To Filter or Not to Filter

[Bluelilly]

We will have a waterfall with the pool and I have been reading through posts trying to find out if we should have the waterfall bypass the filter. I think I have seen pros and cons by I am not sure if that is an option.

 

[Mike_W]

I am not "in the industry", but, if the waterfall was putting water into your pool (as mine does), why would you not wanted it filtered? Bypassing the filter for the waterfall would require additional pumbing and valves, adding cost. It is not clear to me what the savings would be.

Will your waterfall have it's own pump or will it use the pool pump and just redirect water to the waterfall? Will it have its own suction line?

Mike

 

[bigdav160]

I think the issue is pump volume/pressure.

A water feature might exceed the recommended volume of water the filter can handle.

 

[VinceL]

We have a waterslide that has its own pump. There are 2 additional drains in the pool for suction. And, there is one additional return in the pool to help adjust the amount of water going to the slide. This water does not go through a filter or heater. This keeps it simple. One button push on the Pro Logic panel or a remote turns the waterslide on or off. Using the waterslide has no impact on using the main pump, filter, and heater for spa usage, spa spillover, or just filtering the pool.

 

[Bluelilly]

I am not "in the industry", but, if the waterfall was putting water into your pool (as mine does), why would you not wanted it filtered? Bypassing the filter for the waterfall would require additional pumbing and valves, adding cost. It is not clear to me what the savings would be.

Will your waterfall have it's own pump or will it use the pool pump and just redirect water to the waterfall? Will it have its own suction line?

Mike

There will be 1 pump for pool and waterfall. I am not sure about the suction line.

 

[Bluelilly]

I think the issue is pump volume/pressure.

A water feature might exceed the recommended volume of water the filter can handle.

I think that was my concern.

 

[Mike_W]

Do you know the pump rating? Mine is a 3 hp variable speed sized for the spa, and the filter is sized to match.
Mike

 

[Bluelilly]

Do you know the pump rating? Mine is a 3 hp variable speed sized for the spa, and the filter is sized to match.
Mike

I believe it is 3 hp variable speed. The filter has a flow rate of 63 GPM and max pressure of 50.

 

[duraleigh]

I am jumping into the middle of this discussion but a 63gpm filter is too small.....both for that pump and for that pool. I would suggest having at least a 100gpm size filter for the pool.

I cannot comment knowledgeably on the pump size because of the waterfall requirement but, if it had no waterfall, that pump would be much too big for the pool (and current filter) alone.

 

[Bluelilly]

I am jumping into the middle of this discussion but a 63gpm filter is too small.....both for that pump and for that pool. I would suggest having at least a 100gpm size filter for the pool.

I cannot comment knowledgeably on the pump size because of the waterfall requirement but, if it had no waterfall, that pump would be much too big for the pool (and current filter) alone.

The filter area is 3.14 sq ft. Flow rate is 63 GPM at 20 GM@20 GPM FT². Turnover capacity is 45,360 gallons at 2 turnovers per day. Pentair's manual has: As a minimum, you must be sure that your system will turn over the total volume of water in your pool at least two to four times in a twenty-four hour period.

With all this info, does, this filter seem appropriate for this size of pool? I am beginning to panic that I may have purchased the wrong equipment.

I thought the variable speed pump benefit was that you could control the flow of water at lower speed settings and then set higher settings for filtration/cleaning/waterfall, etc.

Thanks for the input!