New Build in CA, Plumbing Questions?????

[skinzoil]

Hello,

New member, first post. I just found this site the other day, and have read a lot of great information. Pretty awesome.

Pool being built:

Gunite, in ground
L-43' x W-16', 3.5' to 8' deep
20' x 9' sun shelf off the side of the pool, 12" deep w/ 6'x6' island
7x7 spa off the other side w/ spillway
Pentair intelliflo VS pump
Pentair 520 filter
Pentair SWG
3 Pentair deck jets
4' sheer waterfall
The equipment pad is going to be right on the side of the pool, 5ft away.

Pool is dug out, and thank goodness I found this site before they plumbed. The hole has been sitting for over a month but this is a good thing because after I read some things on here and hearing what they were going to do..... would've bummed me out.

1 skimmer and 1 main drain tied together, with 3 returns tied together. The customer service got terrible right after I signed the contract, can't talk to the plumber, they act like I'm irritating them. I can't wait for this to be over.

I would like to do plumbing overkill and have a super nice, efficient system. Sorry if ya'll have answered these questions a million times.

So from what I've read I should:
Use 2.5" pvc sch. 40 everywhere for everything???
2 skimmers w/ homeruns to jandy neverlubes????
1 main drain w homerun to jandy neverlube???
6 returns, all with homeruns to jandy neverlubes???
3' spa plumbing??
8 jets for 4 seats, 1 high 1 low
1 pressure line for Polaris type cleaner

I just decided to add the spa so they have to come back and dig it out, all I know is that it comes with 4 jets.

I'm going to have to explain to them how to plumb it and I'm extremely ignorant. But I don't trust them to do it on their own, and I can't ask them for advice because they don't want change anything.

Should I do 3 skimmers? I don't have any trees over it, just wondered if 3 might be better. Or 4???
How many main drains? Just 2 in the deep end? Or more???
How should the deck jets be plumbed? What pump?
How should the waterfall be plumbed? Do I run that off the intelliflo vsp? Or???
How should I advise them to plumb the spa correctly??
Do all spa jets get homeruns?
What pump for spa?? Would I use a VS pump or adjustable flow jets???
Which jets do you recommend? Waterway's?
How would the pressure line be plumbed?? Which pump??



I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch more questions I have, but any info would be great. Thanks a lot!

 

[mas985]

First, welcome to the forum.

Use 2.5" pvc sch. 40 everywhere for everything??? - There are diminishing returns to larger pipe but it doesn't hurt either especially with a VS pump.

2 skimmers w/ homeruns to jandy neverlubes???? - Yes

1 main drain w homerun to jandy neverlube??? - Optional. Main drains are not necessary and can decrease skimming for a given RPM.

6 returns, all with homeruns to jandy neverlubes??? - Overkill. You can at least pair them up with only 3 pipes back to the pad. In some cases, if the head loss on the return is lower than 2x the suction, it can actually cause caviitation problems in the pump. So even plumbed that way could force you to have extra head loss on the return for balancing. You never want more pipes or larger pipes on the return than the suction.

3' spa plumbing?? - I assume you mean 3" and yes for a spa that is fine.
8 jets for 4 seats, 1 high 1 low

1 pressure line for Polaris type cleaner - Don't get a cleaner that requires a booster. That defeats the whole purpose of a VS pump. Take a look at ThePoolCleaner. A very good to use in combination with a VS pump.

Should I do 3 skimmers? I don't have any trees over it, just wondered if 3 might be better. Or 4??? - Not a good idea. This will decrease the skimming per skimmer at a given RPM and force you to run at higher RPM. Two should be more than enough and maybe you could get away with one.

How many main drains? Just 2 in the deep end? Or more??? - No more than 1 and you could skip it all together.

How should the deck jets be plumbed? What pump? - No opinion but you could run them off the same pump.

How should the waterfall be plumbed? Do I run that off the intelliflo vsp? Or??? - Same pump but it depends on the flow rate demand.

How should I advise them to plumb the spa correctly?? - Just make sure they use large pipe and 3" is fine.

Do all spa jets get homeruns? - Not necessary with the larger pipe. You could split the jets into two loops so that you can run half a spa if there are only a few people.

What pump for spa?? Would I use a VS pump or adjustable flow jets??? - You could stick with a single pump but usually it is a better idea to go with a separate jet pump and use the main pump for heating and filtering only to limit high flow rates through the heater and filter. To size the pump, you need to first decide on the jets.

Which jets do you recommend? Waterway's? - No opinion but just remember that some jets require high flow rates and that can add up to more flow rate than a single pump can deliver.

How would the pressure line be plumbed?? Which pump?? - Pressure line? Not sure what you are talking about here?