Bad plumbing dreams: SWG and booster pump

[generessler]

Hey all. Some weeks back I re-plumbed the equipment pad of the pool we got with the house about 18 months ago. The SWG was upstream from the heater, and I'd read that was a bad idea. Now they're in the right order.

But yet another thing. The Polaris booster pump has been getting louder since we moved in. It's probably 12 years old, so figured I'd replace it and fix up the old one for a spare.

Reading the instructions for the new pump, I learned that it also is supposed to be upstream from the SWG. It's not. Sigh... I'm finally realizing the SWG was added after construction, and whoever put it in just stuck it where convenient.

So I need the help of the experts yet again. What to do? Here's the current equipment hookup. (Sorry for my drawing skills.)


The options I've thought of are:

• Just put the new one where the old one is and hope for the best.
• Move the pump intake to A. Unfortunately this is no-go, since in spa mode the spa will leak or be pumped out into the main pool. (I'm sure this is why the intake is where it is now.)
• Move the intake to B. Here the pump is getting unfiltered water, and it doesn't have a filter basket.
• Use A but add a third remote control valve just to protect spa mode. Complex, expensive, hard to fit on the pad, and bad if the cleaner is left on when the valve closes.
• Switch to an electric cleaner. Really painful due to power availability at the pool, etc.. I like the Polaris 380 setup a lot.

I'm beaten. The only good thing is that I realized the second point above before actually cutting pipe. A near miss.

Really appreciate all ideas...

 

[ajw22]

Your booster pump is fine with the pickoff after the SWG. I have had mine that way for over 20 years with no ill effects.

I am not sure exactly what you read but I suspect it refers to a "chlorinator" and not a SWG. The chlorinator they are warning about is a tab Trichlor chlorinator that is dispensing acid as well as chlorine into the water stream. You don't want highly acidic water running through the booster pump. That is not the case for the SWG.

 

[generessler]

Terrific. Yes the instructions do say "chlorinator!" I badly assumed SWG was included in that. 20 years of pump life sounds good.