We live in Michigan and had to do this two days in a row after we had successive downpours. The water rose almost to the coping and it's true that the skimmer cannot work properly if there is not free flow into it.

Do you have a backwash hose hooked to your filter? That is what we used to drain a few inches off and it was fairly easy. You may want to have a water sample done as rain can alter the pH a bit.

I have had to do that a few times but I normally let it get high but not overflowing because a few days later we may be hot & dry and evaporating like crazy & I hate having to spend money on the water to fill her back up. Oh yea-I keep my baracuda plugged into the skimmer all the time so I'm not too worried about the skimmer not working properly with high water. Also-do you have an SWG? If so you will be adding salt all the time if you keep letting water out. If you let the water evaporate the salt stays in the pool.

Send the rain our way....it never seems to rain by us. We are in Northern Pinellas County. It rains in Clearwater, St. Pete and Tampa, but not on the east side of Lake Tarpon. It tunders and turns black then passes:( I can count on one hand in the last year how many times we drained water. Today it started to rain around 5 pm, and it actually rained for a few hours....looks like we got 1 1/2 inches tonight....We just added some water on Sunday:(

Gardenchick, I just put a hose on that valve on the pump, and then stick the other end out in the drain in the street... it's not too difficult, I just wondered if other people had to do it.
Arbisi, this is really good to know about the creepy crawly & the SWG -- we have a Diamond Brite finish and we're supposed to be letting it cure for the first 28 days, so we haven't put the salt in yet or used the Hayward Navigator... but when we do, I can totally see why we then wouldn't want to let water out...

GK5040, I can't believe you haven't been getting these rains. It seems like the last few weeks it storms all the time in Central Fla... :( Hope some comes your way soon.

Goes right around us. It litterally gets as black as can be, and passes ALL THE TIME. We are inland about 4 miles, it will rain on the west side of Rt 19 (a mile away) and not make it to the other side of Lake Tarpon. Tends to rain around the peninsula part of the county, over the bay and into Tampa....we are north of that. Yesterday we awoke to rain, it cleared up during the day and didnt rain until the evening. First good steady rain that I can remember. Think we got a couple of down pours around the 4th....thats it:( Same thing last summer.

I too leave a hose hooked up to the pump all the time, when it gets high, I just drag the hose to the curb and turn the nob. Then, hopefully I remember to set the kitchen timer, so I remember it is on. I don't like to keep the water level to high, because I want my one skimmer operating as efficiently as possible to keep the surface clean (I tend to micromanage my pool :) We have had a ton of rain lately (East Orlando). I have had to add salt but, it is a small price to pay to me . . .

Sorry to jump in this thread, but it is the first time I have seen the issue. How high up on the skimmer should water level be? I hear 3/4, halfway, I am just not sure. At times I hear the water constantly streaming into the skimmer, and look on the glass window on the pump, and see water flowing freely. I add a little water, and the water streaming into the skimmer stops, and you cant see the movement of the water in the pump window. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

In So CA the winter rains when we get them, put a lot of extra water in the pool. I purchsed a submersable pump and when needed I use it to lower the water level. Works good. You can get one at Harbor Freight or a surplus store. Not Expensive.

We are in Florida and have had rain CONSTANTLY for the past week. Yesterday morning I woke to my Molly Brown float half in the pool, half on the deck because the water rose all the way to the top of the coping. I had to go outside and pull the wine cork that DH stuck in the overflow drain so the water level would go down (we keep it plugged or else we lose water constantly just from the kids splashing and playing in the pool, so we only keep it out if we are going to be out of town). I allowed the water to drain just above the waterline to allow for some evaporation or else today, while it was sunny and the kids were swimming, we would've been filling it again.

We never have a problem with an overflowing pool---our fantastic pool builder put in an overflow drain at the waterline level in the tile. And believe me, living in Houston, especially with the record 8th highest level of rainfall we received last month, that drain was worth it's weight in gold!!!!

I HIGHLY recommend an overflow drain for any person putting a new pool in---I think it cost maybe $25 and we tied it into the backyard drain for the decking.

Just my 2 cents worth!!!! Enjoy the summer!!!!

It rained all day yesterday too, here in Central Florida. I had to drain the pool this morning because the water had traveled all the way up to the coping again. Glad to know I'm not the only one!

OK, I have to eat my words...... my neighbor had to drain our pool while we are away because it overflowed! We have only been away since Wednesday. Go figure, it only rains when we have company or we are out of town. We got over 5 inches of rain in the last few days.

Billy, I'm going to guess on this one and say if the water is supposed to be halfway up the waterline tile, then your water should be halfway up the skimmer opening. I don't think your supposed to hear the water.