Intelliflo plumbing question

[aroby]

I'm looking for some insight on how to best use an Intelliflo pump. I'm not clear how the programmable features on the pump work, for the simple reason that I can't visualize the required plumbing.

My current pool, which I think is around 35k gallons, has 3 skimmers, a waterfall and a Polaris cleaner that is connected to a booster pump. There are 3 pumps in total - a 2HP pump for the filters (far right in photo), a 3HP pump for the waterfall (far left in photo) and the booster pump (black, in the center of the photo). My guess is that they are all original equipment and suck power (I only moved in to the house a few weeks ago, so have yet to see an electrical bill!). Everything is currently automated with a Jandy RS4.

I'd simply like to switch out the filter and waterfall pumps. The latter sounds like it's on it's way out anyway. It would seem that one Intelliflo could power both the filters and the waterfall, possibly even the Polaris cleaner. Is that correct? If so, how would it be plumbed? Would I connect the feed from the waterfall drains to the Intelliflo via an actuated valve? Would the outlet from the pump just connect to the filters (there are two) and then to two actuated valves for the waterfall and the Polaris? Or do I need to stick with 3 pumps?

And any idea why I would need a 3HP pump for a waterfall?

Thanks

Anthony

[attachment=0:3alpl2hq]Pumps (Medium).JPG[/attachment:3alpl2hq]

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

A Polaris cleaner designed to work with a booster pump will not work correctly when fed by an IntelliFlo. The IntelliFlo can not produce the combination of low flow rate and high pressure that a cleaner designed to be used with a booster pump required. There are other cleaners that will work fine in this situation, but they are designed differently.

To combine the two systems you would join all the suction lines together to feed the pump. Then you would probably split them with an automated valve before the filters, though it could be after the filters depending on several details, and then run everything off to it's appropriate destination. A setup like this requires an automation system, generally a Pentair branded system to be able to control the pump correctly. The automation built into the pump can do some very nice things, but it can't control external valves, and for a setup like this one the pump speed and the external valve must be coordinated.

Waterfalls, especially larger waterfalls, are designed to have fairly high flow rates. They simply don't look or sound right without the right flow rate. Presumably, your waterfall is designed for the flow rate from a 3 HP pump, though there is certainly at least a small chance that this is not the case.

The high flow rates for the waterfall create challenges for the filter(s), which work better at low flow rates and their extra flow resistance also lowers the flow rate. Thus, waterfalls are usually hooked up without a filter, or at least with only a very minimal simple filter. However, there can be some advantages to filtering the water going through the waterfall, so there are some tradeoffs to consider: get a filter large enough to handle the flow rate and get lots of your filtering that way, to use a smaller filter only on the water that does not go to the waterfall and occasionally need to run the filter pump extra because the waterfall flow isn't filtered.

 

[aroby]

So it sounds like I would need to keep the booster pump but could, if the flow rates can be achieved, combine waterfall and filter pump into one unit.

Right now, the waterfall does not go through the filters. It pulls from a larger inlet than the skimmers and main drains, runs through the 3HP pump then through another valve that has a clear window top and some kind of spring flap inside (presumably some kind backflow preventer?). I've yet to find out why there are two feeds to the waterfall.

Thanks for the tip about splitting before the filters. I'll have to figure out whether the current plumbing layout could accommodate such a change without introducing multiple elbows.