Sheer descent loud?

11 years ago

Hi! Are sheer descent's loud? Our pool will be right next to our house and we are worried we will get annoyed with the sound. It is one Jandy three foot sheer descent. Thanks!

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Comments (7)

just-a-pb
11 years ago
1) Not very loud, but depends on how high, and how much water is flowing. Nice to have VS pump or bypass so you can slow it down if needed.
2) It doesnt have to be on all the time.
3) If you dont like the sound then why have one.
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cnr1089
11 years ago
Our sheer descent is the highlight of the pool when we have guests over. All the kids love to jump in over it, or put their feet on it. The love it and we love it.

That being said, while designing our pool, we had no idea, that it would only have enough flow when our dual speed pump was run at full speed (and full speed costs about 4x the price of running the pump at low speed). In addition (although I am no expert here, this is what I have read, and generally observed), it accelerates evaporation (cools the pool), and raises the PH faster. These aren't bad things, but reasons we don't run ours except when we specifically want to. That being said, I take care of my pool (not a pool service), and I watch my electric bills like a hawk (I have lots of nice graphs that can tell me how much electricity I am using over time, etc), so I am a little more particular in this regard, then others might be. Running a pool isn't free, and the pleasure of the sheer decent running all the time (or if I had some stone grotto/waterfall, I would probably want it running all the time, regardless of cost) may out weigh the other factors.
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Thanks so much for your responses. Mas985, we actually have three 24" sheer descent waterfalls. Does this change your opinion? One of the PB's said that all of the lines he's running are 2" lines, and that he'd like to use 1.5 HP pump for the filter, and a separate 1.5 HP pump for the waterfalls. Our question is would we be better off going with a 2.0 HP pump and a larger sand filter for a savings of around $500? Is it really worth it? And, when we run the waterfall, we would just re-circulate the water through the filter and direct the water flow with valves to the waterfall, instead of the pool returns. The PB recommending two pumps said we'll get better water flow, as opposed to getting the 2 HP pump. We never considered getting a variable speed pump, although if it is recommended this is certainly an option.
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We had a similar froggy situation. We live on a few acres in the country with a beautiful creek running through the property. The frogs were content with the creek until we put up our above ground "test pool" a few years ago. My oldest son says that the frogs can smell the water (I'm sure that he read it in one of his nerdy little books somewhere.) At any rate, the frogs seemed to prefer our little pool to the creek, and it wasn't long before we had quite the chorus going at night! They can be rather loud at times, but being raised on a rather large country estate, they are quite soothing to my ears, and we decided to encourage them to stay. However, the chemicals in the pool are no place for frogs. So we decided to build them their own pool, complete with lily pads, bog, a fountian and a good supply of algae (which is actually not bad for the frogs). It's actually quite lovely! (No fish allowed as they munch on the tadpoles.) We currently have several "resident toads" and are visited nightly by a chorus of treefrogs! Later in the year the tadpoles will grow legs and leap out only to return next year to stage the whole production for us again! (snapshot of the frog pond this morning - you should see it at night!) As a side note, this year we no longer have the "test pool" as our test is complete, the verdict is in, yes my kids are really part fish (expecially my youngest!) and we are sinking that chunk o' change into an inground! It is already getting warm for us, but the frogs haven't come back nearly as well this year. Although we still hear them in the distance. My son believes that it's the water from our pool that drew them in, we just decided to give them a home. Just another reason why I'm looking forward to our new pool, and the return of my nightly spring chorus! Good luck with yours! -Renee
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Two things come to mind. First is that you could have something stuck in the impeller. Is the check valve on the suction side? If so, when you replaced the valve some PVC glue might have made it's way into the impeller. Second is that it could be the check valve itself. Did you replace the valve with the exact model you had before? If not, the current one may have a stronger spring in it and be restricting the flow a bit more. For example, the check valves you can get at the hardware store have very strong springs and very high head loss. On the other hand, a Jandy swing check valve (no spring), has very low head loss but has to be installed in a certain direction.
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Comments (6)
As a pool designer/builder I would probably install the 6'. The scale to the pool length looks better than a shorter one IMO. You may want to do a mock-up of the long wall with the waterfall in place. Some thin pieces of wood set up work fine. Then you can see it real-time. The Sheer Descents requires 12 GPM per ft. So a 6' requires at least 72 GPM and a 4' requires 48 GPM. We always use a separate pump and small cartridge filter when installing these, or any deck or laminar jets. We won't tie it into the filtration system. Piping must be sized accordingly to move the water and accomplish the proper look. Hopefully your PB has experience in sizing piping and pumps for applications such as this. The water fall should not be any higher than 3 1/2' above the water as the sheet will break up.
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PoolMD123
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks! We aren't getting it for the sound but for the look. We will have a large bond beam and thought it would be a nice decorative touch. We hope to be able to turn it off now simply for the cooling the pool news.
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paradigmdawg
11 years ago
We love the looks of our but actually prefer it to be quite when we are just enjoying the backyard so we leave them off most of the time. We ran a separate pump to them so we can turn off and on as wanted.

Wow, I don't have any pictures of them on except these really old ones before the landscaping even cam in well.
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brentr_gw
11 years ago
We have 4 water features including a sheer descent and they are very loud. We only run ours when we have special occasions and when the grand kids come over as they love to play with them. I can regulate and turn each one on or off with jandy never lube valve. Hope this helps
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banana_fanna
11 years ago
We have 4 deck jets and 2 bubblers on our shelf. I rarely use our deck jets - in fact - really only to show them off when we have new guests over. LOL. Otherwise they are off. Too loud and they cool our water. The little kids (5 and under enjoy them for a short time and then they're over them, too.)

The bubblers I enjoy and use frequently.
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PoolMD123
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you!
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Sheer descent loud?

Comments (7)

just-a-pb

cnr1089

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paradigmdawg

brentr_gw

banana_fanna

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Sheer descent loud?

Comments (7)

just-a-pb

cnr1089

Related Discussions

PoolMD123Original Author

paradigmdawg

brentr_gw

banana_fanna

PoolMD123Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

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