Help.How to empty returns to fix leak?

I posted before ... have a leak in the return. I'm pretty sure it was done by the shotcrete sub and not the deck sub. Built it myself.

The industry is so swamped I know it is going to take forever to get this done. I'm going to give it a shot - at least get things started.

Since others have with line leaks have said repairs were done by tunneling under the concrete - I'll try that. I can dig as well as the next guy and my labor is cheap.

After I get there, and if I think it's possible for me to fix this, how do I clear the water from the lines? Backwash the pool to below the returns or do I find plugs for the returns since they are threaded? Then what do I do to get the water out?

All advice here would bo SO welcome! I'm really pretty worried about running the pump at all with this leak - the plaster is only 5 days old, and I'd hate to risk ruining it (if that would even happen, I don't know). But I can't stand the idea of the pool just sitting there, as it is not stablized and the chlorine I dump in gets eaten up in no time.

Help!

Valerie

You can empty the returns by using a blower and slowly screwing the winter caps on the ends while they are bubbling. Look around for pool closing information and follow that part of the winterizing procedure.

Val,
When my leak was fixed the plumber just threaded plugs into all the returns. After that, the leak itself should take care of draining the damaged return line.

If you know the leak isnt the return *fitting*, then you should be able to get away with using threaded plugs. If the leak is from the fitting itself, youd need to remove and replace the whole fitting, rendering any threaded plugs (that go into the fitting) useless at stopping the water from leaking out.

I ended up draining my pool to check the return fittings for a leak last year, but it turned out the fitting was only a small part of a larger leak. Fixed the small part with the pool drained, filled the pool back up and used a threaded plug to replace the return plumbing.

Whatever water was in the return came out by itself when I disconnected it from the fitting at the pool. If you dig the trench first, you should be able to lift the plumbing up enough to prevent the water from flowing out. I just let it flow into the hole, because there wasnt much water. Or you can use a shop vac to try and blow it out.

-Chris