Increasing existing pipe diameter ??

[brent.roberts]

The pool that came with our house has 1 1/2" piping. We are putting a new liner in our concrete/vinyl pool in the next few weeks. I am trying to come up with a way to increase the size of the piping to 2" in part because we are now heating with solar.

Does anyone know a relatively easy/inexpensive way to get a 2" pipe to the center drain? The soil is mostly light very fine sand ... almost powdery.

The center drain is about 9 feet below the surrounding ground surface. The pool is a 16 x 32 rectangle.

[CrisL]

There is really no easy way to do this. However, you can change out all of the pipe from just before the drain and skiimer(s) meet to the point where the pipes separate to the returns and improve the flow of the system without the expense and potential problems of going below the pool.

I have all 1.5" pipe, with solar and mine runs just fine. I didn't know anything about pools (as most peopel) when I had it installed. The solar, on my second story roof, only adds about 4 psi to the system and does not dramatically affect flow.

[brent.roberts]

Thanks for the comments Chis.

I am thinking that I will try to slip a 3" pipe over the 1 1/2" and put an adaptor on the end for the garden hose and then try to force it down and along the old 1 1/2 inch, flushing the sand as it goes. If it encounters any clay or rocks I'll be
SOL and have to invoke plan B which is what you suggested.

I think this must be a pretty common problem with people that get undersized systems to start with. One would think that someone out there has a solution.
Gee if they can tunnel under the English channel to France ......

[SteveK2]

I wouldn't necessarily conclude that a pool with 1-1/2" piping is 'undersized'.

That conclusion would have to depend on the variables at hand -- number of return lines, number of skimmers/main drain, size of the pool, length of the piping, etc.

Pools with a larger number of intakes and returns might very well be 'right-sized' with 1-1/2" piping.

[haze_1956]

Seems to me that it matters what the pipe diameters are where they combine and split.

Two 1 1/2" pipes that Y into a single 1 1/2" pipe is going to have less flow that if they Y into a 2" pipe.

So if your skimmers and returns pipes combine into like sized pipe, you could replumb larger diameter pipe between those junctions and filter, and should see more volume.