3 sheer decents, 18,000 gal pool and (1) 1.5 hp vs pump??

[Donny]

I was wondering if the experts on here would recommend adding a small pump to my waterfall feature ?? The reason I ask is because my 3 sheer descents seem to need a little more water flow when the filter gets a little dirty, meaning the water slows down somewhat effecting the flow from the sheer descents. I only have (1) VS 1.5 hp pump for the 18,000 IG pool. When the filter was new the flow seemed OK. Thx

 

[pooldv]

Can you turn down or off the water to the returns to send all water to the descents? That's all I've got. Don't know about adding a pump. Good luck.

 

[Divin Dave]

Hi Donny,
I know a lot of folks have a dedicated sheer decent or waterfall pump, but I dont know enough about them to recommend what to put on it. Hopefully someone that does will be around before long to help out.

 

[mas985]

You should be cleaning your filter when pressure rises by no more than 25%. This recommendation is to limit effect on flow rate so are you waiting too long to clean your filter? What is your normal clean filter pressure and what is the filter pressure when you notice a change in the waterfalls?

The pump you have is a med head pump. It is efficient but performance suffers some with a dirty filter.

 

[JamesW]

Also, what descents do you have (make, model)? How wide and how high above the water?

 

[duraleigh]

Just to emphasize what mas985 says, if the flow is adequate but then slows, it is likely because you have allowed your filter to get too dirty.

How often are you cleaning and after how much psi increase?

 

[Donny]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm afraid I do not remember the pressure numbers. I will have to look for the Model #'s of the descents. I think they are Zodiacs ?? They are approximately 2' feet wide and maybe 3 feet above pool. As I am writing here I seem to remember now that the filter became extremely dirty from the stamped concrete guys!! This could be my problem. Thanks everyone.