Skimmer Above Benches (Future Build)

[Matchless1]

I'm considering placing one of my skimmers above one of my benches, which is currently 9" below the water surface. Would this be a problem, or should I consider making the bench deeper? If so, what would be a safe minimum recommended depth for the bench?

The skimmer should physically fit, I just want to make sure I don't compromise its performance by placing it above a shallow water bench. Thanks!

 

[JasonLion]

The only problem with such a setup is that someone might block the skimmer while they were sitting on the bench, or find leaning on the skimmer uncomfortable or distracting.

The skimmer will work just fine as long as no one is sitting on the bench. Skimmers are designed to draw water from the very top surface of the water, and are not much affected by the water depth (or lack thereof) below.

On the other hand, 9" is very shallow for a bench.

 

[Matchless1]

The only problem with such a setup is that someone might block the skimmer while they were sitting on the bench, or find leaning on the skimmer uncomfortable or distracting.

The skimmer will work just fine as long as no one is sitting on the bench. Skimmers are designed to draw water from the very top surface of the water, and are not much affected by the water depth (or lack thereof) below.

Yep, I did think about that. Given the length of the bench though, that shouldn't be a big problem. In the drawing below, I would be putting it just before the steps up to the slide to be better oriented for prevailing wind direction.

On the other hand, 9" is very shallow for a bench.

Yeah, we're still trying to nail down the depths for our benches (and probably will still be deciding a year from now ). Since we'll have 3 though (and a tanning ledge), I'm considering making the one by the slide steps 18" and leaving the other 2 at 9". We've actually tried out a 9" deep one at a resort recently and found it to be perfect (for us at least ).