Your pool is an inviting retreat during the hot summer. There’s no better feeling than lounging in the poolside, breathing fresh air, and soaking up under the sun. But it’s also a giant water source.

When your pool becomes a dumping ground when thunderstorms roll in, you need to do something about it. Here are some tips for draining water from your pool after rain. Plus, some steps on how to drain the water level in your pool after rain.

Steps on How to Drain Water From Pool After Rain

This is actually a pretty basic and uncomplicated procedure. It’s simply a matter of carrying out these procedures in the proper order to ensure effectiveness and efficiency. 

Step 1: Clean and Sweep up the Pool Deck

After the heavy rain, huge debris gets scattered around your pool deck. Sweep up all the junk you can see. Use a garden hose to clean the area of dirt around the pool deck. Make sure to sweep and clean away from the pool to prevent any from getting inside the pool.

Step 2: Remove All the Debris Floating in the Pool

Use a leaf net or a flat skimmer attached to a telescopic pole to collect all of the leaves, twigs, and other debris accumulated on the water’s surface.

Leaves, twigs, and other material may have collected inside the skimmer and pump baskets, resulting in the filtration system failing to function correctly. To remove everything from the baskets, you can use a pool skimmer or do it manually with your bare hand.

Step 3: Activate the Pump and Filter

After the rain, it’s best to start the water circulating again to eliminate all the pollutants and particles that are too small that the rain delivered into your pool.

Keynote: Suppose a blackout has happened due to the rainstorm; you'll obviously wait for the power to get back before completing this step. However, you still want to clear out all the debris as much as possible physically. Debris will sink to the bottom of the pool if you leave them for too long.

Step 4: Give the Pool a Good Brushing

You’ll need a pool brush and a long-handled pole to get it done. This step aims to allow you to filter the water of all the nooks and crannies on the bottom of your pool, pulling along any debris that may have dropped there.

Working from one side of the pool to another, brush all over the bottom, creating a strong current that will allow floating debris trapped on the pool’s floor to wash back into your filter.

You can also remove debris from your pool’s steps and ladders using a good pool brush. If there’s a drain on the pool’s floor, wash the debris towards it.

Step 5: Vacuum the Pool

Generally, if there isn’t a lot of waste at the bottom of the pool, you may instead set your automated pool cleaner loose and let it take care of the cleanup.

On the other hand, if you see a lot of debris and don’t have an automatic pool cleaner, you’ll have to vacuum the pool manually.

To do this, set the filter to the “waste” setting before you start to vacuum the pool. This setting prevents debris from entering through the filter and will drain excess water from the pool.

Continue the vacuum work only when you have already removed all the debris, and the waterline reaches six to eight inches from the top of the pool.

If the water reaches the optimal level, but there’s still debris present in the pool, you can turn on the garden hose and put it in the pool to maintain the water level in your pool while you continue cleaning.

Step 6: Drain a Portion of the Water Level in Your Pool

If the water line reaches way above the optimal level and vacuuming the small amount of debris won’t remove enough water, there’s a couple of alternatives you can do. 

You can continue to vacuum the waste until you’ve removed excess water from the pool. Take note that the water level in your pool should be at the halfway point on the skimmer plate or around six to eight inches below the pool’s surface. 

You can also stop vacuuming, but keep the filter settings to “waste,” connect a backwash hose to the waste port on the filter, and turn on the pump. Run the filter until the waterline reaches the ideal water level in your pool.

You may also use a sump pump connected to a garden hose.

Step 7: Gauge and Balance the Water

Your pool’s chemistry is likely to have been impacted by a significant amount of rain and organic waste. Test the pool’s water using test strips or a liquid test kit, and then balance the chemistry of the water.

Pay close attention to the pH, which may have decreased significantly due to the storm, especially if the rain itself was too acidic. Keep in mind that if the pH has been dramatically changed, it is probable that the alkalinity has been as well. As a result, make sure you test and adjust both. 

