Sand in pool from filter?

[josemary9]

for awhile I thought it was the powder shock left behind but aftr vaccuuming I am seeing new settled sand on the pool floor...I assume it is coming from my sand filter...looks like I will need this fixed, will it be new sand or something else maybe broken? Is the advice to just have the pool company come? So expensive!!

Random question...how much on average does it cost to keep your pump running all day, all month on the electric bill?

Thanks!!! You guys/gals are soo awesome!

 

[woodyp]

Backwash your filter really, really, really good. Longer than you normally would. Then rinse it really, really, really good. Yep, longer than normal until clear water shows a while. Then tell us what the situation is. How old is the filter and has the sand ever been changed?

 

[josemary9]

Unfortunately when we bought this house a year ago january the owners left no info on the pool. The house was built in 2005 so I am assuming the pool is 5-6 years old, and pump..the filter probably had never been changed (sand). I dont know much about it, but the water looks good, we swam this weekend.
I will backwash tomorrow...15 min? Or just keep an eye on the water until it runs clear. Hopefully is solves the problem, we are going away friday for a week and I dont want to leave it with the pool sitter with problems! I guess after I backwash and rinse for awhile, I wont know if it worked for a day or so to see if I see more sand....is it ok to vacuum the sand before I backwash? It doesnt really vacuum too well so this sucks!!

 

[JasonLion]

Filter sand is extremely fine and very uniform. Blown in sand tends to be much more varied in grain size. Filter sand getting in the pool other then when the filter is brand new almost always means that you have a broken lateral. Depending on how much of a DIY person you are, you can probably take the filter apart and examine the laterals yourself, but it is something of a project.

 

[josemary9]

How much is a repair like that, I suppose I can call and find out. My husband is quite handy but can we get specific instructions? You just turn the pump off and open it up? Are you suggesting i dont bother with the long backwash and rinse and just try to get it repaired?

 

[Bama Rambler]

It's relatively easy to perform repairs on a sand filter and there are lots of instructions around here on how to do it. We'll also be happy to hold you hand when doinf it, if you (or DH) decide to tackle it. And you're pretty much right stop the pump, close the valves and open it up.

 

[RobbieH]

You shouldn't need to backwash for 15 minutes. To a full flush for mine when I put new sand in took about 5 minutes.

 

[josemary9]

since my husband (the handy man) is at work all day and we are leaving friday morning for a week, I called the pool place to fix it. They cant do it until friday, we wont be here but they can do it anyways. Is it ok to continue running the filter until then so we can still swim and keep the chemicals on track? Next time we will do this stuff ourselves when we have a weekend to tackle it!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Sure it's ok, and even preferable, to keep the filter running. You're only going to get a lttle more sand it the pool and you're going to have to vacuum up what's already in there once they get it fixed. A little more sand won't be a problem!