Dan Espen writes:

"Your Local Pool Guy" writes:

The best way to go about clearing your pool cover of debris and rain
water (maybe even melted snow) is to buy a sump pump. Which can run $30
and up and any pool store or home depot, walmart, lowes. But if you
dont have the money or time you can simply use your garden hose.

Place one end of your garden hose in the pool and the other on the
ground.
Warning: This can be gross if you do it wrong

make a tight fist around the end of the hose and start sucking on it
like a straw. This will start to pull water from the pool. When you
feel it coming, let go and place it on the ground. The gravity from the
top of the pool to the ground will continue the flow of water.

Pool Guy,

You must have lungs of steel, or you've never tried it.

I'm no pool guy, nor do I care about the tip that much, but what he's
describing is a simple siphon and it has worked for as long as there
have been hoses in the world. It's all predecated of course on the
level of the pool cover water being above ground leve, and the hose
not being so long such that there's an enormous air volume to reduce
to wick the liquid up over the edge.

People siphon gasoline from autos this way too, by the way. Used to
be quite the thing in the 70's. You're of course best to get your
mouth off the end of the line once you hear water starting to draw
over the high point of the siphon of course.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/