Building a pool in Las Vegas, have questions.

Jump to latest Follow Reply
U

UberA3

0
Mar 21, 2013
18
My wife and I are building our first pool in a new house in Southwest area of Las Vegas. We got a couple bids from people and have decided on a builder. My questions are mainly about equipment and if there is anything we should ask for or do before we finalize the contract.

Here are the details:

Pool is 15x35 rectangle in-ground plaster pool. It has a 1' deep wetdeck off the shallow side that is 6x8'. Depth goes from 3'-5' and there is a 18" RBB that is on the long side with 3 x 3' descent water features equally spaced. Also a 1' deep bench that runs the full 35' under the RBB. Equipment is currently planned to be 47' from the pool.

Here is the equipment that they have spec'ed.

Pentair Intelliflo Variable spped PUP011018 for in-floor cleaning and filters
Pentair 2Hp whisperflo PUP1515 for the water features.

Pentair Clean & Clear plus 420sq ft PF160301 filter

Nexus Savi Melody LED lights x 3, these will go on the long wall opposite the water feature wall.

A&A Quik dek-chlor AA522247
A&A water leveler, venturi skimmer
A&A in floor cleaning equipment

So my questions concerns are as follows:

1. Are these pump reliable? I know we could do it with a single pump but we want to be able to turn the water feature off or on independently from the filter/cleaning. Would this be better accomplished with a valve?

2. One of the other builders recommended a different filter, S8M150 System 3 Mod Media by STA-RITE. He swore up and down that this would be the best filter for the pool. Is this a better filter that the PF160301?

3. I saw some negative reviews on the Nexus lights and was wondering if the Pentair Intellibrite 5g was a better choice? I know these have better coverage that the Nexus due to size and wattage so only 2 would be needed.

4. The quote for the in-floor cleaning equipment was only $1250 and for that price it seems like a good upgrade. Any thoughts on this?

5. Quartz plaster, is it worth the upgrade from standard? We like the looks of it better, is this enough to justify the price, any other benefits.

6. We asked for it to be plumbed for a future solar hook up if after the first year we want to add. Is there any other things we should have done with the plumbing? I have read about separating the in-floor from the skimmer or something like that.

7. Anything anybody else can think of or throw in and add would be great.

Thanks
[attachment=0:2zy01fa8]pool.jpg[/attachment:2zy01fa8]
 

Attachments

  • pool.jpg
    pool.jpg
    428.5 KB · Views: 369
Welcome to TFP!!!

I will let other address the equipment. Re Plumbing:
Best to have the floor drains and the skimmers plumbed separately to the equipment pad which gives you better control.

I would also recommend having a set of normal wall returns plumbed separately from the in-floor system. That way if you run into problems with the floor system and/or decided to discontinue using it, you have an alternate set of returns to the pool.

There really is nothing special for the plumbing of the solar that could not likely be done after the fact. You will need a 3-way solar valve and like just a stub off of one end that would eventually go to the solar and then a check valve on the solar return, which will also just be stubbed out. I would recommend you have them add a check valve immediately after the filter before the solar valve. This prevents water draining backward into the filter from the solar, but will not really hurt anything even if you do not have the solar. Likely easier to install now than later.
 
I put the pool at about 15k gallons, so our recommended filter size would be a minimum of 220 sqft, so you are certainly quite a bit over that. All that means is that you will not have to clean the filter as often, but it should really be done once a year anyway. Likely it is oversized to accommodate the high flow rates that your in-floor system will require. You could probably be able to save a very little bit of money by going with a smaller filter, without any problems ... but may not be worth it.

A&A Quik dek-chlor:
I think we have a seen a case where this resulted in pool surface damage. In any case, it is just meant to be used with chlorine tablets, which we do not generally recommend using long term due to the build up of CYA. Read Pool School for more info. I would nix that completely and consider a SWG or liquid chlorine injection system ... or manually add the chlorine to the pool for awhile to learn its maintenance and then consider adding some form of automation.
 
All looks good to me, but one thing I would highly suggest is to have a conversation with your pool builder about spreading things out on the equipment pad and using screw together fittings on the stubs and screw on unions in the plumbing. Most pool builders seem to think an ultra compact plumbing arrangement at the pad is best, I will admit to the novice it tends to look neater also, but when valves and fittings are crammed together so tight that you cant hardly see any exposed pipe it will be a tear out and replace multi-thousand dollar nightmare in a couple of years when some $20 valve springs a leak. Doing this may add $100-$200 in plumbing fittings and make the pad take up a few more square feet, but it is worth it unless your one of those people with a very small yard where every square inch of space counts.
 
Ok thanks for the tips. One question I have is do the pumps seem like overkill? Is a 2hp needed for the water features? I am sure with the in-floor cleaning the variable speed pump is a good choice but I'm not too sure. We want to run separate pumps so we can run the water features on there own without having to go to the equipment and turning a valve.
 
This is one of those places where I tend to have mixed feelings, without knowing details about the water feature itself it is hard to say how much flow is needed, and if a particular pump has the appropriate flow characteristics, it is not all about HP, there is also head to consider, this is particularly important in water features that have high back pressure, like fountains. Here is a simple explanation with some fictional numbers used for illustration, lets say you have 2 models of pumps each rated at 2 HP, one is a low head pump, one is a high head pump, the low head pump may have a maximum head pressure of 50 ft and the high head has a max of 100 ft, a 0 ft of head the low head pump flows 200 gpm, and the high head pump flows 175 gpm, at 15 ft of head they both flow 150 gpm, but if you move up to 40 ft of head you may find the low head pump is down to 50 gpm, and the high head pump is still at 100 gpm. Don't confuse head here with height, any type of back pressure or restriction causes head to increase. If your looking to save money here I would consider getting a 2 speed pump instead of the variable speed if electricity prices are low (I think Las Vegas has traditionally had some of the lowest electrical rates in the country, a 2 speed will cost about half the price of a variable speed pump, at the cost of a little flexibilty)
 
The builder is submitting the equipment order today. My question is would it be a good idea to run a variable speed pump for the 3 x 3' water features? Right now it is going to be a 2hp single speed pump. The VSD pump is $300 more than the 2hp. Since the water feature is just off or on and doesn't really need different rates for different tasks is this even worth considering?

Also the filter choice...

Pentair clean & clear PF160301 vs Sta-rite system 3 Mod Media they are both cartridge filters, is one better than the other?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
I have to disagree with the last part of Isaac's post. A 2-speed may not really offer any benefit for the main pump as you will have to be running high flow rates for the in-floor system. So you will not get the savings from the 2-speed with the ability to run on low most of the time.

A VS could be nice on the water feature as it would allow you to dial-in and change the flow characteristics (assuming there will not also be a bypass loop that would allow you to lower the water fall flow rate already). One possibility could be the new Hayward Superpump VS. It is a smaller VS pump and thus cheaper. Although maybe your builder does not offer Hayward.
 
That is a fair concern, but how long would it take to recoup $300 in electricity? Might be a few years depending on how much you can dial the pump back and how often you are running the waterfalls.
 
I am not sure if we disagree here, I was saying a 2 speed would be cheaper than a variable speed to purchase, but long term economics would depend on cost of electricity in the area, I think you go on to say basically the same thing in another message.


Ike
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply