Tips for Hard Plumbing

[Druknmonkey]

My Story
3 years ago a family friend sold her home and was asked to take down her AGP. She had it taken down and gave it to us. It is a 12x17x4 Sharkline. At the time we were in the process of purchasing the home we were living in and luckily did not put it up. That whole thing fell through and we ended up purchasing a different house last March. Did not get the pool in last summer but was definitely the big project this year. We decided to partially bury the pool 24" so that we could appropriately deck around it without it being a huge eyesore. Our backyard is slightly uphill from our house so looking out the back you would see nothing but the side of a pool had we not buried it. We had the hole excavated and leveled before the install. I only have a few pics but i will share since everyone enjoys.

The Site Prepped

Installer Leveling Frame

Installing Liner

Filling Her Up

I'd like to put the pump and filter next to the sunroom about 12 feet from the pool. You can see it in 3rd and 4th pics and barely make out the outlet attached (that bush will be coming down). I'd also like to hard pipe it and bury the pipes before i backfill. My question is how would i handle this in the winter? I would use unions so that i could disconnect pump and filter and valves wherever needed. How would i handle water in the lines? I am in South Eastern PA so we still have some pretty brutal winters. Are there any special ways i should plumb it to make this easier? Any tips or tricks? I believe it is all 1.5". This is our first pool and so far with all the help here my water has been fantastic right from the start. Excellent information and saved me a ton from the pool store BS.

 

[phonedave]

Use sweeps and 45's whenever possible - not hard 90's if you can avoid it.

If you can pitch it downhill the entire way from your pool to your union, then there is no need to blow out your lines to winterize. You said you had a pretty steep hill and your pool is higher. If you can manage to have your lines come out of the side of your hill (as opposed to having to put in a bend and have them come up out of the ground, then they will self drain. Mine are like that, but then mine are not buried as they only run under a deck, so could easily slope them.

If you do have to put in a bend when water will collect, then you have to blow them out at the end of the season. Not a big deal, just use a shop vac.

You could plug the ends if you want. I leave my skimmer line open on both ends because it is self draining and it also keeps my skimmer body free of water, so it does not freeze and crack (I use a plate on my skimmer). I leave the low end of my return open and plug the pool side (because it is under water). I zip tie a little basket made of hardware cloth over the ends of the pipes to keep any critters from nesting in there. Despite that, I found a handful of acorns in the suction when I opened the pool this spring.

-dave