Spa suction during daily routine ?

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hylabrook

Spa suction during daily routine ?

Postby hylabrook » Mon 22 Jun, 2009 09:34

We just bought a house with a pool and spa. I'm trying to figure out how it works. Need some help with a basic question: during the daily routine pump time, should both pool and spa suction be enabled, or just pool suction?

I am asking because if I enable spa suction, after the pump is shut down, the water in the spa will drop quickly. But if I don't enable spa suction, the water in the spa can maintain its level.

thanks a lot for any help.


Me...
Swimming Pool Superstar
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Spa suction during daily routine ?

Postby Me... » Mon 22 Jun, 2009 12:31

Sounds like you have a pool and spa sharing one set of equipment. This is good though so don't worry.

Normally the water will come from the pool and return to both the pool and the spa. Only a little to the spa to keep it balanced with fresh water. When you want a spa you turn the valves to a position which runs the spa only and kick the heater up to your desired temperature. This can happen manually or automatically.

When done the spa, turn the valves back to normal and the (easier to maintain) pool water will flush out the spa. Sometimes these little exchanges can actually help to balance the chemistry in the pool. You also get the heat back into the pool.
hylabrook

Spa suction during daily routine ?

Postby hylabrook » Tue 23 Jun, 2009 00:12

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, the pool and spa share one set of equipment. There are valves to control suction, and return to pool or spa, or both.

I understand the way you described: the water comes from the pool and returns to both pool and spa. That was actually also the way my pool/spa circulation was set. My concern is whether it is enough to keep the spa water fresh. Just last week I got a algae problem, and the spa is where most the algae were.
Me...
Swimming Pool Superstar
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Posts: 302
Joined: Thu 26 Feb, 2009 11:11

Spa suction during daily routine ?

Postby Me... » Tue 23 Jun, 2009 00:32

I would be looking to other issues perhaps. Even if you had a large spa for residential, say 1000 gallons, and only 10gpm returning to the spa, that is still 100 minutes or a little over 1.5 hours to turn it over. For a water body with no bather load at all that is a huge turnover. Maybe CYA too high? Free Chlorine too low? or possibly there is a flow problem, but it sounds like you know how the systems works and can probably determine that.
hylabrook

Spa suction during daily routine ?

Postby hylabrook » Tue 23 Jun, 2009 01:14

Ok. I'll stop worrying about that spa suction. I guess you are right. The algae is mostly due to low free chlorine. I kept it at shock level, run the pump for about 24 hours and it is clean now.

I still don't understand why the spa will lose water in the situation I described. But it does not seem like a leak anywhere because in the normal situation(pull water from pool, return to both pool and spa), the water level won't change much after the pump shut off.

Guess I am just a little nervous as a new pool owner.

Thanks again. Have a good day.

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