Drain Covers - Are these installed properly / compliant?

[natedawg]

New pool owner, the drain covers appear to be these Aquastar Anti-Entrapment channel drains:

https://intheswim.com/p/32in-channel-drain-flat-grate-anti-entrapment-suction-outlet-cover-white/313478.html

I have two of them, one in the attached spa and one in the main pool.

However, It looks like they just took the covers from them and put them over the drain hole? You can see in the photo the pool surface below most of the cover, and then the pvc plumbing for the drain there in the middle. This seems to me like it would still cause issues as most of that 2" pvc could get blocked being so close to the actual cover.

Most of the square/circular models look like they have a sump pit, and the channel drain is supposed to have a channel drain body.

Should I replace these with something better? It looks like there are retrofit options that don't require a sump. Also any recommendations on sealing up the screw holes in the plaster if I remove this?

And lastly, are the vacless SVRS recommended? I could potentially add one of these since I do not have secondary drains in the pool or spa. The pool does have a skimmer, and I cannot control suction between the skimmer and main drain (they are both plumbed into the pump inlet at some point).

 

[JamesW]

You need the channel drain frame to be compliant.

 

[TinFoilHat]

Oops, I guess we forgot to put that part of it in......

 

[natedawg]

Ugh. They refinished the pool four or five years ago, so lazy to do it like this….

Can the retrofit covers be installed underwater or do I need to drain the entire pool?

That vacless svrs is sounding more appealing right now lol.

 

[Newdude]

Is the spa drain on a separate leg or is it daisy chained with the other 2 ?

The spa drain is the one I'd be concerned about.

The main drain is no worry because its permanantly split with the skimmer so there is another suction path if the drain gets 'clogged'. It's no different in practice as my 2 main drains split on a T. They are far enough apart that you can't accidentally seal off both of them at the same time. Yours is similar with the drain and skimmer but it's a weirder looking T.

 

[Bperry]

Ugh. They refinished the pool four or five years ago, so lazy to do it like this….

Can the retrofit covers be installed underwater or do I need to drain the entire pool?

That vacless svrs is sounding more appealing right now lol.

You might spend some time investigating what’s under the covers. It’s possible the channel drains were installed correctly but the refurb just filled in the channel drains with plaster. Should be easy to tell by removing the covers. If the cover screws are just threaded into plaster, then the refurb was a scam but if there’s plastic holes for the screws to thread into, then there’s a chance it’s just sloppy plaster, or maybe the channel drain was leaking so they filled with plaster.

 

[natedawg]

Is the spa drain on a separate leg or is it daisy chained with the other 2 ?

The spa drain is the one I'd be concerned about.

The plumbing for the spa drain is separate and I have a three way valve controlling suction from either the pool or the spa.

Draining the spa to get a retrofit cover on should’t be too much of an issue, but I’m not inclined to drain the pool right now.

You might spend some time investigating what’s under the covers. It’s possible the channel drains were installed correctly but the refurb just filled in the channel drains with plaster. Should be easy to tell by removing the covers. If the cover screws are just threaded into plaster, then the refurb was a scam but if there’s plastic holes for the screws to thread into, then there’s a chance it’s just sloppy plaster, or maybe the channel drain was leaking so they filled with plaster.

Honestly it looks like they just screwed the drain covers into the plaster to cover up the existing drain hole. From what I can see it doesn’t even look like there is a sump for the drain, it just comes all the way up to the plaster.

I’ll try removing it at some point to get a look underneath.

 

[Newdude]

The plumbing for the spa drain is separate and I have a three way valve controlling suction from either the pool or the spa.

Awesome. Until you decide what to do, if anything, supervise the spa if the valve is set to 100% spa. Disregard the worry about the other two.

You can also easily pull the handle from the valve so it can't accidentally be set to 100% spa. Then use the handle (and appropriate supervison) if the need arises.

 

[natedawg]

Unfortunately I don’t think the three way valve can split suction? I think it’s either all spa, all pool, or off. It’s a jandy neverlube with a pentair actuator on it.

I’ll look into draining the spa and epoxying in the anchors for the new drain at some point. Thinking of going with this?
- A10RCFRxxx

Edit: To clarify for the suction side, on my equipment pad I have two pipes coming into the pump. They come into a three way valve before entering the pump. One is suction from the pool (main and skimmer) and the other is from the spa (main). But because there is only the single valve, I don’t think I can control suction between the two to have it set to something like 70/30.

 

[Newdude]

But because there is only the single valve, I don’t think I can control suction between the two to have it set to something like 70/30.

You can. 70% to the main drain/skimmer (shared leg) and 30% spa. (Etc etc)

 

[JamesW]

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