Water recreational apparatus with sweep jets

Abstract

A water recreational apparatus has a water basin, a pump, a filter and a filter opening. The water basin has side walls and a bottom wall. The water recreational apparatus further includes one or more downwardly directed sweep jets disposed within the water basin proximate to the side walls. The sweep jets are disposed above the bottom wall by a distance of less than 10 inches. The sweep jets are in fluid tight communication with the discharge side of the pump so that water can be pumped through the sweep jets to roil water at the bottom of the water basin. By roiling the water at the bottom of the water basin, debris which tends to collect along the bottom of the water basin is moved upward within the water basin to where it can be removed via the filter opening and the filter.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A water recreational apparatus comprising: 
 (a) a water basin having side walls and a bottom wall;    (b) a pump having a suction side and a discharge side;    (c) a filter; and    (d) one or more downwardly directed sweep jets disposed within the water basin proximate to the side walls, the sweep jets being disposed above the bottom wall by a distance of less than 10 inches, the one or more downwardly directed sweep jets being in fluid tight communication with the discharge side of the pump.    
     
     
         2 . The water recreational apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the one or more sweep jets are a plurality of sweep jets.  
     
     
         3 . The water recreational apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the sweep jets are disposed between about 3 inches and about 6 inches above the bottom wall of the basin.  
     
     
         4 . A water recreational apparatus comprising: 
 (a) a water basin having side walls and a bottom wall;    (b) a pump having a suction side and a discharge side;    (c) a filter; and    (d) one or more downwardly directed sweep jets disposed within the water basin proximate to the side walls, the sweep jets being disposed above the bottom wall by a distance of between about 3 inches and about 6 inches, the plurality of sweep jets being in fluid tight communication with the discharge side of the pump.    
     
     
         5 . A method of removing debris from the bottom of a water recreational apparatus wherein the water recreational apparatus comprises a water filled basin, a filter and a pump, the water basin comprising a bottom wall and side walls having an upper portion and a lower portion, the side walls or the bottom wall having a filter opening for taking a slip stream of water from the water basin to the filter, the method comprising the steps of: 
 (a) providing the water recreational apparatus with one or more downwardly directed sweep jets disposed proximate to the side walls, the sweep jets being disposed above the bottom wall of the basin by a distance of less than about 10 inches, the one or more downwardly directed sweep jets being in fluid tight communication with the discharge side of the pump;    (b) pumping water through the one or more downwardly directed sweep jets using the pump so as to roil water disposed proximate to the bottom wall of the basin;    (c) drawing off a slip stream of water containing the debris from the basin via the filter opening; and    (d) filtering the debris from the slip stream.    
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the one or more sweep jets are a plurality of sweep jets.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the one or more sweep jets are disposed above the bottom of the wall by a distance of between about 3 inches and about 6 inches.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the total amount of water discharged through the one or more sweep jets is between about 10 gpm and about 60 gpm.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the amount of water discharged through each of the one or more sweep jets is between about 10 gpm and about 60 gpm.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the filter opening is disposed in the upper portion of the side walls.