Valve Pipeline

The Importance of Valve Sequencing

In Blog, Maintenance Tips by Ed Miller

After hearing about two separate pump room incidents recently involving plumbing failures due to improper valve sequencing (costing the facilities thousands of dollars), I thought it might be appropriate to suggest that our blog readers revisit our 2016 blog, Which Valves Need to Be Open or Closed in the Pump Room, referencing the importance of proper valve sequencing and why you should label all valves within the pump room.

If you do not open or close valves in the correct order you may create a water hammer (damaging equipment because of the force of the water), backwashing the filter contents into the pool instead of the waste line, or damage equipment because they were not isolated.

Here are a few more tips:

#1 Train as many support staff as possible on the basic operation of the pump room and proper valve sequencing (back washing, etc.) in the event the primary operator is sick, on vacation, or has unforeseen events causing an absence. If your state requires a CPO® (Certified Pool Operator), make sure more than one of your staff is certified and trained on pump room procedures.

#2 Clearly label all pump shutoffs in the event of an emergency shutdown situation.

#3 Always turn off all equipment within a bypass (UV, chlorine generators, etc.) before isolating the bypass.

#4 Flow meters should be installed and clearly visible on all main and bypass plumbing.

#5 Know your equipment and read your manuals.  Have manuals readily available for reference.