There is no indication of where you live. How deep does the frost go down in a normal year where you live?

I'm in Central PA and have never drained the pool down or blown the lines.

The returns are approximately 2 feet below the pool copeing and the skimmer boxes are down about a foot. I just put Gizmos in the strainer baskets drain and remove pump & filter then cover with a LoopLoc cover. This will be year #5 doing it this way.