Does this plumbing arrangement make sense?

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TritonPoolMGMT

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In The Industry
Sep 15, 2015
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Brantford
Sorry, should have grabbed an image while I was there but didn't. Closed a pool which had an equipment overhaul sometime this spring. This was the suction side setup and I am not sure if this contravenes common plumbing practice.

There are two lines (skimmer and main drain) which feed suction side. Both lines feed into a three way valve. After the three way valve is a tee. One side of tee feeds the pool pump (Hayward Superpump VS700) and rest of circulation system. Other side of tee feeds a Hayward Tristar pump for two deck jets and a waterfall. Does it make sense to have two pumps compete for suction on the same line? I have never seen this in practice before.

And yes it is also stupid when trying to blow out the skimmer and main drain.
 
You sort of see a setup like that with two pumps when you have a pressure cleaner with a booster pump. The difference is the second pump suction takes water from the return side so it does not compete for the same suction with the primary pump. That is what should have been done with the water feature pump.
 
JamesW said:
The system only needs one pump. Two pumps don't make any sense.
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I know. Originally the pool only had one single speed pump. That has been replaced with a variable speed Superpump. My assumption is that they did not know how to program (Hayward OmniLogic) the VS pump to satisfy the heater and salt system with the deck jets and waterfall so they added another pump. I am just as confused how they thought both pumps should pull from each side of a tee?
 
I would want the jets and the waterfall on their own dedicated valves, as part of the return manifold (where the pool feeds the returns). This would be after the filter. No sense in pumping unfiltered water into either system. That way, you can adjust each feature (jets, fall, and returns) to have the proper GPM. That might mean you can't do all three at the same time, or it might be a matter of adjusting each flow rate and the pump's output to get the right amount of flow through everything. Then, if you have automation, you can put actuators on the fall and jets valves and have remote control over what does which when. Bonus: one less pump to pay for.

It definitely shouldn't be as it is now.

If you want the jets and/or falls on their own independent loop for some reason, then that second pump needs to have its own independent suction port, it can't share a single port with another pump.
 
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So the next question is...what the heck is going to happen when this persons VS is running at full speed and they decide to kick the Tristar on? Old fashion football team versus firefighters tug-o-war? It honestly seems like a science experiment. Will there be any repercussions to either pump?
 
TritonPoolMGMT said:
So the next question is...what the heck is going to happen when this persons VS is running at full speed and they decide to kick the Tristar on? Old fashion football team versus firefighters tug-o-war? It honestly seems like a science experiment. Will there be any repercussions to either pump?
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Frankly, I wouldn't want to find out, and the jets/falls pump should be disengaged from the system, electrically for now and physically when time permits.
 
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