Using a Shop Vac to Clean a Pool 

Although it is theoretically possible to vacuum a pool using a shop vac (sometimes called a wet dry vac or just a wet vac), in practice, it would be very time-consuming and probably not very effective unless perhaps it is a small above-ground pool.

Can I use a shop vac to clean my pool? Well, it might be better than nothing if you temporarily have a problem with your pool’s filtration system to keep the pool clean until it can be fixed.

If you have a small above-ground swimming pool, then using a pool vacuum may be a permanent solution, but not with an average-sized inground pool, where using a pool vacuum attached to the pool’s filter system will be far more efficient.

How to use a shop vac to clean a pool

It is quite straightforward to use a shop vac to clean the pool.

1. Place your shop vac as close to your pool as possible since you will have little enough hose to reach the bottom. Ensure that the shop vac cannot fall into the water.
2. Lower the hose and vacuum head into the pool
3. Switch on the shop vac
4. Move the vacuum head along the bottom of the pool to vacuum up the dirt. Do this slowly to ensure you do not disturb the fine dirt as you work.
5. When the shop vac bucket is full, switch off the vac and empty it into a suitable place.
6. Switch on and repeat until the pool is clean.

Pros and cons of using a shop vac

Pros

I can only think of one pro of using a shop vac to clean a pool, which isn’t a unique benefit. Any dirt you vacuum up will not have to pass through the pool’s filter as it will be discharged wherever you dispose of the water and dirt.

However, this is no different from manually vacuuming to waste with the lever on the multiport valve in the “waste” position.

Cons

There are a few reasons why using a pool vac might be problematic:

• With many shop vacs, you can stop vacuuming each time the vacuum bucket is full to empty it before starting again. It will take a long time to vacuum the entire pool.
• Every time you vacuum, you will lose a large amount of pool water, which will then have to be topped up with a garden hose, increasing your water bill.
• Since you will have to use the shop vac for long periods of time to completely clean the pool, the electric motor in the vac will probably not last very long before it dies—and shop vacs are not cheap.
• Most shop vacs have a relatively short hose that attaches to a rigid pipe that then attaches to the vacuum head. A standard pool vac attaches to a telescopic pole, allowing you to reach all parts of the pool’s floor. With a shop vac, you will unlikely reach more than the bottom of the shallow end of a pool. You may be able to adapt a pool vacuum hose to fit the shop vac to allow you to reach all parts of the pool.

Some pool vacs can be attached to a pool hose or backwash hose using an adapter, so if yours has that facility, you won’t need to keep emptying the bucket. The water that is vacuumed up could be fed somewhere in your backyard or into a drain.

What is the fastest way to vacuum a pool?

The fastest way to vacuum a pool is to use the pool’s filter system and a pool vacuum. Generally, this would take no more than an hour from start to finish and will leave the pool completely clean.

My post How to vacuum a pool explains this in more detail.

What is the easiest way to vacuum a pool?

A robotic pool cleaner like a Dolphin Nautilus CC Plus is the easiest way to vacuum a pool. You just put the cleaner in the pool, and off it goes, doing all the hard work for you. This normally takes around 2 hours to complete its cleaning cycle.

My Dolphin pool cleaner is the best purchase I have ever made for the pool. It saves me hours of work each month.

How to use a shop vac to drain a pool

If you want to remove some water from your pool, perhaps after the water level has increased after rain, you could use a pool vac to do this if you have no easy or quicker way. Since shop vacs do not have a very high water flow, as stated, this will be quite a slow process.

To do it, you would just follow the instructions above without a vacuum.

See my post “How to drain water from a pool after rain” for other ways of emptying a pool.

Can you use a shop vac to clean a hot tub?

Using a shop vac to clean dust and debris out of a hot tub makes more sense than using one to clean a pool since the amount of water you will have to pump will be significantly smaller.

My article 9 ways to get sand out of a hot tub goes into this in more detail.