Another winter close question

[rkooz]

So I'm ready to drain my 18' x 48" Intex Ultra pool. I go to the hardware store and pick up a long enough garden hose to get from the pool to the street (luckily down hill) and was ready to go. EXCEPT, the garden hose coupling is too small to screw into the pool outlet. Any ideas if there is a converter or what type of hose I should have bought?

Separately, since I'm on the subject, what do people normally do after draining? leave it up with a cover? take down and put back in the box. I'll be honest, if taking down is the option, I worry how I'm going to "roll" it up correctly as I have issues putting sleeping bags back in there cases....

[CarlD]

Why not just drape the hose over the side to the bottom and start a siphon going? The street is downhill from the pool. As long as the inlet of the hose in the pool is above the outlet in the street, it will empty, even though it goes up and over the pool wall.

I had a 15' Intex donut years ago. I would wash it out with a bleach solution, then dry it with old rags, fold it up and store it.

OTOH, if you have a frame pool, why are you emptying it? Why not just shock the water, lower it below the returns, plug the drains and returns, then remove, drain and store all the plumbing?

[rkooz]

Thanks, Carl. I'm actually new to this. So with a frame pool I should just follow what you mentioned above? I take it cover it as well?

[CarlD]

You should check some of our threads on winter closing. If you cover your pool, you'll need to put large inflatable pillows in so the snow and ice on the cover are supported by the water below and the pillows. Otherwise, it will tear down your walls. I had serious snow damage last year even with a mesh safety cover with the ice build-up--first time in all the years I've had my pool.
You CAN leave it uncovered. There are debris nets that should keep major stuff like branches from falling if you like, but it's not a bad idea to keep an eye on it.

Taking the whole pool down, with bigger pools, is not a good idea as the liner gets more and more brittle over the years if it gets dry. Of course, when I had a donut, I only had it three years and it had to be taken down in the winter.

I don't know enough about Intex frame pools to give you a definitive answer, but if it were me, I'd be leaving it up, only winterized. Most above ground frame pools are left up and winterized.

[rkooz]

Thanks and sorry for the delay in getting back. Can you clarify what you mean by "shock"? What should I add, etc. I like the idea of leaving it up with a debris net.

[CarlD]

"Shock" is a verb that means increasing your chlorine level to kill and metabolize anything that normal chlorine levels cannot.
Pool stores frequently sell what they label as "shock", which can be various forms of either powdered or liquid chlorine (essentially bleach, though frequently it's a higher concentration). Bleach is good enough.
But the Shock Level is determined by the level of stabilizer (Isocyanuric or Cyanuric Acid--CYA) in your pool. The more CYA, the higher the Shock level.
We have a table for that, called the "Best Guess" table. But you need to know the CYA level first. We always recommend a good test kit. Our first choice is the Taylor Technologies K-2006 or K-2006C. Our second choice, especially if you need it right now, is the HTH 6-way drop test kit which seems to only be available at Walmart. Both use the same CYA test. You may be able to find a stand-alone CYA test kit, but your pool store should be able to test your water and tell you. Testing yourself is best.

Best Guess table: http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/best...ine-chart.html

Meanwhile, one 121 ounce jug of 8.25% regular unscented ultra bleach should add about 10.4ppm (parts per million--how we measure concentrations of everything but pH in pools) to your pool, which I estimate to be about 7500 gallons. To shock your pool, you may need anywhere from 1 to 2 to 2 1/2 jugs depending on your CYA level.