Replacing two pumps with one?

[xeinth]

Thanks to Jason and everyone who helped get me going in the right direction a bit earlier. I'm looking at replacing my single speed 2HP pump with a Intelliflo VS or VF. That pump drives into a Hayward 4050, as well as a polaris booster pump and SWG.

Separately, I've got a 1HP pump that drives a small waterfall feature which has 3 separate waterfalls, probably 4 feet total of water (horizontally). That pump has a filter as well, which is much smaller (a hayward with a single cartridge).

I was curious if it was possible to drive both of these paths with a single pump? Power wise you can't be pretty simplistic and say there is enough power for the intelliflo to do the work, but I wonder if the pressure differences would be infeasible. The main system drives about 15psi at the filter, the water feature maybe 3psi depending on how much of the waterfall bypass I have turned on. Of course, you'd also need a valve so you could shut off the water feature (may just leave it on, as typically I have it running most of the time the regular pool is on).

Just thought I'd ask if this is crazy, as it could make things a bit more cost effective and having an old 1HP motor to drive that is a bit wasteful.

Thanks!
Brian

 

[Isaac-1]

A single variable speed with the addition of a couple of flow control valves should work fine

 

[JasonLion]

Using a single VS pump is very reasonable. You may need to fiddle a little to find an appropriate speed and the correct setting on the valve so the waterfalls get just the amount of water you want them to. But once that is done it should keep working without problems. You want want an automation system to automate the speed and valve position changes, but that is not required.

 

[xeinth]

Using a single VS pump is very reasonable. You may need to fiddle a little to find an appropriate speed and the correct setting on the valve so the waterfalls get just the amount of water you want them to. But once that is done it should keep working without problems. You want want an automation system to automate the speed and valve position changes, but that is not required.

Jason,

Thanks, I was worried about the pressure differentials and knew that I would have to balance the valves but wasnt sure the value settings would be the same for different combinations of features.

Your last sentence was a bit confusing. I do have a iAqualink, are you saying that I would need to have an automated valve to basically allow me to turn the water fall off and on separately? The waterfall feature basically has 1 ingress coming from the pool, and 4 egress paths, 1 for each waterfall and 1 bypass that I can manually set. I presume I'd need to tie the ingress path to the Intelliflo input with the 3 other inputs from the existing larger pump. I'll definitely get help to do this, but I didn't know if the automated valve would need to be before the filter to basically turn off that path when I didn't want the waterfall on, or if I'd also need an automated valve at the output of the filter before the water returns back to the pool via the waterfall and bypass.

My apologies if my descriptive skills here are lacking, but basically just trying to understand where I may need an automated valve.

X

 

[JasonLion]

Having an automation system lets you press a single button and have the pump speed change and a valve turn. Without an automation system you have do those same two steps manually, just a little more work is all.

All existing inputs will need to be attached to the single pump. You will also need to have a valve where ever the pipe running to the waterfall splits off from the main plumbing. That can be before or after the filter, though it is probably best off being before the filter.