One thing I have been kicking around is source of water. I am on well water so I would like to avoid filling the entire rink from that source.

I have a pool and was wondering if that would be a good source of water when I go to drain next fall. Any thoughts?

I've heard of this before, but two things to think about:

-How much pool water do you drain? Most rinks I've seen need between 4,000 and 6,000 gallons. I have an 18' above-ground pool and it would take me draining the entire pool to fill my 40x56 rink.

-Timing. Since the timing of when you fill your rink is so weather-dependent and changes each year, you'd have to be willing to wait to close your pool until the weather was ripe to fill your rink. Chances are these two tasks are typically months apart. We close our pool in September and I've never filled our rink before December 10th. Unless you had some secondary water storage, it would probably be too much of a pain to do it all at once. That said, there is no reason why you can't use pool water in your rink.

I get my water delivered. It's a painful $280 or so each year, but it beats draining my well or burning out my well pump. Plus it's full in 20 minutes, not 20 hours.

Those are all valid points I have been kicking around as well. I have an 18x36 in ground pool and I probably drop 4-6inches of water which is a great start.

I would imagine I could half close the pool in September/October then drain when ready to fill. Just throw the idea around in my head.