Broken air release valve/sediment release valve on intex filtration system

Help! The air release valve on my pump snapped clean in half, not sure how this happened as we just purchased the pool at the end of spring. When this happened water was spraying into the air like a fire hose and I had to stick my finger into the hole to plug it! I was by myself and had nothing to plug the whole and couldn't move because if I took my finger out water would blow everywhere! I was stuck behind the pool for 30 min trying to figure out what to do. Anyway I ended up throwing a bag of sand on top of it and ransacking my kitchen for something to plug the hole. I did so with a wine bottle cork and ordered a new air valve from Intex. Now comes the fun part... How do I replace it? The nut for the valve is inside the basket and if I take the lid off well all the water will drain from my pool!!! I should mention I bought a Hayward skimmer as the intex inlet valve was HORRIBLE it couldn't clean my pool. So I have no way of keeping the water from going into the inlet and shooting out of the pump while I replace this part. What do I do?!?

Lift the pump up higher than the pool's water line - maybe set it on a step ladder.

A pool store should have a rubber stopper that will work. We have bought one before. It had a wingnut on it that you tighten. Or you could just jam a plastic bag in the skimmer but make sure you remove it before you turn the pump back on! You can take the eyeball of your return, wrap a piece of thin plastic around it and then put it back in and that should also prevent return flow backwards. (The plastic idea was from Poconos, another one of the moderators who hasn't been active on the forum recently.)