Plumbing for vacuum cleaner plumbing left open in pool.

[brimorga]

Wasn't sure where to put this but seemed like the best place. When I built my pool, the designer recommended I get a vacuum pool cleaner while I wanted a robot. We settled on putting the plumbing in but not buying any of the vacuum equipment. So I have a pipe running from my pool back to the pad that isn't hooked up and is just capped off at the pad. In the pool there is just a hole with threading and it is not capped, water flows freely.

Should I buy and screw in a cap for the hole in the pool or should I just leave it open. It seems like there is probably stagnant water in there so I just poured a whole bunch of chlorine down the pipe by the pad but I'm worried if I leave it open that it is a potential source of algae in the future. Thoughts on if I should be concerned or just let it be?

 

[Texas Splash]

I'm worried if I leave it open that it is a potential source of algae in the future.

I would plug it for that very reason.

 

[setsailsoon]

Wasn't sure where to put this but seemed like the best place. When I built my pool, the designer recommended I get a vacuum pool cleaner while I wanted a robot. We settled on putting the plumbing in but not buying any of the vacuum equipment. So I have a pipe running from my pool back to the pad that isn't hooked up and is just capped off at the pad. In the pool there is just a hole with threading and it is not capped, water flows freely.

Should I buy and screw in a cap for the hole in the pool or should I just leave it open. It seems like there is probably stagnant water in there so I just poured a whole bunch of chlorine down the pipe by the pad but I'm worried if I leave it open that it is a potential source of algae in the future. Thoughts on if I should be concerned or just let it be?

If it was me would have insisted no more penetrations of the plaster than absolutely required. At this point I'd cap it at both ends with a screw on fitting. All my personal preferences and I'm sure others may differ. Your builder may provide the screw cap inside the pool for you, I'd check. You're making the right decision on the robot. Robot is one of the things I didn't go with even after experts here advised to bite the bullet and get it. Same thing for swg. Our new pool design has both from the start. Experts here know what they are talking about!

Good luck!

Chris

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Here's my opinion on the subject - you should have listened to your builder and had it plumbed into the suction side of the plumbing with a shutoff valve.

My pool is exactly like that - I have a vacuum wall port that originally was used for a suction side cleaner. It is also used for a manual vacuum. When I switched to a robot 5 years ago, I simply put a screw on grate cover and used it as a mid-level suction opening, sort of like an equalizer port. Didn't use it much that way but I would open up the valve every once in a while to get water to flow through it so it wasn't stagnant.

Here's my opinion why you should have a manual vacuum wall port if your pool was plumbed with one - if you robot dies, and it will die eventually, you will have absolutely no way of vacuuming your pool. None. Therefore, while your robot is off getting service, crud and debris will build up. And you will sit there watching it unless you pull out a leaf rake and skimmer pole and start trying to manually scoop up the big stuff you can see. Sure, you can go buy a skimmer plate and some vacuum hose and a manual vacuum but you will hate it ... skimmer plates never stay put. A dedicate wall port for a vacuum makes manually vacuuming a whole lot easier.

Back to my story - I'm done with robots! Sure, they are great cleaners and they use less energy BUT, when they break and you're sitting in a supply chain apocalypse like what we have now, it's no fun. I'm going back to a suction cleaner and I still have my manual vacuum head and, thankfully, my wall port. I'll fool around with my robot and try to get it functional again but, at the current price point and lifetimes for these robotic cleaners, their superior cleaning is not worth it to me.

My 2 cents, for what it's worth ....