pool drainage

Post Reply | Watch this Post

You should be trying to move the water around the pool. The crushed stone method will create a sort of "resevoir" that will collect and store the water and allow it to soak into the ground. Although clays absorb slowly, with the resevoir the water was no other place to go. As they saturate then dry, clay soils swell and shrink more than any other soil. This fluccuation in the ground may cause problems for the pool and should be avoided.

The pipe method will move the water. You didnt mention how you would collect the water and get it into the pipe. If planning a french drain type system, they are inherently rather "loose' in its collection performance, and will also allow some water to saturate into the soil. They collect ALL the runoff water only after the surrounding soil is saturated. If you go with this method try to keep the trench several feet away from the pool so the saturated soil is not at the pool wall.

Compared with all the digging required for the pipe method, the same effort may produce a "swale" around the pool to move the water away. Swales are always my first choice. They are cheaper, most effective, never clog, never noticed. Good luck.