Sand Filter Pressure high at beginning of season

[matthewedwinmiller]

Hi everyone, new member here, still trying to figure out pool maintenance with my used Splash pool We bought this pool used and set it up and I'm still learning about pool maintenance.

I was bad this year and didnt winterize the pool over the winter. We had some freezing temps, nothing out of the ordinary for the pacific Northwest. Time to clean out the pool of all the green muck and get it running again.

The pool has been sitting over the winter and spring and Im trying to clean the water now and get it refilled and running. The pump seems to be running smoothly but Ive noticed that the filter pressure gauge is reading quite high, around 50lbs. I backwashed some but it didnt seem to lower the pressure. The pressure was never this high last fall, only when I turned it on this week was the pressure this high. Im wondering if any or all are possible:

• Gauge is broken (can these go bad over the winter?)
  Tank is pressurized and needs to be opened (will this relieve pressure in the tank?)
  Zeobrite media is clogged and needs to be cleaned
  Algae grew in the filter tank and clogged itself up

Im tempted to just get a new gauge and new sand media and just start over... but if there's a way to fix the problem cheaper/faster, that would be great. Thanks for any advice!

 

[duraleigh]

Hey,

Welcome to the forum. :lol: It's pretty common for the guage to go bad over the winter. They're less than $10 bucks and I think that will be the first step to reclaiming your pool. The next one will be lots and lots of chlorine!! :lol: :lol:

 

[matthewedwinmiller]

is there a special type of gauge? the hardware store had 60 or 100 lb pressure gauges for about $10.

if the pressure is still high, any suggestions on next steps? not sure how to clean the Zeobrite other than backwashing, but my water is still kind of fouled up with winter/spring muck. I read somewhere about pouring straight bleach in the top of the filter tank and letting it sit and then using the garden hose to fill the tank from the top and let it overflow... is that really a good idea?

 

[JohnT]

Go with 60 psi. Your pump probably can't produce 50 psi, so it's surely the gauge.

 

[matthewedwinmiller]

Thanks for the help Yep, it was the gauge. After removing the gauge from the filter, it was still reading around 40 pounds.

Bought some Zeo cleaner solution, let it sit in the tank for a day, backwashed till clear. New gauge... filter running smoothly now with pressure back down around 9lbs.