Renovating. Do I... hmmm....

[ma3875]

I am the owner of a lovely 20x40ft 1971 in ground poured concrete pool! The pool has two skimmers and three returns. 2 years ago, I moved all the pool equipment from inside the house to outside. When I did that I replaced the return and Skimmer lines to the pool (aprox 45 ft). There, I cut the old plumbing and attached the new 2.5" lines to the old lines. The old equipment had one 2" return line and one 2" skimmer line. There are two skimmers attached to the one skimmer line, and three returns attached to the one return line. I have a 1.5 hp hayward pump and have had no problems with the skimmer / return pressure.

Since I am in the process of installing a new pool deck, I'm thinking its a good idea to replace my leaking (fixed) old skimmers and returns. Question is, can I use the existing NEW 2.5" lines (one return line & one skimmer line) and replace only the old lines? Everyone is telling me that everything needs a dedicated line, however the pool is working fine now with shared lines.

I understand the pros of dedicated lines and cons of shared lines. But its gonna cost me another $1500 to pay for work already done. If the pool is already working with the existing plumbing layout (sharing lines) am I just burning money to do what is "normally" done, even though what was "normally" done, back in 1971, works fine for the pool.

Advice is welcome!
Thanks!

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

I'd bless it. It'll work fine doing that.

Scott

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

Dedicated lines are better, but sharing a single line works fine too. Dedicated lines give you more control and are somewhat more efficient, but there is nothing wrong with sharing a line if that is what you have already.

The big value for dedicated lines is that they don't cost much extra when you have to dig the trench and run the first line anyway. But upgrading from one existing line to two (or three) is a lot of work, and not worth the extra effort/cost.

 

[ma3875]

Thanks guys... still wondering if its worth the extra $$$ for the flexibility/efficiency stated above... let alone something horrible happens and there's a leak, its easier to shut down one than all!

One installer wants to core drill all the returns... makes sense, but I kinda think, if it aint broke, don't fix it!

I see everyone's point... I want a Ferrari, but I think a Camero will be fine... hehe