Thanks again, you've got it spot on. Those labels on the pipes are just my notes on which knobs drive which skimmers. They read NEAR, FAR, and BOTTOM drain. That little pipe sticking out of the ground between the 3 returns and the chlorinator has a label that reads "CLEAN-OUT", although, i'm not sure where it goes or what its cleaning out.
Will take your advice on adding the Tee when I close up this year. The balls in the returns are broken as well, and a large reason why I had algae because I couldn't run the pump whilst the pool was drained below the skimmer since they couldn't be closed (only occurred to me afterwards that I could have used a drain plug at the actual skimmers).
Good news is that I finally invested in a robotic vac, so no more vacuuming to the filter. Hayward has a $100 rebate on the Tiger Shark QC (and other ones) for summer 2014 in case anyone is interested. Only thing I'm struggling with is whether it's ok to introduce the vacuum into 30ppm Cl during the current SLAM (again, because I'm having company on Saturday). Other than a few light yellow/green spots lingering on the floor, the water sure is clear!
Will take your advice on adding the Tee when I close up this year. The balls in the returns are broken as well, and a large reason why I had algae because I couldn't run the pump whilst the pool was drained below the skimmer since they couldn't be closed (only occurred to me afterwards that I could have used a drain plug at the actual skimmers).
Good news is that I finally invested in a robotic vac, so no more vacuuming to the filter. Hayward has a $100 rebate on the Tiger Shark QC (and other ones) for summer 2014 in case anyone is interested. Only thing I'm struggling with is whether it's ok to introduce the vacuum into 30ppm Cl during the current SLAM (again, because I'm having company on Saturday). Other than a few light yellow/green spots lingering on the floor, the water sure is clear!