The problem is finally solved. A friend suggested to look for a outlet
drain. Lookng around the fountain, hidden behind a bush, there was a
draincover installed on the ground. When I opened it, I found a valve
about 1.5 ft deep into the ground. That was the drain valve. When I
opened it up, the water drained out completely. That solves my
problem. I am going to keep that valve open for the rest of the rainy
season. Of course now I have the nasty job of cleaning up the rotting
leaves :-(

-Dipu




(Spud Demon) wrote in message ...
(Dipu) writes in article dated 19 Nov 2004 12:38:46 -0800:
The pool seems to be a pre-fabricated sheet metal one which has been
set into a hole in the ground. I can see a drainhole at the bottom
center with a draincover similar to those you can see in the
bathtub/shower stalls. Obviously the drain hole is closed for normal
use. I can not find any way to open it up. What should I look for. Any
way to find out if the drain hole is actually connected to a actual
draining outlet ( the construction might have been done without that
feature ).

We can periodically go and run the pump to remove the water. But we
are looking for a option with less maintanence.

Might the drain hole lead only to the pump? In that case, running the pump
would be pretty much the only way.

A couple of suggestions:

1. Put the pump on a timer, so it runs the fountain for 30 minutes per day.

2. Use a "sump pump" type setup, where the pump is triggered by a certain
water level and it's set to pump the water out of the pool. You can buy a
sump pump float switch and plug the fountain pump into that.

-- spud_demon -at- thundermaker.net
The above may not (yet) represent the opinions of my employer.