cmoncophd hit the nail on the head. They need to level the edges. I would have to see the exact plans and know how many linear feet of edge you do have but there is a calculation for GPM over the edge. The reason your 5HP is noisy is that they don't have the proper size piping to feed the poor thing. Typically when a pump is too noisy it is because it is starving for water. The other thing to remember is that Pool pumps are not meant to draw water they are meant to push water. Are the pumps lower than the source of water?

The plans show 33 feet of negative edge across the back. The pipes seem huge compared to others I have seen.

I am not sure what does what there. For a 5hp pump I would never go less than 3" and that is pushing it. Besides that... there is no need for a 5HP pump on 33' of edge. Especially when it is Glass Tile. I have a 54' Edge in Nashville and I am running a 3hp Variable. The Edge is 54' and has a natural stone edge which presents more friction.

Is the source of the water the drain height?

https://www.facebook.com/Iconic-Design-947181445305504/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

At least below at or below water level.

The 33 feet is to the edge of the spa. The spa is 10ft 4in by 8ft 4in, so i guess that adds to the HP needed. There is a separate pump for the spa jets, so we can run the spa and pool at the same time. I think the 3HP variable speed should be fine, but since the pool builder is being a jerk, I want to make sure.

I love your pool designs Chris, I wish you were in Florida. It's really hard to find quality builders here.

The height of the pumps are about the same height as the top of the pool.

LOL...Thank you. I was just in Orlando on Vacation last week. My GF/Partner says we ought to market that area and my reply was that there is a PB within a stone's throw of us at all times. I stopped counting at 20 different trucks that I saw with different Pool company names.

But the Edge pump is being fed by the Basin. I always install the edge pump near the basin at the basin level.

He used the old pool equipment pad. They may be a little high because we are on the water and the pumps have to be raised to a certain height above the flood plane. At this point I am pretty sure my PB has never built a negative edge pool. I had to argue with him to water proof the inside of the pool near the negative edge, it was too late to do the outside of the weir wall. He tried to convince me that the pool finish was waterproof. I spent him a bunch of articles, so he waterproof it but charged me a big upgrade fee.

I calculate the average feet of head to be about 105 ft. ( I asked the pool builder and he told me to get a ruler and figure it out myself.). They plumbed it past the spa and then back to the house and went under the house to the pump. I think they used a 6in pipe for the 3 drains in the catch bason and a smaller size for the other drains. How much would this affect the amount of HP I need? Do you think the Hayward 3HP variable speed will work? The spa jets are on a separate 2HP pump.

The pressure gage is 18 with everything running and the vacuum pump is 10. Which I think means it is running at 52.88 of head, which would make me think the 3HP variable speed pump would be fine. Does this seem correct?

I think my GPM is 43.13 plus what ever up I need to add for 33 ft negative edge and 4 sided spill over spa.

To get the water to stick to the wall you need a about 1 GPM per foot.

Pump sizing all starts with how much water you need to turn over. Start with your gallons per minute first. How much do I need to make the water go over the edge? Depending on the type of finish on the weir wall will determine how much flow you need over the edge. Tile is the least resistant and stone will cause the most due to its uneveness. If you have tile done with a tight tolerance of 1/16" of an inch then you would only need 18.56 gallons per minute over the edge for 33 feet. Let's say the tile guy is not perfect and you have an 1/8" to overcome then you need 52.46 gallons per minute. Now you know what pump you need to push the water over the edge. Even a smaller variable speed pump will do this. It doesn't need to be 3 hp. Next figure out your pipe diameter. I do not plumb my pools to meet the minimum feet per second requirement by code. I go below that. I try for 4.5 feet per second for the suction side and 6.0 feet per second for the return side. This is how fast the water is moving through the pipe. For 53 gallons per minute my pipe diameter must be 2.5" for the suction and 2" for the return to meet that standard. Keep in mind that even with a smaller variable speed pump like the Pentair I1 that the max gallons per minute is 120. Since code requires that I have to have the proper pipe size that can handle the max gallons per minute of my pump than I have to have at least a 3" on the suction side and 2.5" on the return. You can lock out the pump so it does not exceed a certain rpm so you could go with a smaller pipe but people find a way around the lock out so it's better to just go with the bigger pipe. A 5 hp pump is way overkill for what you have. Huge waste of energy and a lot of noise. It's does look like he put on a 6" suction on the pump for the basin but what does he have on the rerun side? Sounds like the pump is restricted on the return. If you follow the rule of 4.5 feet per second on the suction and 6.0 feet per second on the return side then it doesn't matter what your head pressure is. It will fall in line. Hope this helps.