Evidence that my filter isn't working?

[NullQwerty]

Hey folks,

I've been highly suspicious if my sand filter that I purchased last season is working properly. At first it seemed to work well but halfway through the season it seemed to stop filtering properly. This season I opened up to a pretty dirty pool. I've been running the filter 24 by 7 for two weeks and I still have large particulates visible with the naked eye floating in the water and not near clean yet.

I just noticed that in my saltwater cell there are hairs that have gotten caught in the cell (there was a dead squirrel on the bottom of the pool... gross I know). This makes me wonder if that is the definitive proof that the filter is not filtering properly? Shouldn't the hairs be too large to make it through the filter? I have backwashed and don't believe that is the issue, however I will say that backwashing did not drop the pressure much (but maybe it didn't need to be). Back to the hairs in the salt cell. Is that definitive proof or is it normal for something that large to pass through?

Thx

 

[JasonLion]

Try resettling the sand bed, see this post.

 

[Richard320]

Doublecheck that the multiport valve is set to filter and not just recirculate. You wouldn't be the first to make that mistake. If that isn;t it, then it's probably time for a deep cleaning. It sounds channeled.

 

[NullQwerty]

Great thanks guys. It's definitely on filter. I'll check out the two links. Thanks!

 

[NullQwerty]

Thanks guys. So, I went to reset the sand bed and took the multi-port valve off the top and immediately see a problem. The bottom part of the valve that goes over the center pipe of the laterals is not attached to the valve anymore and is instead stuck on the pipe. It appears there is some sand stuck in between the pipe and that part of the valve, which is making it truly stuck. See the attached pics. So, try as I might, I can't pull it off the pipe because of the sand stuck in between it and the pipe. I'm tempted to use some tools to help me force it off, but I'm afraid that I might lift the pipe & the laterals in the process, which I imagine could be a big problem?

Any tricks for handling this type of situation? Is it a concern of lifting the laterals or would that not matter if it happens? Also, could this be the source of my troubles to begin with? Thanks

 

[NullQwerty]

Ok, I got it. If that happens to anyone in the future, drain the water first. I thought it would be harder without the water, but it wasn't...it was easier. There was all sorts of gunk stuck between it and the pipe. Resetting the sand bed now. Water's been flowing through it for over 10 minutes and it's amazing how dirty it still is....

 

[jblizzle]

I have no experience with sand filters, but have heard this can really be a messy operation ... likely a good idea to do it yearly to keep it from getting out of hand.

 

[NullQwerty]

Yeah, I'm actually thinking about doing it a second time. I got the pressure from 18 down to 16, but when I first got the filter it was 12. A long Backwash and rinse had only dropped from 18.5 to 18. I had the hose in there for 30 minutes and it was a lot clearer than before, but every time I stir the sand, all sorts of grossities came back up that took 10 minutes to clear. I was flooding the neighbor though, so I called it quits for now.