Is it safe to drain a large pool

[Wonderboy]

I have been unfortunate to invest in a condominium project that should have been finished six years ago, but is going nowhere. We have now taken legal actions so the developer is fortunatly out of the building comittee, but it is all a big mess and finances are critically low. Behind the main tower is a large above-ground pool that is positioned between some low-rises that never got finished. It looks like ruins from an urban war-zone and needless to say, nobody is ever using this pool. Still we are running pumps, add chlorine and do maintenance. I want to shut it down, drain it and use the funds for something better. Is this possible? Our building manager insists that we can not as tiles can crack and it can potentially damage the structure. He showed me some photos of this, but it was from an in-ground pool. I guess that is different as the weight of the dirt around the pool will put enormous pressure on the pool walls when the weight of the water is gone. The pool is rather long (50m), but the greater part of it is very shallow. It sits on the third floor.

I have searched the internet, but found no info that it should be problematic to empty an above-ground pool. There seems to be no concern anywhere about cracked tiles. Then again, maybe the build quality in Thailand is so low that this is mainly a Thai problem? Anyway, if anyone has some knowlegde about this, I would be gratefule to get some information.

WB

[hanno]

I am no engineer but I do work in the hotel business. Over the years I have had quite a few very large pools drained (in-ground) and it has never been an issue. And I do not think that build quality is much better in Vietnam or Cambodia than in LOS>

[Wonderboy]

I am no engineer but I do work in the hotel business. Over the years I have had quite a few very large pools drained (in-ground) and it has never been an issue. And I do not think that build quality is much better in Vietnam or Cambodia than in LOS>

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I will try to locate some pool suppliers and here what they have to say. Anyone know any reputeable ones in the Pattaya area?

WB