Inground pool pressure side to suction side

[sandyb]

Greetings…
I have a question, and I have no idea if it is possible (within reason).
I have an inground pool that presently is setup for “pressure side”
2 pumps that must run simultaneously.
The filter system is a Sta Rite:

Sta-Rite 170145 Mod Media Replacement Cartridge Set for S7M120 Large and Small Cartridge Pack​

The pool sweep is a Polaris 380:

Polaris® Vac Sweep 380 Pressure Side In-ground Automatic Pool Cleaner​

The swimming pool is at a home that is not occupied, my power provider is Southern California Edison.
With the two pumps running a couple of hours each night, my current bill was $160 (month)
What I’d like to do, is change the system to a “suction side” system using an inteliflo (variable speed pump) and a “KreepyKrauly” or similar.
Where do I start, and what would I need to do?
Thanks in advance.
*Note to moderator….if this Post is not in the right spot, please move it to the right place.
Thank You!!

 

[1poolman1]

Greetings…
I have a question, and I have no idea if it is possible (within reason).
I have an inground pool that presently is setup for “pressure side”
2 pumps that must run simultaneously.
The filter system is a Sta Rite:

Sta-Rite 170145 Mod Media Replacement Cartridge Set for S7M120 Large and Small Cartridge Pack​

The pool sweep is a Polaris 380:

Polaris® Vac Sweep 380 Pressure Side In-ground Automatic Pool Cleaner​

The swimming pool is at a home that is not occupied, my power provider is Southern California Edison.
With the two pumps running a couple of hours each night, my current bill was $160 (month)
What I’d like to do, is change the system to a “suction side” system using an inteliflo (variable speed pump) and a “KreepyKrauly” or similar.
Where do I start, and what would I need to do?
Thanks in advance.
*Note to moderator….if this Post is not in the right spot, please move it to the right place.
Thank You!!

Pictures of the equipment pad would help. Many times the plumbing that is installed for a pressure-side cleaner is too small to use a suction side cleaner.
The equipment pad would need to be replumbed, a valve added, so that the pressure , now suction, line could be installed to the front of the pump.
Which filter pump do you now have?
You may find that just changing to the VSP and running it long and slow is enough.
You SCE rate is about double mine, sorry. I pay about $20.00/month to filter my pool 15 hours with my VSP and 2 hours with my Polaris cleaner. So, with just the change in filter pump, and setting it up properly, your cost should be about double that. I also make sure that I do not run my system during the "peak" hours that cost more. SCE has a similar system of billing.

 

[sandyb]

Thank you for your thoughtful response.
I will revisit this topic, when I am able to obtain photographs as requested.
I can appreciate your thinking in regards to plumbing size….i had not thought of this.
Thank you!

 

[Dirk]

I had my plumbing converted from a pressure-side vac to a suction-side. But I was lucky in that the pipe from my pad to the pool was 1.5" PVC. I had to have the pad plumbing reconfigured, as @1poolman1 describes, but depending on what you have now, it shouldn't be a big project. If you're at all handy, you could even do it yourself. It'll come down to the size of your pressure-side vac piping.

I noticed no difference in vacuuming performance when I switched, so I'm quite happy with the current setup. And I was really glad to get rid of that booster pump. The other advantage, at least for me since my pool does not get very dirty, is that with a suction-side vac, all the gunk gets collected in the pump basket. The small stuff goes right to the filter. So that means no more hauling out the vac head to clean its little bag, suction-side vacs don't have one. It's a much simpler process to clean out that pump basket, plus you can look through the pump lid to see if it even needs it. With the PS vacs, you have to haul them out just to check on them. And SS vacs don't have a tail, either, so no more hosing down of your yard and deck and windows by the vac tail!! I really hated that. I swear, it would wait for me to walk by! And it took two men two days to clear the caked on calcium deposits that tail sprayed all over my windows! Good riddance.

So thumbs up for your plan from me! But...

