Continually Rising Pressure

[Fbaragona]

I am a new pool owner this season, and have had difficulty keeping the pressure steady. The starting pressure is 9psi, and sometimes after a backwash it is steady for a few days, and other times it spikes within an hour or so.
This week, for example, I added chemical to remove metal staining, then back washed and refilled with proper amount of DE. After a few hours, the pressure jumps to 25psi and there is some dripping of water from under the top cover of the filter. There is no dripping when the pressure is stable.
I had the filter acid washed, and have probably had to backwash 6 times already this season which seems excessive. Water is clear, chlorine at 1, other levels balanced. No algae in pool. Hayward 1HP new pump and previous owners Hawyard DE filter.

After consulting with several pool owners and companies I have not gotten the same piece of advice twice, which is frustrating! Any advice is much appreciated!

 

[BoDarville]

Welcome to TFP!

Water is clear, chlorine at 1, other levels balanced.

This raises a red flag. Assuming you have some CYA in the water, chlorine at 1 is a welcome mat for algae to get started.

No algae in pool.

Not necessarily. It may be present but not visible. The filter may be capturing the invisible algae as it tries to gain a foothold when the chlorine level drops.

What do you use to chlorinate the pool?

A couple of things to help us help you...

• 1. Please add to your profile the state and nearest city in which you live. Don’t need specific town, nearest major city is fine. Your climate is important to the advice you receive. By doing this, it will appear in all your posts without you having to enter it each time.
  2. Suggest adding information about your pool and related equipment in your signature. By doing this, it will automatically appear in all your posts so you do not have to re-enter it each time. If you have a SWG, please include those letters in your signature so it stands out as the advice for SWG vs. non-SWG is often different.

Here's how to do both of the above: Adding location to your profile and pool info to your signature.

 

[duraleigh]

Reinforcing what Bo says, any time you get a psi rise in a filter, it's about a guarantee that you are filtering something out of your water.....exactly what it is supposed to do.

Algae is the usual suspect, by far.

 

[Fbaragona]

Bo - This makes sense since I had to reduce the chlorine to below 1 in order to apply the metal stain remover. I have not brought the chlorine back to a high enough level I guess. I've had to do this twice already this season, which is probably a separate issue, and both times it has wreaked havoc on my filter's pressure.

Would you recommend shocking ("superchlorinate"?) to try to kill said algae, and hope pressure will stabilize soon after?

What level of concern would you have about water dripping from top of filter as well as decreased return flow during times of high filter pressure? Are these typical symptoms?

I am in Northern New Jersey.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[JohnN]

We don't use the word shock around here, because it doesn't help solve problems. Around here, we SLAM - Shock Level and Maintain. It is a process, not a product. By far the best thing you can do is buy the recommended test kit and SLAM your pool. They are both linked in my signature. Oh, and plain unscented liquid bleach or liquid chlorine is the best source for chlorine. No unwanted side effects.

 

[BoDarville]

Would you recommend shocking ("superchlorinate"?) to try to kill said algae, and hope pressure will stabilize soon after?

Before doing anything, you will need to do the following:

• 1. Run a series of test results using one of the Recommended Test Kits. If shocking (a.k.a., The SLAM Process) is needed, you cannot properly do this without one of these kits. If you do not have one of these kits, I would order one today. It will pay for itself by saving you $ by preventing overdosing on chemicals and extending the life of your pool surface - not to mention preventing future pool chemistry problems.
  2. Determine what your CYA (stabilizer) level is. Without knowing what that level is, the proper chlorine (FC) level cannot be determined. This applies to normal maintenance FC as well as shock (SLAM) level FC. Again, very few test kits supply the test for CYA, so hence why I am harping on getting one of the recommended kits.

What level of concern would you have about water dripping from top of filter as well as decreased return flow during times of high filter pressure? Are these typical symptoms?

I would be a bit more concerned about water dripping from the top of the filter than I would about reduced return flow. Reduced return flow is to be expected when filter pressure is elevated above 25% of the starting pressure (e.g., the pressure immediately after filter cleaning or backwash). Given your starting pressure of 9 PSI and a pressure jump to 25 PSI, that is a jump of ~178% which is well over the 25% pressure increase we recommend as a guide that calls for backwashing or cleaning. My hunch is that the water dripping from the top of the filter will go away if you backwash whenever the filter pressure increases to 25% of your starting pressure (which for you will be in the 11-12 PSI range).