What Is A Pool Plumbing System?

A Pool Plumbing System is a simple concept, but it is like a foreign language if you’ve never owned a pool before! Hopefully, this helps!

Pool Water

First, the pool water is piped around in a big circle: from the pool to the equipment and back. This is to clean (filter) and treat (the chlorinator) the water, so it doesn’t get gross. The pump is what keeps the water moving. The heater is just a sweet upgrade. The plumbing coming from the pool is the “supply” (or suction) side. From the equipment back to the pool is called the “return” side. Here is a simple diagram:

Valves

Part of the plumbing system is valves. The valves are like doors in your house. Just like you can close the doors in your home to keep people or pets out of a room, you can close the valves on your plumbing to stop water from being pulled from or sent to specific water features.

The “supply” side valves (remember supply side is from the pool to the equipment) will typically have one valve for the skimmer, one valve for the main drains (you have two main drains), and, if you have a spa, a valve for the spa drain.

If you have a pool with no water features, you may not have valves on the “return” side (return is from the equipment back to the pool) side. But, if you have deck jets, a slide, a waterfall, etc. Each one of those should have a valve. Let me make this clear: EACH feature should have a valve. So if you have 4 deck jets, there should be four valves—one for each deck jet.

Learning to operate the valves is an essential part of using your pool. It is easy but takes a little getting used to. To help our clients, we paint your pipes all black and then label what each pipe is from or to.

Closing

So, there is no mystery to how a pool works. However, it often feels that way because so much is hidden underground, and it is often hard to grasp what you can’t see. Hopefully, you will find this pool plumbing system explanation helps you grasp the concept so you can be more knowledgeable about your pool and how it works.

Ready to take the plunge and get a pool of your own? Sanctuary Pools is here to help. We specialize in fiberglass swimming pools, which are known for their durability and ease of maintenance. So don’t wait – let us turn your backyard into a paradise today! Contact us to get started.