Overflow/Infinity edge pump

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Sahmad786

Well-known member
Nov 5, 2021
45
Dallas, TX
Pool Size
17000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
We had our Infinity edge/knife edge pool built last year. For those who are familiar with this, the water is pumped from the surge tank and pushed to the return grate in the pool that creates the overflow.

This year however, the water coming from the return grate is producing small bubbles...it was never like this before. They cleaned out the surge tank and made sure there was no obstruction there and replumbed the edge pump. Still seeing small bubbles coming up as per the video. They are now saying it's normal but I know its not as it was not like this before. Any ideas why these bubbles are surfacing and what can be done?
 

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Sahmad786 said:
My builder is saying small bubbles are normal due to typical cavitation in the piping...but it was never like this before....
Click to expand...
There is no normal cavitation.

Even if it was cavitation, it would not produce bubbles.

Cavitation is due to low pressure causing the water to become a gas, but the bubbles collapse on the pressure side.

Low pressure can cause dissolved gasses to come out, but this is rare and only under extreme suction and most gasses that do come out under suction go back into solution under pressure.

What it the device on the top?

Why is the suction valve partially closed?

Most likely, there is a suction side air leak at the lid or maybe the plumbing.

If you turn the pump on and off, do you get any water or air squirting out at the lid or plumbing?


smartselect_20230918_125925_gallery-jpg.530928
 
The suction and return look like 3” pipe.

If we estimate the system curve to be about Y = 0.0003808X^2, then the Whisperflo pump is a very bad choice since the system curve needs to cross the pump performance curve.

The system does not come anywhere near crossing the pump performance curve.

This is probably why they have the pump choked back at the suction and return.

I would replace the pump with an Intelliflo XF so that you can adjust the speed to meet what you want.

Does the current pump provide enough flow?

A better choice would have been an intelliflo XF or a Waterfall pump.

As you can see, the system curve crosses the pump performance curves for those pumps.

www.pentair.com

IntelliFloXF VSF Pump

Pentair IntelliFloXF VSF Pump - This innovative, variable speed & variable flow pool pump offers precision and savings for large and feature-rich pools.
www.pentair.com www.pentair.com



www.pentair.com

WaterFall Specialty Pumps

The Pentair Waterfall Specialty Pool Water Features Pump has a closed impeller, low-head pump ideal for water features such as fountains, waterfalls and other special pool features.
www.pentair.com www.pentair.com




1695061219093.png

1695061679578.png

1695062123668.png

1695062593851.png
1695062669872.png

Y = 0.0003808X^2, X from 0 to 200 - Wolfram|Alpha

Wolfram|Alpha brings expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people—spanning all professions and education levels.
www.wolframalpha.com www.wolframalpha.com
 
Last edited:
How much flow is required for the infinity edge?

What is the edge length?

1679621278922-png.478506


Standards on properly sizing a Surge/Balancing tank for a perimeter overflow pool?

We have a perimeter overflow pool that was finalized at the tail end of last pool season, thus we have had limited time to use it. The pool is designed with a 360 degree perimeter overflow. As such the water is designed to flow over a ledge into a trough under the pool deck around the pool. In...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
JamesW said:
The suction and return look like 3” pipe.

If we estimate the system curve to be about Y = 0.0003808X^2, then the Whisperflo pump is a very bad choice since the system curve needs to cross the pump performance curve.

The system does not come anywhere near crossing the pump performance curve.

This is probably why they have the pump choked back at the suction and return.

I would replace the pump with an Intelliflo XF so that you can adjust the speed to meet what you want.

Does the current pump provide enough flow?

A better choice would have been an intelliflo XF or a Waterfall pump.

As you can see, the system curve crosses the pump performance curves for those pumps.

www.pentair.com

IntelliFloXF VSF Pump

Pentair IntelliFloXF VSF Pump - This innovative, variable speed & variable flow pool pump offers precision and savings for large and feature-rich pools.
www.pentair.com www.pentair.com



www.pentair.com

WaterFall Specialty Pumps

The Pentair Waterfall Specialty Pool Water Features Pump has a closed impeller, low-head pump ideal for water features such as fountains, waterfalls and other special pool features.
www.pentair.com www.pentair.com




View attachment 530934

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Y = 0.0003808X^2, X from 0 to 200 - Wolfram|Alpha

Wolfram|Alpha brings expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people—spanning all professions and education levels.
www.wolframalpha.com www.wolframalpha.com
Click to expand...
Thank you for James for such a detailed answer. Unfortunately, this is quite over my head. I'll ask their head plumber these questions.

Here are some additional pics as per your comments. Not sure if it will help any.
 

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