NEW POOL - immediate Issues with plumbing & filtration

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dustithreads

New member
Mar 28, 2024
3
chapala mexico
Hey everyone, so my aunt recently had a pool built and immediately she’s had issues with the plumbing and trying to get answers from the contractor has been a real head ache. A little bit about the pool and how they’ve done the plumbing/design. after researching I believe it’s what you’d call it is a faux edge with a basin/catchment on the backside of it. From what I can see they have installed some kind of pump that takes water from the main pool into the basin below which is controlled by a float switch in the basin/catchment beneath. On the opposite side of the float switch side there is a drain installed at the bottom of the basin which I believe takes the water into the pump room running into a spring check valve and according to the contractor there is also an overflow pipe somewhere which runs out to the street (bit confused by this). The issue that continues to happen is debris go into that drain in the basin and supposedly block the check valve which caused the whole basin to drain out onto the street which doesn’t stop then continues to make a loud gargling noise because the basin won’t fill up it just keeps draining. I’ll post some photos of the basin & plumbing setup in the pump room. But I don’t see how this issue can be resolved, obviously debris are going to fall into the pool or basin and block this drain & check valve. The whole setup seems abit obscure IMO but I also don’t know much about pool plumbing setups so this could be completely normal. Any advice is extremely welcomed. thanks

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They should have designed it with its own basin/edge pump with the check valve after the pump and preferably a vac release above water line to prevent the water siphoning back into basin. Can you show pics of all the plumbing? The returns are cut off. The more you show the better we can help.
 
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Welcome to TFP.

You have a fairly simple problem it seems.

The drain intake for the basin is getting clogged which causes the basin to overflow.

You say the clog is happening at the check valve rather then the intake. Have you tried a finer screen at the intake to keep any sizeable debris from getting sucked into the pipe?

Now if you stop the debris from being sucked into the pipe it can clog at the intake and it will take someone to get down into that filled basin to clear it. Overall that is not a well thought out design for how debris in the basin will be handled and cleaned out.

I would like to see and understand the size of the debris that gets into the intake and clogs the check valve.

Depending on the size and type of debris you are dealing with you can put a screen on the top of the basin so debris gets caught on the screen while water goes through the screen. Then it would be easier to clean off the debris.

One way or another the debris needs to be captured and removed before it clogs the pool system. This may need to be a daily chore.

That check valve seems to be there since the pool water level is always greater then the basin water level the check valve keeps the pool from draining back into the basin when the pump is off. It seems to me it can either stay where it is or moved downstream the suction pipe as your picture shows.
 
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ajw22 said:
Welcome to TFP.

You have a fairly simple problem it seems.

The drain intake for the basin is getting clogged which causes the basin to overflow.

You say the clog is happening at the check valve rather then the intake. Have you tried a finer screen at the intake to keep any sizeable debris from getting sucked into the pipe?

Now if you stop the debris from being sucked into the pipe it can clog at the intake and it will take someone to get down into that filled basin to clear it. Overall that is not a well thought out design for how debris in the basin will be handled and cleaned out.

I would like to see and understand the size of the debris that gets into the intake and clogs the check valve.

Depending on the size and type of debris you are dealing with you can put a screen on the top of the basin so debris gets caught on the screen while water goes through the screen. Then it would be easier to clean off the debris.

One way or another the debris needs to be captured and removed before it clogs the pool system. This may need to be a daily chore.

That check valve seems to be there since the pool water level is always greater then the basin water level the check valve keeps the pool from draining back into the basin when the pump is off. It seems to me it can either stay where it is or moved downstream the suction pipe as your picture shows.
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Thanks for the response, I believe the initial blockage happened from a nearby tree that was shedding a bunch of fluff off its branches however there has been nothing found in the check valve since this time and the issue with the basin draining continues to happen. why do you suspect the entire basin would drain out to the street through a pipe, this has happened a number of times which creates a loud gurgling sound sometimes in the middle of the night.
 

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dustithreads said:
can I ask why/how the entire basin would drain out to the street through a pipe, this has happened a number of times which creates a loud gurgling sound sometimes in the middle of the night.
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I do not see a drain pipe to the street in the pictures you posted. Where does that pipe begin and end?
 
dustithreads said:
I’ll have to investigate and get back to you on that. Contractor told my aunt it’s a sort of automatic safety valve that diverts the water into the main drain when the valve gets blocked.
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I don’t see any such automatic valve in the pictures you posted.

The plumbing is fairly straightforward.
 
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