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MOD Design Tip
 What great design concept are you working on?
To keep our tile lines free of plumbing penetrations, we’re tucking auto fill lines and other pipes into skimmer boxes when we can.
I’ve never installed skimmers with a plastic lid, but it’s the same theory -- if we’re going to get rid of the skimmer lid by creating a custom cover, we should be looking at other things that are ugly, too. And having a pipe come through the tile line is ugly.
How does it work?
For example, we’ll bring our auto fill line back in the throat of the skimmer. You can see it when you’re in the pool, if you look back there. It’s just hiding in the shadows.
We use electronic auto fills. Before, we’d put a suction outlet cover over the penetration at the tile line, then run a stand pipe off to the side of the pool, to a pot holding the auto fill sensor. But we’d have to put some kind of cover over the pot. Now, we just install a conduit back in the skimmer throat and bring the sensor right into the skimmer. It’s less obtrusive. I can see the little probe sitting back there, but I don’t have to hide a stand pipe with a suction outlet cover.
When we install a suction-side cleaner, we’ll install the suction port on the floor of the skimmer and put an approved outlet cover over it for safety. I think it improves both the aesthetics and safety, because it’s harder to access. But it also can complicate maintenance.
We tuck the overflow back into the skimmer throat as well.
— David Peterson, president/CEO, Watershape Consulting, San Diego, Calif.
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That’s the day entries are due for Pool & Spa News’ 2010 Masters of Design competition. 
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