Sand coming out during initial back washing after replacing old sand with new

[BarbaraB]

Hi, ya'll . We replaced the sand in our filter today, and just now started the initial backwash, but sand is clearly visible in the viewer window, and a small pile of sand (several cups worth) can be seen where the backwash water gushes onto the lawn. We turned the filter off, thinking we are going to lose all our sand.

My son had carefully cleaned out our Hayward filter, being extra gentle with the laterals. He reinstalled everything just as carefully, and covered the re-installed laterals with water before pouring the sand slowly in. We had watched numerous you-tube tutorials before starting, and everything seemed to go flawlessly.

Is losing some sand at first normal? If not, does anyone have a clue what could be wrong? We're anxious to start swimming

 

[JamesW]

As long as none is going into the pool while on filter, it should be ok.

What pump and filter do you have?

Did you use the correct amount of pool filter sand?

 

[BarbaraB]

We used 100 pounds of pool sand, following the instructions written on the side of the filter. Ours is a Hayward Pro Series, S166T.

I don't know yet if sand will come into the pool or not, since we were so startled to see it coming out of the backwash hose that we didn't finish the backwash or do a rinse.

I'd appreciate any advice Thanks!

 

[duraleigh]

Finish the backwash. Lay out a piece of screen for the water to spill onto but that will still capture the sand. If you think it's excessive, open the filter back up and see how much "freeboard" you have ( freeboard is the distance from the top of the sand to the top of the filter....spelled out in your manual)

If you need the sand back in your filter, put it in the pool and vacuum it in or remove the top of the filter and dump it in....either way. I'm thinking you might have a bit too much sand and it is simply blowing out.

 

[lefty51]

Hi BarbaraB, Just a thought, did your son cover the stand pipe that the laterals connect to ? If not you may have gotten some sand into the pipe and that's what your seeing. If that's the case, it should stop after the sand is expelled.

You should cover the pipe when adding sand to avoid getting into it. If that's not the case, I would do as Dave suggests and check to make sure there is not to much sand in the filter.

Let us know what you find........ oh and welcome to TFP