Should I be concerned?

[Pointyhead]

I've noticed on the last couple of backwashes, I have a small leak coming out of the connection between the filter and the pump. It only happens when I'm backwashiing. A large drop of water will form at the bottom of the union and eventualy drops off onto the side of the filter. It doesn't happen when the pump in running normally. I try to backwash for 2 minutes and rinse for 30 seconds.

What would be a quick and easy fix to prevent it from leaking? I really don't want to have to take the pipe off and reseal it. Plumber's putty, perhaps?

 

[Bama Rambler]

How is that plumbed?

 

[JasonLion]

Putty won't work. If it is a threaded connection, you need to either tighten it down a little or take it out and redo it. If you have a union on the pipe that might be fairly easy to do, but chances are it will be a lot of work.

If it is leaking that slowly you can probably let it go for quite some time before it gets any worse.

 

[Pointyhead]

How is that plumbed?

It's not threaded. I guess it's glued with the purple stuff.

But its only one drop during the backwash cycle, so the leaking isn't bad, but I was wondering if it is sucking air when it's in the filter mode.

 

[Bama Rambler]

It should have threaded adapters or unions. If it doesn't have unions then the threaded adapters are glued directly to the piping. You'll most likely have to cut the pipe apart and replace the joint that's leaking.

If it's leaking at a glued joint you can try some epoxy on it, but I've never had good luck with it.