DE Cleanup, Aisle 1

[cainadai]

I hope this is an OK place to post this question. I'm not quite sure where it best fits.

Last year, a couple of months after I became a pool owner, I had a service tech come out to look at my DE filter because I was having a lot of trouble with algae and debris in the pool. He discovered that the filter hadn't been cleaned in a very long time and was just full of DE. He demonstrated by scooping out handfuls of it and letting it fall on the rocks around our pool equipment, and in the process of getting the filter out of the housing to take it elsewhere to hose it down, got even more of the stuff on the ground there. I thought the DE might wash away down between the rocks in the rain but instead it just got more compacted amongst/between the rocks. Does anyone have any suggestions for cleaning this up? Am I going to need to just break it up and shovel it all out, rocks and all, and put new rocks in? Hosing it off doesn't seem to help.

 

[cowboycasey]

Welcome to TFP

can you use a shop vac to get it up? is it solid?

 

[zea3]

It would help if you could post a picture of the problem. How much DE is there? Is it on good sized rocks or is it more like a gravel base?

 

[cainadai]

Here's a pic! The rocks range from an inch to 2-3 inches in size. I don't have a shop vac, but I'm not sure it'd do the trick. It's pretty compacted; I probably should have tried to clean it up when it happened but I just figured the rain would take care of it. Not so much! If you look toward the bottom of the pic you can see where I tried scraping at it a little with the toe of my shoe. It does break up so it's not cement-solid.

 

[Richard320]

I see a shovel, a wheelbarrow, and possibly a dirt sieve made out of rat wire in your future.

My backwash hose decided to blow adjacent to a small gravelled planter. All the fine dirt I filtered out and the filter media (I can't recall if it was DE or cellulose) got mixed in with the gravel on top of the weed barrier. I figured - like you did - that rain would flush it out. Three years later, it's still there. It is a fertile growing medium for dandelions, I can tell you that.

 

[zea3]

Raking over it may break it up enough that you could disperse it with a leaf blower, otherwise the quick fix is to dig up those rocks and put them in a colander or sieve and wash them with the garden hose. If you have a pressure nozzle that would help.

 

[kimkats]

Try this..........water hose with nozzle on it, shovel, wheelbarrow...........shovel up the rocks and DE dirt and put them in the wheelbarrow. Rinse very well. Keep doing until the DE is off the rocks. You can then scoop the rocks up and out with your hands. Take the wheelbarrow to a place to dump AND the hose reaches do you can water it down and around good.

Or you can just buy some more rocks and put them on top. You choose-work or wallet?

Kim:cat:

- - - Updated - - -

LOL 10 mins and three answers just about the same! LOVE everyone here!

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Top off with more rock and call it a day lol

 

[cainadai]

Thank you for the suggestions! I may take the past of least effort, depending on how much rocks cost.

 

[Isaac-1]

Around here the garden centers sell 50 pound sacks of those style rocks for about $7, note 50 pounds does not go far.

 

[cowboycasey]

I picked up 1 ton of rocks for 35 dollars at the rock quarry, filled half my truck bed ?

I am using my phone so please excuse any spelling errors and short response.