Pool circulation

[TurboArch]

Below is a picture of my pool. Yes, I know it's dirty. The polaris got tangled up and didn't do it's job yesterday.

Issue #1 is the way the two half-circles on either end of the pool don't get great circulation. As you can see, I have a lot of pine trees (one that is VERY close to the pool). So I get a lot of pine needles, pine cones, etc that tend to collect in these areas. I don't suppose there is much I can do about it. I've tried to aim the return jets as best I can, but it doesn't seem to help. Any ideas how I can improve the circulation in these dead zones?

Issue #2 is the spa tends to collect a lot of debris. The pool circulation goes clockwise, so it circulates all the debris right past the spillway of the spa. I have tried to increase the flow of water to the spa to make it so water is flowing out of the spillway, but it seems like in order to get that to happen, I am practically closing off 95% of the spa drain. Is that ok? Seems like the water might get stagnant at the bottom of the spa.

Not so much an issue, but a question. I have an old school type pool timer. It only has one set of on/off trippers. I like to add chemicals in the evenings on weekdays and in the mornings on weekends. Any problems with adding a new pair of on/off trippers and setting up my pump to run a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours in the evening? As long as I keep the same total run time that's ok, right?

 

[mas985]

1) How long do the needles actually float. It is going to be tough to keep debris out of there.

2) The spa drains should be completely off in spillover mode. The returns in the spa mix up the water plenty so the drains are not necessary except when using the spa.

As for the last item, you can turn on and off the pump as many times as you want although some will say it reduces motor life a bit.

 

[TurboArch]

1) How long do the needles actually float. It is going to be tough to keep debris out of there.

2) The spa drains should be completely off in spillover mode. The returns in the spa mix up the water plenty so the drains are not necessary except when using the spa.

As for the last item, you can turn on and off the pump as many times as you want although some will say it reduces motor life a bit.

1) The dry needles and cones tend to float for a good while. I net them out every day. When we get strong winds, sometimes green needles and cones will fall. Those sink right away.

2) That's good to know. I was thinking that I needed the spa drain partially open. This should fix one of my problems.