New owner of older pool, possible broken laterals. Need Help/suggestions

[ry428]

Hello everyone,
My family and I recently bought a new house and it came with a pool. I am new to owning an IG pool. I am in the process of getting the water balanced and clear after opening it. I have vacuumed the pool and have notice more new dirt/ sand accumulating in the pool. 99% positive it is sand. My thoughts are that I have a broken lateral in the sand filter. I have a 36,00 gallon 20x40 IG pool. I am running a 1 1/2hp hayward super pump and it has a hayward sand filter. The pool was built in 1998 and we live in the Syracuse area of NY State. So here are my questions.

-Are my thoughts correct with the broken lateral? or is there another possible issue?
-Should I pull filter apart and replace sand and inspect/fix laterals?

OR since I have an issue with the filter and will have to fix it anyway, do I upgrade to a DE filter? I have been thinking this because my research shows that DE filters filter better than sand. Is this true and would I be wasting my money upgrading to a DE filter (does DE really do that much better of a job)?

Thanks
Ryan

 

[woodyp]

You will be wasting money in either case unless you KNOW it is sand and the only possible source is your filter. Make sure it is sand first. Welcome.

 

[RobbieH]

Turn off pump. Let it sit for 30 min or more. Have someone hold a sock in front of return. Turn on pump. After a few seconds see if you have sand in sock.

I personally would not change to a DE filter even if someone gave it to me for free.

 

[ry428]

Thanks for the advice!

 

[duraleigh]

DE does filter finer than sand but they all have drawbacks and benefits. Unless you don't like your sand filter, fix it because it's what you are used to.