Inground Pool Plumbing

[Bradleyb12]

I am building a inground pool 30,000 gallons. It will have 3 returns, 2 skimmers, 1 drain, 2hp superpump.

Should I run all 2" hard pvc?
Should I plumb all returns seperate.

 

[Sseaman]

Hi fellow Mid-TNer, the larger the pipe the easier it is on the pump, also separate runs could help in the event there is a break or blockage in one of them. So this is a DIY build?

 

[LapPoolMike]

I just had my pool built this year, same gallons (30K). PB ran schedule 40 2" PVC. I have a 3HP pump but normally run it below 1900 rpm, that may change when I eventually fire up the attached spa jets. Mine is a 60' long lap pool, I have 5 pool returns and 1 spa return, 1 skimmer centered along length, 1 pool drain (2 covers), 1 spa drain (2 covers). 6 jets in spa. The 5 pool returns are combined at the equipment pad for "pool return". The pool return, spa return and jets return are separately controllable. Then I have main drain, spa drain, skimmer and vacuum port all separately controllable.

Everything seems to work fine with the 2" PVC, pump primes fine (at about 2800 rpm) and is never starved for water, my SWG flow switch is happy running at 1575 rpm which requires less than 225 Watts of power. My SWG is sized for 2" PVC and I believe my filter and heater is also. From what I have read, I would not go with 1.5" PVC on a new pool.

 

[Bradleyb12]

Yep diy build. Thank you for the info.

 

[jblizzle]

Plumbing all the suction lines and return line separately with 2" PVC is overkill (although would not hurt anything).
Plumbing the returns separately is only needed if you think you will need to dial in the flow to each (this is not typical). Usually the returns are just plumbed into a single loop around the pool.

I would certainly run all 3 suction lines to the pump separately because you often want to control that with Jandy-type valves. You could make them all 2" so that there is less restriction if you decide to only use 1 for some reason.

If you do the return lines separately, I would just use 1.5" for them all. If you decide to loop them, then use 2".

Plumbing at the pad would be fine being all 2"

I do hope you are using at least a 2-speed pump to save some $ on electricity.