Main / Floor Drain - Doesn't Drain In Ground Pool

[josh2012]

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?

[LegsOnEarth]

Pools are a sealed system. "Drain" is a mis-leading name, as it doesn't drain water from the pool, but acts as the suction/intake portion of your pump system. Water is pulled from the "Drain" at the bottom of your pool and circulated through your filter before returning to the main body of water. There isn't a plug to pull like a bathtub. If you need to drain water from your pool, you can usually do so by attaching a hose to a hose bib at your equipment pad and running your pump to circulate water through the system. Check around your equpment pad for a hose bib (looks just like the fitting your garden hose would attach to) or look at the base of your filter as some contractors will install a hose bib on the filters drain plug.

Another option, if your sand filter has a multi-port valve (a valve with multiple positions, not a "push-pull" or slide style valve) then there will most likely be a bypass position that lets you circumvent the filter and drain water out via your backwash plumbing or hose.

Hope that makes sense.

[josh2012]

Hi, Thanks for the rapid response. There is, in fact, a multi-position switch on the sand filter and a hose bib. My problem is that everything is cut off and just laying on the ground. I have 8 open PVC lines and the water is not draining out. Does it have a valve that requires suction to allow it to drain?