filter eating itself

[*ryan]

i have a sand filter
ive been noticing some sand accumulating on the bottom of my pool

i havent beeen using the pool much, havent been in in a month
so its not someone bringing it in with them
ill vacume it up and it will be right back there the next day after the pump has been on

ive had the house for 2 years, pool has been running for 3-4 months say

i dont know how old the pool is or how long the filter has had its current sand

should i change out the filter sand?
should i not worry about it?
should i change it out first thing in the spring after i open the pool, as its getting close to closing now?

 

[JohnT]

I don't think changing the sand is going to do much for you. You probably have a bad multiport gasket or a cracked lateral or damaged riser in the filter. Could also be an oversized pump, but probably wouldn't have just started if that was the case.

 

[duraleigh]

Have you scooped any of it up and held it in your hand to confirm it's sand and not dead algae?

 

[*ryan]

i started to have an algea problem, bleech stopped that, the dead algea i was getting from that was black, this is a very light tan color much like sand

i will jump in and grab some and see if i can tell the differance

 

[duraleigh]

i will jump in and grab some and see if i can tell the differance

sand will, of course be very gritty and fairly easy to get off the bottom. The algae will be slippery and slimey and you will not really be able to pick it up between your thumb and finger.

 

[*ryan]

well some landed on one of the steps
went to pick it up and could not
slipped right out
looked greenish too

i increased run time and increased swg output

 

[linen]

well some landed on one of the steps
went to pick it up and could not
slipped right out
looked greenish too

Sounds like algae. To be sure raise you FC level up to shock level and do an OCLT (pool-school/overnight_fc_test). This needs to be done with your swg off.

increased run time and increased swg output

If you have algae, you will need another source for chlorine (bleach/liquid chlorine) and I would just turn off the swg until done with the shocking process (see my sig).

 

[X-PertPool]

If you ever do start to shoot sand out your return line it will look noticeably different. You will have a straight line streak of sand that only extends a few feet from the return. Sand is so heavy that is just lays in a pile. You wont see it dispersed through the whole pool in all the crevasses etc.