Swimming Pool Plumbing
Swimming pool plumbing is a very important part of the pool project. The plumbing has to be sized properly in order for the pump and filter to operate efficiently. Proper location of pool returns and skimmers ensure that they are working together to keep the water circulating and to remove debris from the water in the swimming pool.
The plumbing has to be sized correctly on order for the pump to move enough water through it without running under too high of a load. Over working the pump will result in premature pool pump failure and will do very little good at actually cleaning the swimming pool. There is no harm in using over sized plumbing other than unnecessary costs. Undersized plumbing however can lead to high turnover rates (the amount of time it takes to completely recycle the water in the pool), excessive back pressure on the swimming pool filter and pump and poor filtration.
Improperly positioned returns can leave stagnate spots in the pool where water rarely gets circulated. This can lead to algae buildup in these areas. ideally the returns push the water around the pool and into the skimmers. This allows the skimmers to remove debris from the pool.
Another area for concern is the main drains. code requires that 2 main drains be installed and far enough apart that both can’t be covered simultaneously. this is to prevent the possibility of entrapment. Today the thoughts are changing in this regard and more builders are omitting main drains completely (where code allows). Florida is one state that recently changed their code to allow pool builders to omit main drains. Main drains are not essential for pool cleaning, in fact they do very little in removing debris from the swimming pool. By properly placing returns around the pool to push the water towards the skimmers water can be cleaned much more effectively than attempting to push debris to a main drain that has very little suction around it.
