spigot on the pressure side of the pump?

[carlos31]

Many pumps I see have a spigot attached to the pressure side of the pump plumbing; usually immediately after the pipe leaves the pump outlet. I assume this is for pressure relief but now that I am at that point in my plumbing I can't afford assumptions. Most filters have a pressure valve; why not just use that? Putting male brass (metal) threads into a female pvc adapter is considered one of the weakest plumbing connections one can make (or so I have read).

Can anyone verify what that spigot is there for? Has anyone experienced any failures with similar plumbing?

 

[waste]

I've sometimes wondered the same thing myself

Perhaps for a cart filter it might provide a way to 'waste' some water, but for a filter with a multiport, I can see no reason for it

 

[mas985]

Put a garden hose on it and you can water the lawn while draining the pool. :lol:

I don't have a spigot but I had the plumber put in a drain port that allows me to drain the pool very quickly if I need to. I've used it several times when I need to do a partial refill. I think you could use the spigot in the same way if you don't have a backwash valve.

Also, it might be a good way to pressure test if you suspect a leak but then you need to close off all the returns and suction ports to hold the pressure.

 

[donaldm823]

A&S pools have a spigot on the pump discharge (before the filter). It is used in winterizing the pool. This is where my pool guy hooks up his air compressor to blow water out of all the pool discharge and suction lines when I winterize the pool.

I also sometimes use this as my pool water sample point since I can draw the water off the main drain from the spigot. Useful if I have the solar cover installed since the cover affects the pool circulation and mixing and I can not get an accurate sample from the side of the pool.

 

[carlos31]

thank you all for the replies,

All the pumps I have seen have multiport valves and we don't winterize our pools here in Central Texas so the most likely scenario is that these were installed for initial pressure testing. That didn't even occur to me before reading the replies. Once the pool is built it doesn't really serve any further purpose but could become a maintenance issue in the future for those who have them.

 

[dschlic1]

I placed a spigot on the pressure side of my pump after our summer rains started here is west central Florida. I found that I was having to pump water out of the pool on a weekly basis. However I found in Home Depot a plastic spigot, so no metal :-D .

 

[stever]

I have one in Southern California -- not for winterizing here!

I use mine when cleaning the pump basket. If I open the pump first, all the water overflows out from the filter. If I turn the air releaase on the filter to let the water out, the water runs backwards through the pump and carries the stuff back into the pool.

If I turn the spigot slowly to let air in, it seems to minimize the back-wash of water and lets the water out of the filter the correct way.

(luckily my spa is at the height of the pump and all I can help it prime faster by opening the spa valve to fill the pump with water :-D )

Steve