My spa does not have a blower and does not have coping valves either. There are actually three ways to plumb a vent pipe for a spa and it depends on how far the equipment pad is from the pool and what you are looking for. 1) Use coping vent valves to have air adjustment at the spa. Note that changing the amount of air does not change the strength of the jet only the way feels (pulsating vs steady). The same amount of water flows out of the jet regardless of the air. 2) Use a single vent pipe from the spa to the equipment pad. Sometimes a blower is required due to the distance. There really isn't air control with this because if the distance is long, then without the blower, there are usually no bubbles at all. 3) Have a vent pipe close to the spa usually outside of the deck. This does not require a blower and there is not air control. Next, two pumps does not mean he is planning to use both for the spa jets unless he has specifically told you so. Typically in a dual pump installation, one pump is used for pool/spa circulation/filtering/heating and the other pump is for the jets only so you need to make sure on what he is planning. Next, having two pumps does not mean you can't heat the spa. They normally plumb in a separate line for circulation/heating which is why I brought up the point above. Normally, I would put the Intelliflo as a circulation only pump that can be switched between the spa and pool. The other pump would be dedicated to the spa jets only. This save the most in energy costs when it comes to filtering the pool. There is no point in having the Intelliflo if it is dedicated to the spa. However, you could also plumb the Intelliflo so it runs some of the jets too. But generally, it is not a good idea to have high flow rates through your filter and/or heater. So if you really want that many jets, then I would go with three pumps. Use the Intelliflo for just circulation/heating/filtering and nothing else. Then get two high HP pumps to run the jets on separate loops without any other equipment so the jets can be powerful and efficient too.

Very expensive. If I were building, I would use Waterway's Power Storm bodies and jet insets and take my wife to dinner a few times to a nice restaurant. I will admit it's a slick idea for a portable tub though. Scott

I have an older model for my outdoor shower. for the money it is fine. I have incredible water pressure at my house and even with only half inch pipes leading to it it is a nice massage but if you do not have great water pressure it is not impressive. My parents' well water and 1/2 inch pipes make it's jets and multiple heads used simultaneously useless. Mine is atleast four years old and we did need to replace the rain head last year for the orginal rusted out but to be fair it is keep in the sun and rain for five months out of the year. here is my older model after more than 4years of use It was for a while my favorite shower but last year we added a master shower with hard plumbed jets, hand held and rain head with 3/4 pipes for even better pressure, a thermostatic valve to maintain temp and pressure control and three separate water control handles so we can use one, two or three water sources at a time. We have an instantaneous water heater so we never run out of hot water and try to remember to not use it for to long or too often as to not waste to much water and energy. This shower is my oasis! Water pressure I think is a woman's best friend and the jets are haven to me but this set up was substantially more expensive and not a retro fit like a tower is. I much prefer my hard plumbed set up to my shower tower but honestly it is like comparing a Kia to an Audi in cost and not an apples to apples comparison. the set up I prefer. for better therapeutic results if your budget supports this upgrade I recommend this.

Your best bet is to find a qualified builder who really understands fluid dynamics. When we build a spa, whether part of a pool/spa combo or stand alone, we must know the desired number of jets. A 10 gpm requirement for each jet, sets the calculations in motion. A pump size is determined and then the proper pipe size to support that water flow. The builder will have to do some math. The distance from the equipment to the spa must be factored as well. We use these formulas for the filtration portion also. Our current pool/spa project, has a 10' round spa with 16 jets. We are using a variable speed pump for the jets and also the filtration system. Our pipe size for the jet suction and return is 4" PVC. This is based on the required total flow to the jets. We have to move a lot of water to make the jets work properly. Plus, the piping has to be installed in a certain way to provide equal flow to each jet. We use Waterway gunite jets exclusively. They have many jet internal choices for a particular jet pattern. The "hotel" jets you experienced, I can pretty much guarantee they were a basic gunite venturi jet with a standard eyeball fitting. Hotel pools always seem to have the tightest budget. Figuring out pump size and pipe sizes is not for the faint hearted. Many jobs I've come across over the years, clients were disappointed with jet results from their builder. I'm called to "fix" it. Most often I cannot short of ripping everything out and starting over.