Expert: Manish J.Joshi - 10/28/2009

Question
we bought a home with a pool that is 20 plus years old. we have replaced the pump and the filter and things were working fine. our new pump has started to run louder and i noticed that the drain at the bottom doesn't pull any water. is the pump running loud because it is pulling against a clogged drain? is the drain only for emptying the pool? who do you contact for for this sort of issue?

Answer
In a good design 20-30% of water is sucked from the drain but In order to come to conclusion that  drain is clogged closed the valve which is carrying the water then only we can ascertain that the drain is clogged
My suggestion is based on that the pool is skimmer or overflow type  
If the pool is overflow type or skimmer type drain is useful in taking the heavy particles through the drain
If the drain is  absent then you have more suction sweep and carry out the cleaning of the pool
Also if the pool water quality is OK then if you close the drain valve it could not be problem
Secondly you can damage the pump if run on a clogged drain
The drain can be cleaned when next time you empty the pool