Waterfall pump pluming doesn’t make sense to me. Help!

[ryantrichardson]

the PB said I needed to do a separate pump for adequate pressure. Well he hooked it up today and it’s ALOT of flow. Too much really. To run the waterfall he said we have to have the main drain off. So it looks to me based on this plumbing that the only thing that will be running is the waterfall if the main drain is off. Is that right? And if that’s right, why couldn’t we just have used the main pump for the waterfall also? Could a 1.5 HP pump not run a waterfall and two skimmer jets?? Non variable speed at that. I didn’t know VSP were a thing til last week. Kinda mad he installed these and didn’t tell me about the options. Here’s a picture of the current set up he told us to do to run the waterfall.

Here’s a video of the waterfall. That isn’t suppose to spout that hard.

 

[ryantrichardson]

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

Yes, from the first picture it looks like only the waterfall will run when that specific pump is running.
Possibly the builder wanted to be on the safe side and ensure that enough water flow would be provided with its own dedicated pump. The flow can be controlled through the second valve on that system to an extent.

 

[ryantrichardson]

Yes, from the first picture it looks like only the waterfall will run when that specific pump is running.
Possibly the builder wanted to be on the safe side and ensure that enough water flow would be provided with its own dedicated pump. The flow can be controlled through the second valve on that system to an extent.

The second valve as in the lower one on the one labeled main drain?

Also, what happens if I have the main drain open and the waterfall and main pump open? Like can I run all of it open?

As it’s set now, this means the water from the waterfall can’t be heated and I can’t run the heater because it looked like it’s Plummed to the main drain. Is that right?

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

No, if you were to close that valve it would cavitate the pump , I circled the proper valve.
If you were to open the main drain valve that sits above the lower valve it would pull water also from the two skimmers. I also do not detect any check valves in the plumbing so you would also suck water backwards through the plumbing.
Correct, the waterfall water is not going through the heater.
Can you be more specific on the last question regarding running the heater/ main drain?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Ryan,

Your builder is using the main drain for two things.. One, it feeds water to your main pool pump and two, your waterfall pump.. You can't have two pumps using the same source at the same time, so your pool builder add a "waterfall" valve to your main drain.

Your main pool pump will work just fine without any water from the main drain, as it is also connected to your two skimmers. I don't understand why you think shutting off the main drain will keep your main pool pump from working.

I don't like the set up, but it is what it is. Your pool does not need a main drain at all, so you should just set the valve to connect the main drain to your waterfall pump and just leave it that way. There is no reason you can't run both pumps at the same time. There is no reason to heat the waterfall water as it will just draw heated water from the pool.

You can add a valve to the output of the waterfall pump and use it to control the flow of water being sent to the waterfall.

Other than your builder being an idiot, I don't see the problem.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ryantrichardson]

No, if you were to close that valve it would cavitate the pump , I circled the proper valve.
If you were to open the main drain valve that sits above the lower valve it would pull water also from the two skimmers. I also do not detect any check valves in the plumbing so you would also suck water backwards through the plumbing.
Correct, the waterfall water is not going through the heater.
Can you be more specific on the last question regarding running the heaterView attachment 532883/ main drain?l

You answered the last question. It was just about the waterfall not being heated.

So if I open the main drain (circled, which is closed now) and have this configuration, I can run the waterfall and the skimmers and everything including the heater but it may take some of the power from the skimmers. Is that right? And if so is there anything bad that can happen from doing this? I just want to have it all running together so I can have the heater going if I want to.

Also, what happens if I open the above circled main drain AND keep the one below it open? So thankful for your help. I’ll Venmo you if you send it to me

 

[Jimrahbe]

Ryan,

You can't run the waterfall and the main pump from the main drain at the same time!!!

Why do you think your pool needs a main drain??

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ryantrichardson]

Ryan,

Your builder is using the main drain for two things.. One, it feeds water to your main pool pump and two, your waterfall pump.. You can't have two pumps using the same source at the same time, so your pool builder add a "waterfall" valve to your main drain.

Your main pool pump will work just fine without any water from the main drain, as it is also connected to your two skimmers. I don't understand why you think shutting off the main drain will keep your main pool pump from working.

I don't like the set up, but it is what it is. Your pool does not need a main drain at all, so you should just set the valve to connect the main drain to your waterfall pump and just leave it that way. There is no reason you can't run both pumps at the same time. There is no reason to heat the waterfall water as it will just draw heated water from the pool.

You can add a valve to the output of the waterfall pump and use it to control the flow of water being sent to the waterfall.

Other than your builder being an idiot, I don't see the problem.

Thanks,

Jim R.

The reason I think shutting the main drain off will do that is because I’m an Idiot about all this stuff lol. I’m afraid turning the wrong knob will blow that tank up I’m just confused why I can’t just use the one 1.5 HP pump for it all. I don’t need a fountain shooting out if the waterfall is it possible from this set up to have the main pump feed the waterfall? I feel like I got suckered into an extra pump and the fact they both are not vsp makes me even more annoyed

 

[Jimrahbe]

Ryan,

That is a big waterfall and I don't think that your 1.5 HP pump will do everything at the same time. At least not too well.

With your current configuration, there is no way to run the waterfall from your main pool pump. That said, it would not take too much of a plumbing change to connect the waterfall to your main pool pump. I just don't think it is a good idea..

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[AQUA~HOLICS]

I think I understand what you are trying to accomplish, if you open the top valve, the water will take the path of least resistance between the four valves and what they are supplying. The main pump will flow low water through the return lines and you won’t be happy with their results. If you ran both pumps with all four valves open you run the chance of cavitation.
The water from the waterfall is at pool temp, you would like it to be heated directly from the heater but the plumbing will not allow that in its current setup.