New member, building new pool!

[Stewhoppy]

Well hello to everyone here on this great forum!
We have taken the decision to build a pool at our new house. Some background - we live in Thailand, I am British and my wife Thai. We have 2 lovely daughters aged 14 and 8. Pool is going to be in ground, re-inforced concrete and tile construction. Size will be 9m x 5m (lets say 29ft x 16ft) average depth 1.5m (5ft) with a small external spa at one end.
Now I am a Civil Engineer and have built many super things (particularly marine projects) all around the Middle East, Asia and so on, but.....never built a pool before!
I know how to build the structure, that is not a problem and can source any specialist items needed for the build (waterstop for example) in Thailand, struggling a little with the plumbing schematics because I have found so many slightly different versions.
Our pool will have the following:-
2 x main drain (linked 6ft apart)
1 x skimmer
1 x pool vac
4 x return outlets
Spa will have:-
1 x drain
4-6 return outlets

Is anyone able to give me (or point me in the right direction) a definitive schematic drawing for the plumbing? we would be so so grateful.
Also decided on salt chlorination system, sand filter, pump as per required output.
We decided to build the pool ourselves as we have received silly quotes from local contractors!

Regards,

Stewart and Karnjanavadee

 

[Isaac-1]

I don't think there is any such thing as a definitive plumbing diagram, but I can give you some general tips we tend to tell everyone around here on plumbing layout.

1, Home run all pipes if possible (at a minimum home run the drain and skimmer separately, in a case like yours I would tend to say split the difference, home run each suction line, and each pair of returns, with isolation valves)

2, Place the skimmer in the prominently down wind side of the pool

3, Leave enough room in pipe spacing at the pad for future plumbing repairs, if possible use screw together union fittings

4, Use large enough pipes, minimize flow restriction, particularly on suction pipes, this will lower the operating cost of pumps, this usually means choosing 2 inch PVC pipe over 1.5 inch in a pool in this size range.

Are you planning to operate the spa together or independent of the pool, what about heating it? Spill over or isolated return? There are a number of choices here and most are trade offs.

Ike

p.s. If possible use plumbing fittings designed for pool use, particularly valves, many people do use the common red handled PVC pipe ball valves because they are cheaper, and while they will work for a while the balls tend to swell and can get very hard to turn, some are worse than others.