I love pools but troubleshooting problems like this can sometimes drive me crazy. Even with experience, wondering if one of my pipes is actually clogged or not working for some reason can really get into the back of my mind and start eating away at me. One of the hardest plumbing essentials to inspect is the pool main drain. The main drain provides circulation to your pool water from the deepest part of your pool and the plumbing actually runs directly under your pool liner or shell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you want to check if your pool main drain is working, try to identify if you have a clog, pipe burst, or a leak. You’ll need to close all other suction sidelines and valves to your pump. Inspect for bubbles around the main drain grate at the bottom of your pool, inspect the suction side to your pool pump from the main drain line, water pressure inside of your pump and filter, and check related valves connecting the main drain to the pump. This might seem like a big checklist but it’s not really so daunting after all to get some peace of mind and the knowledge if your main drain is working or not.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep on reading the article below, we will dive into the details on how to tell if your pool main drain is working properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the main drain is at the deepest part of your pool it may not always be obvious that you are losing suction and circulation to this part of your pool. Signs that you might have an issue with your main drain include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your main drain is busted or leaking air from underneath the ground, this is a bit of a headache to deal with as those pool lines will need to be unearthed and replaced or repaired. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves though if there is an air leak it could be coming from a valve or fitting. What you would look for with an air leak in your main drain is the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before calling out any service repair for your pool which can cost money that may not be necessary, let’s take a look at trying to identify if your main drain is working. If it isn’t, are we dealing with a clog or a leak?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main drain can become clogged with almost any type of debris that can get through the grates in your main drain. The typical culprits will be leaves, sticks, hair, and other various particles that collect at the bottom of your pool. If your main drain as had the cover grate taken off for any reason, then something larger could have made its way into the drain unbeknownst to the pool owner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Leaks could result from poor winterization of the pool. Being around pools my whole life in the midwest, I can vouch for how important it is to winterize your main drain pipe correctly. This is why so many pool owners seek professional help to close their pools every Winter but you can also learn how to blow out your main drain<\/a> on your own. If water had been trapped in the main drain during the winter, it’s possible that it could have created a crack in the main drain pipe from the water freezing and expanding inside the pipe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Air leaks could also occur around valves or fittings which is a much easier and cheaper problem to have. I discuss inspecting for this type of leak below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This will be the easiest and most important step before doing any other troubleshooting for the main drain. We will want to close off any water being pulled to the pump from any other line in the pool. At your equipment pad, you’ll want to close all the valves coming to your pump that are not from the main drain. That would mainly be your skimmer valves which need to be closed all the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\nSigns that your Main Drain is Clogged<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Does my Main Drain have a burst or air leak?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What causes Main Drains to Clog or Leak?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How to Isolate Suction from Only the Main Drain?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n