Understanding my Plumbing setup

[jeffblue]

As mentioned in another thread, i recently purchased a house and i'm in the process of opening the pool. I'm in the midst of the SLAM process. reinstalled all of the components and everything has been up and running perfectly. That being said, i still have some confusion as to the setup of my plumbing with regards to the valve right after my SWG Cell. Below are several pictures and i'm trying to understand the purpose of this valve and why it is set up the way it is. Pictured, it is open. Water is flowing to my deep water return (i dont have a main drain in the deep end) and my jet returns. When i close the 'blue' pipe water stops flowing to my return jets, but i can't really tell if anything changes with the deep water return (i've never swam in the pool otherwise i could probably just feel what is going on). Alternatively the way it is set up i can close the 'red' pipe, which i would assume would block all flow from the SWG and heater and entire pressure side of the pool and i can't think of any reason why i would want to do that, much less why it would be safe with the pump running. I cannot close the "green" pipe as it is currently configured. My current theory is that the "green" pipe is heated/chlorinated water coming from the SWG going into the booster pump for my pressure side cleaner. In that case, would turning off the blue valve be something i would do it get more pressure to the pool cleaner? Furthermore, even with that scenario being the case, why would i ever want to turn off the flow from the red pipe. everything is buried so its a bit confusing. i've asked a few friends with pool's and so far no one is certain.

My setup is as follows:

4 return jets on the opposite end of the pool from the skimmers. one return jet on the long side of hte pool plumbed to the booster pump to which shoots higher pressure water once the 'pool cleaner' switch is activated.
2 skimmers in deep end.
Hayward super pump
hayward swimclear filter
hayward swg
polaris booster pump

I appreciate any insight someone can provide

Thanks!

Pictures below from several perspectives for clarity

 

[JVTrain]

That 3 way valve can actually be rotated 360 degrees if you want to. Simply loosen the center screw nearly all the way and you can lift the actuator over the stops. This way if you wanted, you could rotate so that the green arrow line is off and the the blue is open/on. You would only want to close the red line off if the pump were off and you had some reason to, such as keep the water from flowing/draining to the returns.

 

[RobbieH]

It could be worse.

 

[jeffblue]

Thanks! thats great. i thought maybe it could do that but i didn't want to force anything. so do you think the blue is for the jet return and green is for main return or do you think that blue is all returns and green is just for the booster pump?

- - - Updated - - -

It could be worse.

lol! that remind me of this those PVC pipe instrments people make like in the blue man group. i'd post the image but apparently i'm over my quota!

 

[JVTrain]

The only way to find out for sure is to try the valve in every position and observe flow on anything on the return side.... aside from red off because I don't think that's a good idea with the pump running.

 

[jeffblue]

The only way to find out for sure is to try the valve in every position and observe flow on anything on the return side.... aside from red off because I don't think that's a good idea with the pump running.

I will try that. agreed, i dont even see the purpose of being able to block off the red pipe at all. can you think of one?

 

[JVTrain]

Well... if you were going to clean out your pump basket and your pump was a much higher elevation than your pool surface, you might want to close off the valves to the return and suction sides entirely before opening the pump. This way, when you break the seal on the system by opening the pump, the water would not all flow out of the pipes and into the pool. It would take much less time to get the pump to achieve prime after closing the pump, opening the valves again and turning it on. But for operation, I'd never have that red side closed.

 

[jeffblue]

Well... if you were going to clean out your pump basket and your pump was a much higher elevation than your pool surface, you might want to close off the valves to the return and suction sides entirely before opening the pump. This way, when you break the seal on the system by opening the pump, the water would not all flow out of the pipes and into the pool. It would take much less time to get the pump to achieve prime after closing the pump, opening the valves again and turning it on. But for operation, I'd never have that red side closed.

ah that makes sense. i loosened the screw/knob and was able to turn the valve to close off the 'green' pipe and my return jets became much more powerful. i was actually wondering why they were so weak all this time. i guess that the green is the deep end return then. For shocking purposes, would it make sense to leave it in the all open position, or have only the wall returns running so they can circulate the water better with more flow? right now i have it set to having the deep end slightly closed so that the wall returns are more powerful, but the deep end is still flowing water. what exactly is the purpose of deep water returns as opposed to a main drain?

 

[JVTrain]

In the middle of a SLAM procedure, you want all returns and suction areas open. If you find you get better skimming action with the deep return slightly to mostly closed, that's fine as well for normal operation and during SLAM. Just don't close anything off completely during SLAM. Deep water returns create better circulation in the bottom of the pool. Without a main drain, you may not get much circulation in the deep part of the pool without a deep return. I'm not overly familiar with deep returns, but if you have an eyeball on that return, aim it for the deepest part of the pool. I'd actually wager that a deep return improves deep circulation better than a main drain... My main drain is usually about 50% closed off on the suction side. I'd rather have more draw at the skimmers and on the rare chance someone were crazy enough to try to get themselves entrapped on my main drain, there is less suction there.

 

[jeffblue]

The are basically just two big vents at the bottom. there's no way to aim them. i really appreciate the input i figured it would be best to have them at least moving some water. Perhaps they might be of further benefit when the heater is on too, since the hot water would be coming from the bottom of the pool and help to prevent the deep end from being many degrees colder at the bottom like in many pools i've been in.