In Ground Creative Rock Spa

[Sun City Susie]

Hello Forum,

Our new home (Sun City Lincoln Hills, near Sacramento) included a Creative Rock Spa that was installed around 2003 as a cold water spa ONLY.  It includes a waterfall feature and the area that houses the plumbing for this is open and accessible. The company that created this no longer exists.  We have been able to get everything running but the pump system as well as the exposed plumbing to the waterfall is VERY loud. The pumps seem to really labor and make big effort sounds, the waterfall plumbing sounds like there are rocks in it.

We are considering scrapping the pumps and control to get a quieter system. We need advice and or perspectives on this endeavor.

Questions specifically:

1. What spa setups (2 pumps and control panel) are considered the quietest and easiest to maintain in today's market?

2. Can the jets, mini fountain and the air flow controls be updated and or serviced on this in ground system and can someone direct me to a good video for this endeavor?

3. The original Spa Builders Control panel was installed without a thermostat and the usual switch for choosing heat is not an option. We believe this was solely due to homeowner choice as heating this with no cover would be costly. We believe this can be heated and covered during the few months where we may want a hot tub experience. Would there be any reason this might not be the case? This Spa Builders panel also has a loud hum/whine associated with the little timer that uses the pin system to set filtration times (see video to hear this).