How do you completely empty an inground pool?

My yard slopes a little bit. I take a garden hose or lately, my vacuum hose and run water in from the outside end until the hose is completely full. I drain it to the lowest part of my yard. You can stop running water in when no more bubbles come out into the pool. I secure a heavy wrench onto the pool end of the hose to keep it underwater. This will drain the majority of the pool. Then I have a small fish pond pump that I use for the rest of the water. This is very slow, I imagine if you have a pump to remove water from a cover, it would work as well. Good luck.