Do you lower water below the returns or leave it mid skimmer?

[Warren Dale]

Getting ready to close the pool and I keep seeing different advice about water level. Some people say drop it below the return jets others say leave it halfway down the skimmer. I’ve always lowered it a bit but never really knew if I was doing it right. What do most of you do and why?

 

[Danny Meerman]

Getting ready to close the pool and I keep seeing different advice about water level. Some people say drop it below the return jets others say leave it halfway down the skimmer. I’ve always lowered it a bit but never really knew if I was doing it right. What do most of you do and why?

I lower mine just below the returns so I can properly blow out the lines. For me, it’s more about making sure no water is sitting in plumbing over winter.

 

[Joe Smith]

Getting ready to close the pool and I keep seeing different advice about water level. Some people say drop it below the return jets others say leave it halfway down the skimmer. I’ve always lowered it a bit but never really knew if I was doing it right. What do most of you do and why?

I leave mine a little higher because we get heavy winter rain. If I lower it too much it can end up too low by spring. I just make sure the lines are cleared well before closing.

 

[John Knight]

Getting ready to close the pool and I keep seeing different advice about water level. Some people say drop it below the return jets others say leave it halfway down the skimmer. I’ve always lowered it a bit but never really knew if I was doing it right. What do most of you do and why?

It really depends on your climate. In colder areas people tend to lower more to protect the plumbing. In milder winters you can usually get away with keeping it higher as long as everything is winterized correctly.

 

[Warren Dale]

Sounds like it’s more about climate and plumbing protection than a strict rule. I’ll base it on how harsh our winters usually are. Thanks for the clarity.

 

[Alma Weber]

I lower mine just below the returns so I can properly blow out the lines. For me, it’s more about making sure no water is sitting in plumbing over winter.

Reading what Danny Meerman explained, I also lower mine just below the returns but not excessively. For me the priority is making sure the lines are fully cleared so no water is trapped and freezing inside the plumbing. I once dropped it too far and in spring I had to refill a lot and rebalance everything from scratch, which was a hassle. Now I adjust based on my climate and focus on protecting the plumbing first before covering.

 

[Michael Williams]

I lower mine just below the returns so I can properly blow out the lines. For me, it’s more about making sure no water is sitting in plumbing over winter.

Danny Meerman’s logic is the safer route if your area truly freezes hard, dropping the water a bit below the returns makes blowing out and plugging lines feel more certain because you’re reducing the chance of water sitting at the fittings. But Joe Smith has a solid point too, don’t drop it so far that winter rain/snowmelt leaves you too low by spring and exposes the skimmer area, so I usually lower just enough and keep the real priority on fully clearing the lines and sealing the plugs tight, then adjust the water level based on how harsh your winters actually are.

 

[Henry Graham]

I used to follow the “drop it below the returns” rule every year without really thinking about it. After a few seasons I realized the real goal is protecting the plumbing, not hitting an exact water line.

What I do now is leave the water roughly around mid-skimmer and focus on the blowout instead. I run the blower until the returns go from bubbling to that dry misty sputter, then plug them while the air is still pushing. Once the lines are actually empty, the pool water level itself isn’t really what’s protecting the pipes.

The reason I stopped lowering it too far is winter precipitation. One year I drained it pretty low and by spring evaporation and splash-out left the water way below the skimmer throat. That exposed the liner and made opening more annoying than it needed to be.

I’ve found keeping the water a little higher also supports the cover better during winter. Less sagging and less stress on the cover when rain or snow sits on it. As long as the lines are properly blown out and sealed, the plumbing has been fine through several freezes.

Curious how many people actually see return fittings crack vs problems caused by water trapped deeper in the line. That’s always seemed like the bigger risk to me.

 

[Katherine Morgan]

I bounced between both methods for a while because every guide seems to say something different. After a few closings I started looking at it more from the plumbing side instead of the water level itself.

These days I usually lower the water just a little, somewhere around the lower half of the skimmer, but I don’t worry about getting it perfectly below every return jet. The bigger thing for me is the blowout. I keep the blower running until the returns stop doing the big bubbling and start that dry misty sputter, then I plug them while air is still pushing through the line. That’s usually when I know there isn’t water sitting in the pipe anymore.

One reason I stopped draining too much is winter weather can move the level around more than you’d expect. Rain, snow melt, even a little evaporation can shift it over a few months. One year I dropped it pretty low and by spring it had fallen enough that the skimmer area was almost exposed, which made the pump a pain to prime during opening.

I’ve also noticed when the water level stays a bit higher the cover seems to sit better through the winter. The water underneath supports it so you don’t get as much sagging when rain collects on top. As long as the lines are actually empty and sealed, the exact inch of water line hasn’t mattered much in my experience. Curious if anyone here has actually had a return fitting crack from ice, or if it’s usually something deeper in the plumbing that freezes first.