sand in bottom of pool

[lmullikin]

I purchased my mother’s old pool last year. It’s a 18 x 42 Intex above ground pool. When I got it from her it had a small pump that took cartridge filters. Last year was the first year I used it and where I lived didn’t have a level area to put in except under a huge tree. Well I fought all year with the leaves so when I moved this year I had a perfect spot for the pool with not leaves.

I went to Wal-Mart this year and also purchased a Krystal Clear Sand Filter and I have had nothing but problems from the pool this year (I’d much rather just clean the leaves out). So I kinda had to jerry rig the new pump up to fit the pool (by using the old pump to connect the new filter hose too) just to use it.
The new pump is not strong enough to use a vacuum so I have a vacuum that hook to the water hose. It will get some of the sand out of the bottom (by using panty hose instead of the mesh bag) of the pool but not all of it. When I go to vacuum a lot will get disturbed and mixed back into the water which makes it cloudy. But if you leave the pool alone for awhile it will settle back down to the bottom and the water will be just as clear as what comes from the sink.

Is there a better way to get this out of the pool without empting it?

 

[duraleigh]

How is the sand getting in the pool to begin with?

 

[lmullikin]

I think I may have had the wrong sand in the filter when I first connected it. I have since changed the sand and the water clarity is alot better untill the stuff on the bottom is stirred up. Other then that i'm not sure.

 

[linen]

Which intex pump/filter/swg do you have? Both of the sand filters should be enough to vacuum your pool. What brand sand did you use?

 

[lmullikin]

I have the Intex Krystal Clear 1,600 Gallon Sand Filter (swg??) the first sand I got just said Pool Sand. So when I changed it I went to the pool supply store and got filter sand #20 silica.. There is no way to hook a vacuum up to the skimer the way I have it hooked up. Which may be a reason there is not a lot of suction there. but with the intex pool not having standard sizes there was not much I could do about it. However it seems to work fine.

 

[linen]

You may have to modify your plumbing to get full suction on the vacuum.

Did you do a long backwash followed by a long rinse to clean the debris from the sand before running filter?

 

[lmullikin]

not the first time but i did when I changed the sand. I have backwash/rinsed it several times since the new sand as well due to the water was in bad shape when I changed it. I'm not sure how else i can modify it. This pool has the skimmer box on the outside of the pool and on the bottom where the original pump hooked up to is not flat so I can't just hook the new filter/pump lines to it. I had to take the old pump, remove the inside of it (the peice that turned to suck the water in) connect it back to the skimmer. then hook up the new filter to where the old hose went back to the pool. Once I get home I can take pictures of the set up and post them..

 

[lmullikin]

Oh and is it ok to use regular household bleach instead of the pool clorine?

 

[linen]

Oh and is it ok to use regular household bleach instead of the pool clorine?

Yes, I use whatever I can get cheaper (accounting for the concentration differences).

 

[lmullikin]

Here is a pic of the filter set up.

 

[lmullikin]

the black peice under the skimmer box is the original pump.

 

[linen]

the black peice under the skimmer box is the original pump.

Yeah, that was a bad design. I think people have replaced the whole skimmer sometimes.

 

[lmullikin]

what would they have replaced it with and do you have any idea's as to better rig this up?

 

[lmullikin]

Here is a pic of all the stuff on the bottom of the pool. As you can see the water is nice a clear however once i start useing the vacuum or swim the stuff gets stirred up and makes the water cloudy.

 

[linen]

Thats a lot of stuff. Are you sure it is sand? What does it feel like?

 

[lmullikin]

It's gritty like sand and very fine. When I'm vacuuming it up you can see that it it sand. But tyre is dirt mixed in it too

 

[lmullikin]

It has dirt mixed in. Sorry

 

[X-PertPool]

That's not sand it's dead algae, sand is too heavy to cloud up. For example if you had a sand filter that crapped out and shot sand out the return line it would lay in a 3 foot patch in front of the return and no where else

 

[lmullikin]

Well how do I get it out? I've vacuumed and vacuumed and this is what it looks like when it settles back down?

 

[Glock]

Sounds like you have alot of vacuuming ahead of you along with long filter run times. Good luck. As long as you follow the recommendations here I am sure you will be rid of it in no time. You might want to post up some recent complete water test results. Just in case.