spa overflow line?

[ldaviesperissi]

Hopefully someone will be able to answer this... We just moved in 9 months ago, not knowing what issues the pool & spa had, anyhow we have a separate pool & spa, the spa is higher than the pool. They share the same filter, pump & heater, but you cannot run them together. The people that lived there before us must have not kept the chemicals up. There is a high level of copper in both pool & spa due to too much acid (it is also a painted pool, huge pain the the neck). My pool contractor wants to put in an over flow (cut the cement and ad a line from spa to pool & put a check valve at the jandy valves) he says this will also make the pool and spa water run as one (right now, I am having to maintain both pool & spa (spa daily, we in in So Cal. Can anyone explain how this will work? My husband is not sure if this will work, I think it will.
Thanks,
Frustrated mom of twins with dark green hair!

 

[mas985]

Normally, when an IG pool is built with a spa, they will usually install a spillover from the spa into the pool. When the spa is higher than the pool, it gives a more dramatic waterfall effect. It also provides an easy way to share the water with the pool which is important to maintain good chemistry for the spa. With a proper controller, you can run the spa in overflow mode for a short period every day to both chlorinate and skim the debris off the surface of the spa. There are other ways to share water between the pool and spa but the skimming action is nice to have if you do not have any spa skimmers.


BTW, welcome to the forum.

 

[JasonLion]

A shared pool/spa system is by far the most common design. Both the pool and spa share the same water. That means you only need to test the water once and adjust the water once each day, instead of separately for pool and spa. This is done by adjusting the way the plumbing runs so that water that is sent to the spa "overflows" into the pool. Often this is done with a spillover, or small waterfall, from the spa into the pool. It can also be done with a hidden plumbing line that has the same effect.

With separate systems you commonly leave the spa heated all the time. That is nice because you can just get into the spa right away any time. With combined systems, you switch the valves to go into spa only mode, then run the heater to get the spa up to temperature, then use the spa, and finally set the valves back to shared water. That requires anything from ten minutes to an hour advance planning (depending on the size of your spa the size of your heater, and the water temperature) for the water to heat up.

 

[ldaviesperissi]

Thanks for your reply and welcoming me to the forum! I forgot to mention that the spa is about 6 or 7 feet away from the pool, so there cannot be a waterfall affect. So back to my original question... will this work installing an overflow line in ground between pool and spa, and a check valve at the equipment?

 

[ldaviesperissi]

Another question I forgot to ask. Has anyone ever used a product called "Metal Trap" it's a filter you attach to your hose to fill your pool. It's supposed to catch all the metals. We have a high copper read, and all the research I have done has suggested the only way to remove copper is to empty the pool and start over. Any suggestions that may differ?

Thanks!

 

[JasonLion]

Will this work installing an overflow line in ground between pool and spa, and a check valve at the equipment?

Yes, as I said you can get the exact same effect with a suitably installed pipe and no waterfall.

Metal Trap style filters will remove some of the metals in the water passing through, but by no means all of them. They often get 20% or 30% of the metals in the water out. They also work best when run at very low flow rates, which can be problematic when filling up a pool.

 

[ldaviesperissi]

Thanks! We are still working on what the best solution is cost wise and time wise. We want to get as much copper out of the water, so we might try the metal trap. My husband thinks it's worth it to use, even if we have to fill it slowly. Can you tell me why it is problematic to fill a pool slowly? Your reply is much appreciated!