FANTASTIC, FANTASTIC, MONEY-SAVING DEVICE!!! I had a pool service bank on the fact that my husband and I were super busy, and scam the heck out of us! By the time we realized that they weren't doing anything for their money, our 15,000+ gallon pool looked like a terarium (you know, with the green plants growing from the bottom)!!! Even though we just had the pool drained and acid washed this past January, you couldn't tell by the green sludge on every surface. My husband went to the local AZ pool store, and they sold him $200 worth of chemicals. But, I happened to be talking to an excellent car repairman (which used to be a pool repairman) that said "DON'T DO IT! YOU WILL JUST PUT ALL OF THAT ALGAE THROUGH YOUR DE FILTER!!!" So, I decided to look for a pump and get some skin in the game. I found this great little pump on Amazon and was very excited. See, it cost me $500 to have my pool emptied and acid washed 10 months ago. And, the local Home D rents a pump to do this job for the same price! I watched the videos of this GREAT LITTLE PUMP and used the idea to cover it with a filter sock. That seemed like a great idea because I was worried that my SUPREME ALGAE would clog the pump. I also put it into the pool net (as shown in the video) because I was going to empty a very large pool. And, while it is only a playpool in AZ (meaning it is an in-ground pebble-tek pool that is just 6' deep at the deep end), I am too old to dive in to get the pump out of the cold water (yes, pool water gets cold in AZ, too)! So, the net allowed me to pull the pump up using the metal pole. Here are some tips that helped: 1) A regular garden hose will screw right on! I started to buy a one-way valve, but after reading, realized I just didn't need it. I just needed a hose that was long enough to reach from the bottom of the pool to my sewer return. 2) Just like the manufacturer says, the pump needs water in order to keep it cool. So, if your pool runs dry, it will overheat. But, we caught it pretty quickly all three times it occurred (I have an in-ground spa that waterfalls into the pool that needed to be drained separately). We just let it rest, turned it back on and it started right away! 3) The pump really does drain down to an 1/8 inch. But, it is bottom heavy. Once the water level got very low, I had to find a way to allow it to be flat. In an in-ground pool, the sides gently slope to the bottom without getting out my magic carpet! 4) There is absolutely no sound when the pump is under water. We could tell it was sucking by the hose pressure. 5) The pump itself is tiny and light (see the details). I was super surprised how easy this was to use! 6) It took approximately 4 days and nights to drain all 15,000+ gallons of our pool. I got skittish as we were close to done, and would stop and start to avoid overheating. 7) The water pressure is good, but probably not enough to run a sprinker (as the guy in the video says). Now, keep in mind, I was pumping about 70 feet from the bottom of my pool to my sewer return in the front of our house. His is A LOT closer. In the end, I completely emptied my pool, picked up the disgusting algae wet (we actually used a broom and dust pan to pick it up while wet---just imagine the smell of a lagoon coming from your own backyard). Then, once the pool was empty, used the same broom to brush the Pebble surface to knock off the algae. I want to use CLR to get some of the calcium off of the surface where the tile is, but am only a WEEKEND MAMA WARRIOR, so it is a slow process. But, it would likely have cost me 10X the cost of this FANTASTIC LITTLE PUMP if I hadn't found this great tool! BTW- I took off the one filter sock, threw it away, put the little pump back in the box, and put it on a top shelf in the garage for whenever I need it again. Just in case you are wonder, I am waiting to use the chemicals (which are now in the garage) to balance the pool once I fill it again. :)