Full disclosure: when you have a suction-side vac, you will have three (or more suction ports in your pool). Any in the skimmer wells are very safe. But the two you'll be adding for the SS vac are much less safe. There will be one in the side of your pool, where the vac hose attaches, and the second one is in the vac itself.

The one in the vac is fully exposed. You should never run a SS vac when people are in the pool, especially inquisitive children. A PS vac is much safer in that regard. With pump on high, that exposed suction port is more than capable of causing an injury, or worse. Much worse.

The port in the side of the pool is also a potential danger. By code, you will install a safety port, which has a spring-loaded cover that snaps in place when no hose is present. But it's not impossible to open. Again, you would not want your vac running while swimmers are in the pool. The location of the wall port is typically a foot or so below the surface, which happens to be about the location of tender bellies. A suction port connected to a pump running on high can eviscerate a person. Sorry to be so graphic, and I don't have any stats on the likelihood of that particular accident, but it is possible.

If you continue down this path, I'll share with you the steps I took to absolutely minimize this potential danger. I made it sound worse than it is, but on purpose, so that you give it some good consideration.

 

[sandyb]

Thank you!!
As I previously stated, I will revisit this thread after I am able to obtain some pictures and measurements, as the pool is located at a remote location that I only visit once every 10 - 12 days.
Sandy

 

[sandyb]

Greetings…(Happy Thanksgiving)
I recently posted some questions regarding replumbing from pressure side to suction side….as stated before, I will post some photos for your consideration.

 

[sandyb]

Sorry for the poor pictures….replaced the 20+ year old filters.

 

[sktn77a]

You'll likely be disappointed with the Kreepy Krawly after the Polaris. You might be better off with a robot, power consumption-wise.

 

[1poolman1]

Sorry for the poor pictures….replaced the 20+ year old filters.

Can it be done? Yes, and rather easily in your case. Should it be done? Would have to see more of your yard. Suction cleaners don't do well in a yard with a lot of foliage.

 

[Dirk]

Can it be done? Yes, and rather easily in your case. Should it be done? Would have to see more of your yard. Suction cleaners don't do well in a yard with a lot of foliage.

If I may...

It's more accurate to say "...don't do well in a pool with a lot of foliage." My pool is completely surrounded by foliage: ground cover, small and large bushes, and trees that tower just a few feet away from my pool. But my pump basket (which collects everything my suction-side cleaner picks up) is never more than 2" full each week, and usually quite a bit less. My skimmer does most of the work, so my skimmer basket can get full in a few days, or less, or can go weeks with almost nothing in it. But the bottom of my pool is always clean, year-round.

So the performance of a suction-side cleaner really depends on whether your pool is subjected to a lot of leaves and organic matter, and whether that matter floats well enough for the skimmer to capture it, or sinks to the bottom quickly. The number of plants in your yard is less of a factor, it's the kind of plants that matter.

What I like about my suction-side cleaner, (and I used to have a pressure-side cleaner, for comparison), is that I never have to bother with it. I can glance at my pump basket while walking by it, to determine if I have to empty it. I don't have to haul out a cleaner to do that. So while both my ss and ps cleaners kept the bottom clean, the ss cleaner is just less work (and, of course, doesn't need a booster pump, so is more energy efficient).

And I'll just add this. Many claim that a robot uses less energy, and I would agree, but not so much less as you might think. Yes, ps and ss cleaners need to have the main pump running to operate, where robots don't. But an ss cleaner's cycle is part of the filtering cycle, because it's sucking up water and putting it through your filter. So the hours an ss cleaner is running can be subtracted from the hours the pump must run for filtering. In some scenarios, an ss cleaner is just running when you would be running the main pump anyway, so it's not really costing anything extra to run. To be fair, in other scenarios, the main pump must run at slightly higher RPMs to drive an ss cleaner than just filtering requires, so it can cost some extra energy, but not the difference that pro-roboters would have you believe.

 

[1poolman1]

I get it.