Pool Equipment Plumbing Plan

[scoloma]

Hi Everyone,

New to the forum. We are a year into building a new home, workshop, pool, pool house and outdoor covered kitchen on 6 acres. Our builder did not subcontract out to a pool contractor as he had experience with pool builds. So, a different architectural company put together our pool plans as our main engineering firm did not do pools. Unfortunately the way they set up the pool equipment plumbing plan did not take into account all of the equipment and automation we wanted. In order to revise the plans they want to charge us for a whole new set of plans. The house plumber is doing the pool plumbing and we've been reassured that the plumber has experience with pool plumbing, but he is vague on what needs to go where with all the equipment and plumbing. The gunite and water line tile is complete with all the plumbing rough ins. They are going to begin running all the pvc pipes in about a week. I am attaching the pool plumbing plan we received from the architectural firm (identifying information blocked). I am hoping that the many experts on this forum can assist with the way the pool equipment plumbing layout should look like. The disconnect between the plan and our equipment is listed below.

What we wanted:
Pentair Intelliflo VSF pump for the pool only
Pentair Whisperflo 1HP for the water/fire feature only
Pentair Quad DE High Flow Filter (60 Sq Ft, 120 GPM)
Pentair MasterTemp 125 Low NOx Pool Heater - 125,000 BTU
Pentair Intellichlor Salt Chlorine Generator (IC20)
Pentair Easytouch Automation
Glacier Ice Block Residential Pool Cooler - 30 GPM - 20,000 Gallons

What was listed in the plan:
Pentair Intelliflo VSF pump
Pentair TR-140C Sand Filter (Shared with Water Feature)
Pentair Ultratemp Heat Pump
Pentair Intellichlor Salt Chlorine Generator
Pentair Easytouch Automation (optional)

Since we wanted 2 pumps instead of one where should the water sources come from for each pump, the skimmer, main drain, vac line. With two pumps do they both go to the filter, heater, cooler or would the water feature pump bypass the filter, heater, cooler, salt chlorinator. Also with the Pentair Easytouch is that the same as the Pentair Easytouch with IC20 and 8 relays?

Thank you for any help you can provide.

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

You have a problem in getting the suction ports installed for a second pump for your water feature if the gunite is already shot. The suction port is typically placed on a vertical wall in the deep end. They now need to core drill through the gunite for the pipe and install a suction port.

The water feature pump gets it's own filter and your water features should have a rock trap installed.

I would get an IntelliCenter instead of the EasyTouch system.

If you get the EasyTouch you should also get Screenlogic2. The cost of the IntelliCenter is only a few hundred more than the cost of EasyTouch + Screenlogic2.

All of you other equipment changes are fairly straightforward if you have enough room on your equipment pad.

You know the EasyTouch will not control the Glacier Cooler?

 

[scoloma]

Thank you.

I was concerned about that however I read somewhere on this forum that I could "run the main pump off of the skimmer and then the water feature off of the main drain" . Would it be absolutely necessary to get a second filter?

The IntelliCenter with Screenlogic2 sounds fine, we were hoping to be able to control everything through both a remote as well as a smartphone.

I also read a post on here that you could integrate the Glacier Cooler to pentair automation but it was a little too technical for me to understand.

 

[ajw22]

Thank you.

I was concerned about that however I read somewhere on this forum that I could "run the main pump off of the skimmer and then the water feature off of the main drain" .

You can but in my view it is a hack that in this stage of construction you should do it right.

You only have one skimmer. Having the MD plus the one skimmer ensures your pump does not run dry if your skimmer gets clogged. It would be different if you had two skimmers.

I always recommend you have two skimmers even with a MD. If you only have one skimmer and have a problem with it your pool is shutdown until you get it fixed. With two skimmers you can shutdown one skimmer and still use your pool.

You will greatly compromise the future flexibility and management of your pool is you use the MD to feed the water feature pump with one skimmer.

Would it be absolutely necessary to get a second filter?

What type of water features are they?

If they are waterfalls or sheers or other water features with small orifices you don;t want to feed unfiltered water to it that may clog the water feature. Unclogging a water feature can be very difficult.

The IntelliCenter with Screenlogic2 sounds fine, we were hoping to be able to control everything through both a remote as well as a smartphone.

The IntelliCenter does not need Screenlogic2. It has it built in standard.

I also read a post on here that you could integrate the Glacier Cooler to pentair automation but it was a little too technical for me to understand.

You will need to find that post to see what it says. Don't assume your installer would know what to do.

 

[scoloma]

You make very valid points.

I will see about having them "core drill through the gunite for the pipe and install a suction port". How big should the suction pipe be?

The waterfalls are CMP Natural Wonders Arch Waterfall - 3 @12" length and the orifices are small. The same company makes a waterfall filter which I can add if necessary.

Thank you for the clarification on the IntelliCenter.

I will try and locate the post - interestingly on the Glacier Chiller website there are no installers in my area.

 

[ajw22]

I will see about having them "core drill through the gunite for the pipe and install a suction port". How big should the suction pipe be?

The waterfalls are CMP Natural Wonders Arch Waterfall - 3 @12" length and the orifices are small. The same company makes a waterfall filter which I can add if necessary.

Each one requires 14 GPM according to Natural Wonders Arch Waterfalls (Back Port 12") - CMP

That is about 45 GPM for three.

You want to keep the water velocity below 6 ft/sec on the suction and below 8 ft/sec on the pressure side of the pump. So you need to use at least 2" pipe on the suction side.

Pipe Size	6 ft/sec	8 ft/sec
1.5"	38 GPM	51 GPM
2"	63 GPM	84 GPM
2.5	90 GPM	119 GPM
3.0"	138 GPM	184 GPM