Waterfall schedule, easy touch settings...

[TreeFiter]

I take care of a pool built with a vanishing edge the length of the pool, and there are numerous issues as a result of the design. I'm trying to help this customer figure out how to keep the pool from turning cloudy every other week. The water from the catch basin is pumped directly into the pool in order to feed the waterfall. There is no filtration between the catch basin and the pool (Big part of the problem). Dirty water gets pumped into the pool, eats up chlorine, algae grows, and pool turns cloudy.

The system is run on a Pentair Easy Touch control panel. Currently the waterfall is scheduled to run for 2 hours each morning. This means the only time chlorine is introduced into the catch basin water is when the waterfall is running during those 2 hours. The rest of the time, the water stagnates and breeds algae.

I would like to increase the run time of the waterfall, but it would be ideal to spread it out throughout the day. I'm thinking an hour or two in the morning, and again mid day. This would keep the chlorine levels from dropping too low and allowing algae to grow.

I don't see a way to split the schedule in the Easy Touch panel. Can it be done? Any ideas how I can keep the water fresh in the catch basin without running the waterfall constantly?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Under "Schedules" see if you can find the schedule to turn on the waterfall now. Should be something like:

Waterfall 1/1
Mode: Schedule
0800A - 1000A
SMTWTFS

The "1" in 1/1 should be flashing. If you push the up button it will change to 2/2 and you can then enter another program time for the water fall. I believe you can enter up to 8/8 or eight different schedules for the waterfall.

Thanks,

Jim. R.

 

[Ocgasman]

I'm having a hard time understanding the plumbing. I have a vanishing edge also, but my basin has a suction that goes to my filter and back to the pool returns. How is your customer suctioning out the pool for filtration? Main drain in the deep end? Why can't you leave the main drain open for filtration? Will it suction out too much water for the water to spill over the negative edge? Is there a SWG? If no SWG, can the owner pour in some liquid chlorine everyday? Not a great design for the basin suction to not go through filtration before returning to the waterfall, but you know this already.

 

[TreeFiter]

Under "Schedules" see if you can find the schedule to turn on the waterfall now. Should be something like:

Waterfall 1/1
Mode: Schedule
0800A - 1000A
SMTWTFS

The "1" in 1/1 should be flashing. If you push the up button it will change to 2/2 and you can then enter another program time for the water fall. I believe you can enter up to 8/8 or eight different schedules for the waterfall.

Thanks,

Jim. R.

Awesome! Thank you so much.

 

[TreeFiter]

I'm having a hard time understanding the plumbing. I have a vanishing edge also, but my basin has a suction that goes to my filter and back to the pool returns. How is your customer suctioning out the pool for filtration? Main drain in the deep end? Why can't you leave the main drain open for filtration? Will it suction out too much water for the water to spill over the negative edge? Is there a SWG? If no SWG, can the owner pour in some liquid chlorine everyday? Not a great design for the basin suction to not go through filtration before returning to the waterfall, but you know this already.

The pool is plumbed with an Intelliflo variable speed pump to run the skimmers, and I think a main drain. The water is pumped through a cartridge filter, then the heater, then back to the pool from a series of return jets. Pretty standard so far.

The waterfall is fed by a separate pump. Water is pumped from a series of floor drains in the catch basin directly into a series of floor returns in the deep end of the pool, which causes the water level to rise and spill over back into the catch basin. This loop is not filtered and is the reason this pool has so many problems. The pool builder designed it this way because of the distance and elevation changes between the pool and the pump house. If there were a filter in the loop, there would be additional head loss, which would result in lower flow rates back to the pool, and a sad excuse for a waterfall. As it is, only about half of the waterfall flows as well as it should. The pool is roughly 20'x40' and the waterfall spills over the entire 40' edge. That requires a lot of water to make it work.