We've been renovating our in ground gunite pool for a year now and are at last in the final stretches. We had an electrician wire up an Aqualogic control system, new Pentair DE filter and 1 HP Whisperflo pump. We also replumbed everything above ground with 2" PVC and replaced one underground run as well.

So here is our dilemma. We can't get the pump to prime and get any suction from the pool. We figured it could be a bad line, but we can't get it to draw water with any valve configuration (i.e. individual skimmers or just spa/just pool, etc.). We're starting to suspect it's HOW we plumbed the system. In order to make it easier to reach the valves, we plumbed them all about 4' up... which is actually about 6' above water level.

My thoughts were that maybe the pump just can't handle that. My husband thinks once we get water in the lines that the vertical distance won't matter. Any suggestions?