Also, make sure the chlorine level is in the right balance. In many cases, the rain will bring pollutants to the water. As the sanitizer begins to fight them off, the amount of accessible sanitizer (also known as free chlorine) will decrease, making your pool more prone to contamination.

Last but not least, examine the calcium and cyanuric acid levels. It’s possible that the rain diminished their effectiveness. Soft water may cause difficulties for your pool and its equipment, and too little cyanuric acid can result in the chlorine not being stabilized, which will negatively impact its overall performance.

To be on the safe side, you may also want to have the water tested by a professional. No one wants a green or a cloudy pool after heavy rain.

Rainstorm Pool Preparation

We’ve all been there before. You get the feeling that your swimming pool is about to burst at the seams, so you bring out a water pump to drain off as much of the pool as possible for a few hours or overnight, but it’s still not enough. 

Well, before the pool overflows completely, it might be time to take action and make sure your swimming pool is ready for rain showers. To give your water the best chance of surviving stormy weather, follow these steps:

Step 1: Cut Off All Electrical and Gas Lines to Your Pool

Standing water and electricity are not a good combination. Make sure that all the power in your pool area is turned off before the storm. Switch the pool pump and timer if you’re using one. If you have a cover for the pump and filter, put it on them. If you have a heated pool or hot tub, turn off the gas to help prevent any leaks from happening.

Step 2: Prepare the Pool’s Water for Stormy Weather

Add algaecide to the pool water to prevent the effects of algae and other pollutants that the rainfall may carry. Also, give the pool a good shock by adding chlorine.

Step 3: Clear the Pool Area

In addition to shocking the pool for more protection, move any furniture, tools, and other items that may be in the way, as well as all toys, balls, and other things that could potentially become projectiles. You may also want to prevent tangled cords from strangling your swimming pool equipment.

This can help prevent major disasters such as electrocution.

Moving these things around may prove difficult if there’s a lot of water in your pool and it’s raining already, so try to clear the pool area before the heavy storm. 

Step 4: Trim Trees and Shrubs

As part of the preparation, you should trim any trees and shrubs that hang over your pool, as this can reduce the chances of debris falling into the water. 

Step 5: Reduce the Water Level in Your Pool

If you’re able to reduce the water level in your pool below one foot before a storm, you’ll put a damper on the amount of water that will get in when a big rain comes. 

A couple of inches worth of water is enough for most pools with a depth of eight feet or less. If your pool is enormous or deep with a large volume of water, this step may not be enough. In this case, try draining a foot of the pool’s water off before the rain comes and then add more as necessary later.

Important Note:  "Do not reduce the water level by more than a foot at a time. Any lower than that, and the hydrostatic pressure created by a downpour may be too much for the pool, causing it to pop out of the ground.” (Matt Giovanisci, founder of Swim University®)

Step 6: Don’t Completely Drain Out the Pool

The National Swimming Pool Foundation advises pool owners not to empty their pools. If you do not have enough water, the bad weather can lift the pool out of the ground—the water assists in “holding down” your pool.

Step 7: Remove the Pool’s Pump Motor

Remove the pump’s motor if possible and store it inside a dry and secure location. If you cannot remove the pump’s motor, wrap it firmly to protect it from a severe storm.

After you’ve drained the pool, it’s time to return the water into the system. This will impact how well your pool will perform in future rainstorms.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Bottom Line

Getting ready for the upcoming hurricane can be a challenge. If you wish to be sure that your backyard oasis is safe after the heavy rainfall, you need to get ready for bad weather. 

First, you will need to understand how to drain the water level in your pool after rain. Then, you will need to know some of the most common tasks that can be done before a storm so that there will be no mess or damage when it hits. Preparation can keep yourself and your family safe, as well as your pool.

Below are more pool articles that you will definitely find useful. Check them out! To view more pool articles, click here.

• A Pool Owner’s Quick Guide to Pool Maintenance: The Three C’s
• The Best Way to Shock a Salt Water Pool: Simple Steps and Best Tips
• Pool Owner’s Quick Guide to Prime Pool Pump in Preventing Major Issues