I have many more plumbing issues to deal with, as you will see from the pics, but the most immediate issue is the serious suction leak that is making the pump very difficult to prime. I can hear the water returning to the pool when I shut the system down. I started out by cleaning the filter cartridges and replacing(w/lube) the clamp gasket, ensuring a good seat for the clamp with a rubber mallet, taking care to close the springs on the barrel bolt. Then I made sure(from the outside) that the impeller didn't have any (visible) blockage and replaced(w/lube) the pump lid gasket and basket, which was cracked. This did change things, but not a whole lot. So, I moved on to the see through true union check valve before the pump, when I removed the valve the first thing I noticed was the fact that no tape had been used to ensure the seal. When I inspected the flap, the first thing I saw was the large hole in the gasket, along with a small pebble that was keeping the flap from closing completely, I also noticed the fact that the gasket was squishy and left black slime on my hands(not good). When I went online to search for the part through pool supply sites, I couldn't find the same valve ANYWHERE(???). So I Googled it!! Guess where I found it, at a pet store!! It turns out that the same bonehead who screwed up my pump station(prior to our purchase)put it in about a week before we moved in last year, the last one failed(who knows?)and the pool turned green because the system got shut down, and the owner called his "pool guy" to fix it. So the guy charged the owner $1200.00 to replace the filter cartridges($160.00) Chlorine ($30.00-50.00?)and check valve($19.95-39.95 online). He did not bother cleaning the giant pile of dirt and leaves from the bottom of the pool or the padlock or clear plastic bowl either. I found the old filters behind the fence, and saved them since they were hardly used and definitely not green since the pool hadn't been running(he probably should have taken the evidence). This man had the, please pardon the expression BALLS, to approach us when we were moving in to offer his services, AS I WAS JUST FINISHING FROM leaf raking, and vacuuming the pool.