Negative Edge

mark1969

15 years ago

Can someone explain specifically how the plumbing on a negative edges works? How much if any water remains in the trough? Do you need an auto fill? Should a 20 foot edge cost a lot more than a 10 to 15?

Any help would be appreciated.

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Comments (6)

golfgeek
15 years ago
mark1969,
PB's across the country will build negative edges differently.
IMO the sump or trough behind the negative edge is used like a large skimmer. All water flows from the sump.
The static level and the running level in the sump are different. The capacity of the sump is based on the size of the pool.
You need to maintain enough water in the sump to keep the pumps from sucking air.
I've never built one without an auto-fill.
The length of the negative edge is usually dictated by the size and location of the pool and the background view that the customer wants.
Hope this helps.
mark1969
Original Author
15 years ago
I know its a loaded question but any idea what to would cost to add a 15' to 20' edge to a new pool build?
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kitamiman- I have a similar setup as yours....plus a few more water features. I have 4 pumps total but 2 do most of the work each day. The other 2 are just for pizzaz during parties. The 2 workhorses are 2 speed pumps. One for the negative edge and pit and the other for the circulation pump. I also looked at a variable speed for each pump but could not justify the extra cost, especially since my return on investment was over 10 years at $.07/KWH. The 2 speed works fine for the negative edge...low speed provides a nice trickle throughout the day moving any surface debris to the weir and high speed is ran for short periods of time throughout the day to clear the weir. Integrating the variable speed to do both adds more complexity and moving parts to your job but can be done easily. Also, I'm not a big fan of using a filter in the negative edge circuit. Our negative edge pit gets dirty especially this time of the year with all the pollen, tree husks and other debris from budding trees (It's essentially a giant skimmer). A simple scoop of this debris from the pit each day with a leaf net (a one minute task) is easier than having to clean cartridges more frequently in my opinion. Just thought I would mention this if you were thinking about using a filter in the negative edge circuit. Also, I see you mentioned running the negative edge after swimming....actually you will need to run the negative edge during swimming to keep the pit from overflowing. Our 2 speed at low speed is adequate for this (40 gpm). Also, highly recommend the autofill in the pit as golfgeek suggests for negative edge pools. In the end, the choice is yours and there are obviously many ways to approach this. Your philosophy and particular application may be entirely different from mine but I thought I would share my experience when deciding this very same thing during our build a couple years ago. Hope this helps.
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I don't disagree. This was designed by a landscape architect who loved the idea and we did 2 or 3 like this for him at the same time. Part of the reason I liked the idea on this job was because the project was located in an area remote from the city where there was little or no local support for the owner for maintenance or repairs. In fact the owners have been doing everything themselves and I find that true negative edge pools require more hands on maintenance work. I think this was a good compromise in the situation. It's probably saved me more than a few ferry rides LOL. I agree on the finish, that's about my favourite plaster colour. We still do white in 90% of our pools but we did that colour 3 or 4 times last year and it's beautiful. One other detail on that pool that's kinda cool is how we did the coping with the pool cover. (I didn't do the decks, just the inside forms BTW) Obviously the cover hadn't been installed yet in that pic but it comes from under the coping with no brackets holding stones.
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tresw
15 years ago
Someone recently posted that their PB wanted a thousand per foot of length. Pricey!
ncrealestateguy
15 years ago
Anthony and Sylvan built my new pool in Charlotte, NC, and charged me $7500 for a 12 foot edge, with an autofill.
donnaw
15 years ago
we were quoted approx $1k / foot from two different pool builders.

I decided I'd be very happy with my weeping wall!
natural_one
15 years ago
mark1969,

The plumbing is rather simple once you have your basin size and edge size down. You just have to figure out what pump and sizes of plaumbing will deliver the correct amount of gallons for the desired flow.
The calculations are what can be tricky. You have to calculate how much water you want/need going over the edge (1/8"....1/4" etc.) Figure in surface area of the entire pool to raise that much, water in transit over the edge, etc and convert to gallons. Then size your basin accordingly. Then figure in bather load based on how many people you believe could get in the pool. convert their body mass to gallons if you want it to really come out right..etc etc etc.
Now figure in a water leveler...but wait, it cant run continuously while the edge is on and be filling the basin because then it will overflow when the edge pump shuts off and that 1/4" of water flows down into you basin raising it substantially based on the pool size. You should be forced into using an electronic water leveler, in my opinion.
Not that that helps a ton without all of the formulas. but you get the idea...

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Negative Edge

Comments (6)

golfgeek

mark1969
Original Author

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Negative Edge

Comments (6)

golfgeek

mark1969Original Author

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tresw

ncrealestateguy

donnaw

natural_one

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mark1969
Original Author