Hurricanes and pools
 

I have a few questions about pool maintenance during a hurricane.

We are forecasted to get as much as 10+ inches of rain during the storm. Is it wise to lower the pool level in preparation?

Should the pool filter be completely shut down for the duration of the storm?

Thanks for any advice.

I was advised by a T&D pool repair person that it's a good idea to shut off the breaker to your pool equipment when the bad stuff comes. Specifically, the breaker located in your main breaker panel, not at the subpanel outside near your pool pump.

extra water should drain off if the pool was built correctly with an overflow drain

I talked to T&D this morning and they recommend turning off the breakers to avoid possible damage to the system from potential flooding.

On Fox 35 yesterday morning they were giving tips for pools. One I remember was he said you should shock your pool now. When I had a pool many years ago we kept a barrel of raw chlorine onhand for shocking the pool every spring, hopefully you have the same. He also suggested not to lower the pool level too much and as stated above, to turn the breaker off. He also said when power comes back don't turn it on right away, wait a day to make the power is back to stay.

True, but your talking about a drain pipe which has a 1" inner diameter. Do I trust it to keep 10-12" of water from breaching the top of the pool? No.

In addition, the floor drains on our pool decks and birdcages should provide some relief should the pool overflow. Im not taking any chances and plan on lowering the pool to the bottom of the skimmer opening*. No lower, as to not cause additional problems.

*My pump will be off tomorrow and Monday*

I called T&D and asked if I should take the pool level down a few inches. They said absolutely not. Even a few inches removes several thousand pound of water. And with high ground saturation of water the pool can actually try to float and crack the bottom of the pool.

They said the drains should be sufficient to handle any overflow of water from the pool. It is safer for the pool structure to fill to overflowing than it is to be below normal with a saturated ground. Probably by the time the ground is saturated the level will have returned to normal, but with all the rain we have had, who knows.