year when I took the cover off I was horrified to find that more than 75% of the water was missing. The water level dropped below all fixtures and outlets, and since I just had it remodeled I don't believe it could be structural either. The only other possibilities are evaporation (wishful thinking?), hydrostat pressure valve got opened somehow, or a crack in the main drain line caused by freeze/thaw (probably). I immediately started to fill it up and soon realized that if it is a leak I am just waiting time and money on my water bill. I put a few thousand gallons in it anyway just to see if the water level would hold. I marked the sides with duct tape at the water level, and I grabbed a bucket to try the "bucket test" for evaporation. It has been 36 hours and much to my surprise the water level in the pool appears to be holding. I don't really know where to go from here... should I keep filling it up from the garden hose in small increments and check for leaks (ouch I have to pay sewerage fees on my tap water too), or should I hire a water truck to fill it up (cheaper, but only if there is not a leak). We had a very mild winter this year, and I have a mesh elephant cover so is it even feasible that the water did evaporate (I remember 2+ weeks in March of 85 degree weather)? When I close the pool I do drain it down about halfway (just below the diving board light) because I anticipate lots of snow and precipitation to help fill it back up (which if you live in the northeast you know that didn't happen this year). Should I hire someone to do a pressure check on the lines and potentially diagnose a leak? I really don't have much cash on hand right now so I don't really know what to do... Does anybody have any experience in main drain line replacement and excavation? I know it has to be expensive but I'm wondering approximately how many $$$$ am I going to have to part ways with? I don't think my pool would do well without a main drain for circulation. This is very discouraging. Any help/advise is greatly appreciated!