How do I know if my pool main drain is working?

you can tell if your main drain is working by perhaps putting a leaf on it. If it sticks, its working. In any case though, the main drain is not why your pool is having a problem. It has nothing to do with your pool turning green.

What is the drain at the bottom of swimming pool for?

Main drains in swimming pools sit in their lowest points. A swimming pool main drain uses suction to pull pool water through it. Heavy particulate matter that sinks to a pool’s bottom is often sucked away through a main drain.

Can pool main drain get clogged?

Important: swimming pool drains are often built with short radius elbows that are normally found in cold water supply lines. These tight elbows can easily get clogged by any debris that flows past a dislodged strainer basket, and can also increase the risk that a drain cleaner gets stuck in the line.

How do I know if my pool has a clogged pipe?

To find out which specific pipe is blocked, run your pool pump and check each line by itself by shutting off the other lines (skimmer lines, main drain line) and looking at your filter’s pressure gauge. If a specific line has lower pressure than the other lines, then you’ve found your blockage.

Should the main drain on a pool be open or closed?

For proper water circulation, it is best to position the flap so that it is about 2/3 closed. This will allow for more flow through the main drain than through the skimmer, which will promote a “bottom-to-top” circulation throughout the pool.

Is a pool main drain necessary?

Main drains are not required in an inground swimming pool, however, they are strongly recommended and can be extremely useful in some circumstances. The advantages of main drains are to give you the ability to drain the water from your pool without the use of a sump pump. This is useful when replacing your pool liner.

Where does pool main drain go?

The main drains are usually located on the lowest point in the pool, so the entire pool surface slants toward them. Most of the dirt and debris that sinks exits the pool through these drains.

How do you unblock underground drain pipe?

What if I’m trying to unblock a drainpipe?

  1. Pour boiling water down the drain.
  2. Add a cup of bicarbonate of soda.
  3. Now add a cup of vinegar and watch it start to fizz and froth.
  4. Replace the drain cover loosely and let it work its magic for a few hours. Repeat until you make headway.


Can you snake a pool drain?

Also, do not try using a plumber’s “snake.” A snake typically doesn’t work on pool pipes because pools use 90-degree elbows and house plumbing uses 90-degree “sweeps,” which allow the snake to round the corners. Also, a sewer-line snake should not be used on a pool for sanitary reasons.

How do you find pool pipes?

Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: Okay the ones first you want to id what the suction side is and what the pressure side is the suction side is everything that's going into the pump.

How deep are pool pipes buried?

3 to 3.5 ft deep

It’s important that pipes are buried deep so that they don’t freeze. It is usually 3 to 3.5 ft deep.

How long does pool plumbing take?

Steel, plumbing, and electrical: 2-3 weeks



After the pool is excavated, steel, plumbing, and electrical can take place.

What is pool plumbing?

Pool plumbing are the pipes that are buried underground, connecting the pool with the filter equipment. The suction lines, skimmer and main drain, are two pipes that connect into the pool pump, via a 3-way valve. The return line is the pipe that carries water from the pool filter, back to the wall return inlets.

How do you put plumbing in a pool?

Quote from the video:
Quote from Youtube video: So first thing is they delivered all the pvc pipe then with spray paint they marked locations of the pipes. Next is the plumbing for the pool. The first thing to install is the actuator.

What size is pool pipe?

What Size Pool PVC Pipe do I Have? Inground pools are typically plumbed with either 1.5” or 2.0” PVC pipe. If you can find the markings on a pipe, and still read them, it will state the nominal diameter of the pipe.

What are the two holes in pool skimmer?

The hole closer to the pool connects to the main drain. The other hole goes to the pump. As water is drawn out of the skimmer by the pump, water flows from the drain into the skimmer. There are devices that more directly connect the two pipes to increase flow from the drain.

Does main drain connect to skimmer?

Because the main drain is not tied into the skimmer in this set-up, pool systems using this configuration usually also have a separate valve to control a separate main drain line that runs from the pool to the pump.

How do I increase the suction on my pool skimmer?

Check the Valve



The first thing to do to increase the suction is to check for blockage and air leaks. If one of the skimmers does not suck, it would be necessary to remove the basket from the skimmer. Then check if there isn’t a flow control valve at the bottom of the skimmer, which would be almost closed.