Thoughts on waterfall wall, spa height, spillover placement, pumps

[kimkats]

The coping inside the spa DOES need to be flush. It will matter in long term comfort as you have already felt. In something like that it does not matter if it looks a bit different. With water in the pool and spa most people will not even notice the difference. I would ask them to so a soft "slope" from the pool coping into the spa coping so there is not a hard corner that will make it stand out more. Now this will take some skill so keep an eye on them when they do it.

Also remember the waterline tile will fill in the space a bit but not enough to make for 2". Talk to your PB about it to see what they have to say. IF they say the waterline tile will fill in the space get that in writing and get the fact they will grind down the overhanging of the coping if the tile does not fill it up.

 

[cjeducator]

Thank you so much, kimkats, for your feedback. Lots of thoughts and ideas have been running through my mind. I thought about doing the entire pool (and consequently, the recessed hot tub then too) with flush coping, but I saw in another TFP pool thread that one person thought it looks weird/abnormal and, when someone sits on the edge of the pool and dangles their legs over the edge, it's weird to have the back of the heels hit the wall immediately. Another person pointed me to a hot tub pillow - which I think is an extremely unelegant solution (https://ak1.ostkcdn.com/images/prod...3f2-b82c-2122d91cbe3a_600.jpg?impolicy=medium) and I'm looking for an elegant, structural solution.

Also since our pool is rectangular and not freeform/curved, we would prefer to avoid the soft slope you discussed.

We may just have to make a hard decision.
CJ

 

[cstan08]

Hey there @cjeducator ! I'm in the process of working with PBs to design something simliar to you (albeit with fiberglass). Curious what you decided on equipment-wise. Are you doing a VS pump to circulate/heat both the pool/spa and spillover, and then using a separate pump for spa jets? If so, what size pumps and how many jets? What size pipes? Are you putting a blower on it as well?

I've not only been debating separate pumps, but also separate heaters and SWGs, but that might be overkill and unnecessary. In any case, if you don't sharing the specific equipment you decided on, I'd really appreciate it!

 

[cjeducator]

Hey there @cjeducator ! I'm in the process of working with PBs to design something simliar to you (albeit with fiberglass). Curious what you decided on equipment-wise. Are you doing a VS pump to circulate/heat both the pool/spa and spillover, and then using a separate pump for spa jets? If so, what size pumps and how many jets? What size pipes? Are you putting a blower on it as well?

I've not only been debating separate pumps, but also separate heaters and SWGs, but that might be overkill and unnecessary. In any case, if you don't sharing the specific equipment you decided on, I'd really appreciate it!

Hi cstan, I'm sorry I missed this. If you still need details, let me know. You may have resolved everything by now. I hope you are happy with what you've done! ~ CJ

 

[cjeducator]

Hey all,

It's been a while, we've had our pool for about six months. Depth is 3’ to 5.5’. 19,500 gallons. Two returns. I live in South Florida. My pool is screened in.

I had a few questions just to keep leveling up in my pool maintenance skillset.

1. My VSP pump runs for two hours - 8am to 10am at 2750RPM. Then, for six hours, from 10am to 4pm, it switches to 1750RPM.

In the summer, it will run for two hours at 2750RPM, and then for eight hours (10am-6pm) at 1750RPM.

My goal is to take care of my pumps. Is this wise, to have it running at that high speed for two solid hours each day?

2. Relatedly, my spa - when we use it - has a separate VSP pump running at 3200. It maxes at 3400. Should we never approach the max RPM speed when wanting to take care of the pump long term? Or, is it totally fine to run it at 3400? We have no issues with flow, jet pressure, etc. - everything is great.

3. We have a third VSP pump for our water feature (three waterfalls). Frankly, it's off most days unless we have guests. Should I, in good practice, run it for a few hours every week just so it gets some usage? Or does it not matter?

4. Also, how often should I keep brushing the floor and walls of my pool? We do have a weekly pool cleaner but as you can imagine, they spend about 10 minutes here checking the chemicals and doing everything superficially. When I do brush the pool meticulously, it takes me close to an hour, and I do see a lot of plaster dust move on the floor. Should I just keep doing this every week or two weeks until I don't see plaster dust anymore?

5. Apparently I should lower chlorine in iAquaLink app from 80 to 30 during the “winter” – correct? It this a must-do? Does it matter? Why does it matter? Just trying to understand.

Thanks so much for your time and input, as always. So glad to have this community.
CJ

 

[ajw22]

1. My VSP pump runs for two hours - 8am to 10am at 2750RPM. Then, for six hours, from 10am to 4pm, it switches to 1750RPM.

In the summer, it will run for two hours at 2750RPM, and then for eight hours (10am-6pm) at 1750RPM.

My goal is to take care of my pumps. Is this wise, to have it running at that high speed for two solid hours each day?

Speed does not matter to pump longevity.

2. Relatedly, my spa - when we use it - has a separate VSP pump running at 3200. It maxes at 3400. Should we never approach the max RPM speed when wanting to take care of the pump long term? Or, is it totally fine to run it at 3400? We have no issues with flow, jet pressure, etc. - everything is great.

Speed does not matter to pump longevity.

3. We have a third VSP pump for our water feature (three waterfalls). Frankly, it's off most days unless we have guests. Should I, in good practice, run it for a few hours every week just so it gets some usage? Or does it not matter?

Run it for 15 minutes once or twice a week more to keep insects or dirt from clogging the pipes.

4. Also, how often should I keep brushing the floor and walls of my pool? We do have a weekly pool cleaner but as you can imagine, they spend about 10 minutes here checking the chemicals and doing everything superficially. When I do brush the pool meticulously, it takes me close to an hour, and I do see a lot of plaster dust move on the floor. Should I just keep doing this every week or two weeks until I don't see plaster dust anymore?

Somebody should brush your pool once a week forever.

Or get a robot pool cleaner who will climb the walls and do it for you.

You need to break up the biofilm on any algae so the chlorine can attack it.

5. Apparently I should lower chlorine in iAquaLink app from 80 to 30 during the “winter” – correct? It this a must-do? Does it matter? Why does it matter? Just trying to understand.

What model SWG do you have?

How many gallons are in your pool?

What is your FC, CYA and water temperature?

create your signature with details of your pool and equipment so we don't need to ask you every time.