Spa spillway question

[Richie Rich]

I have a spa that is raised with a spillway into the pool...my question is this;

Can I set the valves in such a way to run the filter thru the spa and pool but not have the spillway run? Is this a normal thing to do or I am asking for something new?

reason for wanting to do this is obvious to me but may not be to others...most of all of the spillways I see are covered with calcium deposits so I think only running the spillway when we have a party or whatever will keep it cleaner longer...

the pool and the spa both have two main drains

thanks

 

[robdac]

It all depends on how your valves are set up. To be honest, I doubt you have the ability to not use the spillway. My pool is very similar and does not have this option. In theory, if the valves were partially opened perfectly right it would work but in reality you'll probably end up draining the spa or running some water over the spillway.

 

[Agent99]

I have the exact same set-up as you do, Richie. Perhaps you can finesse your valves to prevent this YET still allow water flow in your spa but I doubt it.

I've never had deposits form on my spillway. I think as long as your numbers are correct, it shouldn't precipitate out.

FWIW, I set the spa drain to off (no suction at all) and the returns to the pool and spa are split for normal operation. I only have skimmer suction going (no main drain).

 

[JoyfulNoise]

You wouldn't be able to balance the flows perfectly enough. You'd either drain the spa or cause a trickle.

You could try to automate the 3-way valve that splits the flow between your pool and spa return. Then program to activate the spillway once or twice a day as needed. Problem is, your spa is much lower volume of water than the pool so it can go green more quickly if it doesn't see enough chlorinated water each day.

The other option is to keep the return flow fully to the pool and program your system to run the water in the spa a few times a day so that it gets some chlorine in it. But you would have to manually run the spillway on some regular basis as evaporation would lower the water level in the spa.

Attached spas are a nice feature on our pools but they do present a minor amount of hassle (excess aeration, evaporite deposits on tiles, etc).


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[Richie Rich]

Ok, thanks for the ideas...I guess I just live with it

first world problems