Setting Up Pump Away From Pool

by Brenda Garlock
(Roachdale, In)

Does our pump have to be below our above ground pool or can we trench the pipe to the garage and have it in there? Can the pump be higher then the skimmer?


Hi Brenda. You have just mentioned two of the biggest differences between pumps designed for above ground pools and those designed for in ground pools. In ground pool pumps have larger impellers are designed to draw water up hill and from farther distances.

If it were me, I would continue as planned. Setting the filter system up in a designated area, one of your choosing, can be very important. There are many reasons for doing this, and most of them are valid.

One of the first pools I ever set up for myself was all the way in the ground. I installed an old Muskin 3/4 HP pump and filter on top of the ground about ten foot away from the pool. I never really had any problems with it. It would draw a sufficient amount of water and did a good job of keeping the filter clean. Above ground pool pumps are gravity fed, by design, so I did have issues with keeping the prime. I would not have been able to set the system up on a timer because I would never know if the pump needed re-primed.

Had the filter turned on, with the pump out of water, it would have burned out. This would usually only happened during filter cleaning, when I would have to re-prime. But it did happen enough other times, for no reason, that I never hooked it up to a timer.

My suggestion would be to set the system up the way you want. You can then give it a try. If it really won't work you have two choices. You could move the entire system back near the pool or you could replace the pump with an in ground model.

Good used pumps are not that expensive and once you have used an in ground pool pump on an above ground pool, you will never go back to the above ground version.

If you do end up replacing the pump, go with a 2 speed model. There again, once you try it you will never go back to one speed.