How to Drain a Pool Without Flooding Your Yard (3 Ways)

Having a pool is a luxury that many homeowners enjoy during the nice warm weather. Yet, when the weather starts to get chilly, you may need to drain the pool as part of the winterization process!

This often raises the questions: How to drain a pool without flooding your yard? Is it even possible with such a large structure?

Well, you’re in luck, because this article includes three methods you can try to achieve your goal without causing any messes.

Let’s dive in!

Guidelines to Follow When Attempting to Drain a Pool

You can’t just empty your pool on a whim; you’ll need to keep a few measures in mind before you take up this seemingly simple project.

• Research your city regulations to determine if you can drain your pool into storm drains (if not, you’ll have to go for a sanitary sewer line)
• Wait for the right weather to drain your pool (avoid hot weather that could damage your pool’s liner if exposed)
• Stay around the house while the pool is draining and check on it regularly

If permitted to drain the pool into the yard, here are some additional precautions to take:

• Wait until chlorine levels have dropped low enough to avoid damage to the yard
• Avoid draining into a sloped area that will runoff into neighboring properties
• Consider moving the drain hose to various spots in the yard at periodic intervals throughout the process to avoid oversaturation (flooding) in a single spot
• Avoid draining after heavy rainfall that has already saturated the ground
• Consider draining at shorter intervals spread across a longer duration to allow the ground to soak up the water

Once you understand these guidelines, you can use one of the following methods to drain your pool to the desired location.

Method 1: Use a Garden Hose to Siphon the Water

This method works if your pool isn’t that big or doesn’t need quick draining. It’s one of the slowest processes you can try, but it’s still a good idea if you don’t have a pump and aren’t ready to rent one.

If you settle on using a garden hose, or hoses, to get the water out of the pool, here’s what you should do:

• Drop your garden hose into the pool so that it’s fully submerged 
• Allow it to completely fill with water
• For each hose, lift one end and lay it on the ground outside the pool where your drain is
• Ensure the discharge end of the hose is at a lower elevation than the suction end
• Make sure the other end is still lying submerged in the pool
• Ensure water begins flowing to the discharge end of the hose
• Monitor the siphon process until desired amount of water has been drained (it might take hours to days depending on the amount of water and number of hoses)

When your hoses are done with their job, you may end up with several inches of water in the pool, refusing to budge. To clear the remaining water, a wet/dry vacuum can be used.

Method 2: Try Your Luck With a Water or Vacuum Pump

A lot of people prefer using a pump to drain their pools since it requires less effort, not to mention that it’s much faster than siphoning the water with a hose.

If you’re too busy to use a garden hose or you just don’t want to concern yourself with the slow process, here’s the right way to use a submersible pump:

• Ensure that the pump’s cord is long enough to reach a wall outlet
• Attach a hose to your submersible pump
• Route the discharge end of the hose to the desired location for drainage
• Submerge the pump in your pool, right in the middle, then plug it into the wall outlet
• The water should now start to go through the pump and hose
• Check on the whole setup every now and then to ensure that everything is working seamlessly
• Turn off the pump once the desired amount of water has been drained.
• If trying to remove all water from the pool, use a shop vac to manually remove the last bit that the pump couldn’t remove

Method 3: Drain the Pool With a Drain Adapter

For above-ground pools that have a drain adapter, the process may be even easier.  This scenario is more likely to happen if you have an Intex or Coleman pool.

In this case, emptying the pool should be as easy as ever!

This is how to properly use a drain adapter with a temporary above-ground pool:

• Take your garden hose, attach it to the drain plug, then open the valve
• Make sure the other end of the hose is situated right next to the drain in the ground
• Monitor the entire draining process until your pool has little to no water left
• You might need to move the water hose occasionally to encourage the water to flow into it

Final Takeaway

Now that you know how to drain a pool without flooding your yard, it doesn’t seem so intimidating a task, right?

Based on the available equipment and how fast you want the process to go, you can empty your pool using a garden hose, a pump, or a drain adapter.

Happy Draining!