Fixing pool plumbing - advice welcome ahead of potential switch to SWG

[Wolverines]

I am about to replace all the valves for my pool and therefore a good chunk of the plumbing (as you can hopefully see in the pictures). The existing valves are brass, hard to open/close, and some of them rotate as they are no longer secured (which they shouldn't and I believe is adding air into the system). I purchased 7 never lube valves from a local supplier and have them ready to go. Replacing the 4 on the suction side should hopefully be straightforward (i.e. cut out the plumbing and put it back as it is but with 4 never lube valves). (It's also worth noting that I switched to a robotic pool cleaner since the pressured side vac doesn't seem to get enough pressure to clean).

I'm not sure exactly sure what the best way is to configure the plumbing on the pressure side, after my (ancient) electric pool heater. The pool frog system right after the heater will be removed and somewhere in this area (just after the heater) is where a potential SWG would go. Since I will be replacing the 3 valves here (1 on the right side goes to the waterfall, the other 2 practically in the ground go to a bench), I have the opportunity to completely reconfigure this portion. I've seen several examples where they have come down at a 45-degree angle vs. the 90 that I have leading into the pool frog. That seems to allow for a longer straight run before the water heads to the pool.

I plan to DIY this. The actual plumbing work is fairly simple and I have done plenty in my lifetime. But I could definitely use some advice on most effectively configuring it. Happy to post some additional pictures or create some mockups as needed.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Texas Splash]

"W", good thing is at the point when you dig down to remove the old valves and that mineral system, you'll have a blank canvas to work with. Many SWGs allow for vertical install which should allow for more flexibility. You might need to go right or left a bit out of the heater just to give you some additional room to work with. Not to add to your task, but you might consider including a heater bypass should that old hardware go down for maintenance.

 

[jimmythegreek]

Dig it down to where the pipes 90degree up. Open up the area and run the lines into a manifold configuration. If your pump can accept 2" make the manifolds out of 2" and run the 1.5 into that. You can glue to the outside of the smaller jandy valves in 2" and inside for 1.5"

 

[jimmythegreek]

something like this. Notice on the returns 2" Ts glued over and 1.5 line to the inside

 

[Wolverines]

Awesome suggestions. I hadn't thought about digging down to see what's below. I'll give that a try and see what I have to work with. I'll let you know what I find. Thanks again!

 

[Wolverines]

I dug down about 2' but the pipes just kept going... So I replaced the first section by the pump and put it back just as it was but with the new valves. So much better and definitely getting less air into the system now. The hardest part was getting it all together before the glue set in!

I'll dig down deeper on the other section (pipes after the heater where the pool frog is) when I'm ready to replace those to see if there's a better solution than the way they have it configured right now. I am exploring switching to a salt generator and if I did, that section would need to be completely redone to remove the pool frog and add in the salt generator somewhere after the heater...

 

[jimmythegreek]

Looks way better. One thing to note is to avoid using cross Ts in any pressure plumbing. Water is lazy, if all those valves are open the one directly in front of pump will pull much harder than the sides. I always make a manifold and pull from Ts as you can see in my posted pic. You have a valve there so it's easy enough to choke it down if need be. Regardless its way better than before!

 

[Wolverines]

Looks way better. One thing to note is to avoid using cross Ts in any pressure plumbing. Water is lazy, if all those valves are open the one directly in front of pump will pull much harder than the sides. I always make a manifold and pull from Ts as you can see in my posted pic. You have a valve there so it's easy enough to choke it down if need be. Regardless its way better than before!

Makes sense. I just couldn't find the bottoms of the pipes to allow for more reconfiguration (without going crazy digging down). The next step is to try and decide on a potential SWG, then remove the pool frog and add the SWG (section after the heater) while redoing the other 3 valves that are practically in the ground.

Thanks again for the advice. It's much appreciated!