Yuck...

[Tebpac]

Just took the cover off the pool. Apparently the tarp that we put on for winter that we thought was good had some obvious holes in it by seeing all the **** in the bottom of the pool. The water is slightly tainted. There is a fair amount of sediment on the bottom. So in cleaning this out, do you sweep the bottom partially then backwash then sweep again or do you sweep all at once then backwash? We have bypassed the heater so that none of that junk will get into the heater. Right now were just starting to refill it. Any tips would be appreciated.

15x30 above ground
Sand filter

 

[JasonLion]

You might want to vacuum as much of the debris directly to waste (if your system supports vacuuming to waste) as possible. That will require some refilling of the pool, but will get rid of at least most of the debris fairly quickly.

 

[Richard320]

Vacuum as much as you can until the filter pressure raises 25%, then backwash and repeat. Believe it or not, a slightly dirty sand filter filters better than a freshly cleaned one. So hold off backwashing until pressure climbs or return flow noticeably decreases. The heater is after the filter, so bypassing it shouldn't be necessary.

 

[Tebpac]

Thanks everyone. My pressure gauge went out on us and is no longer working but we can usually tell whenever we are having less suction etc. my sand filter is a carefree waterway brand. It does have a bypass to waste. We lost about 6" of water so I might try the bypass to waste briefly but don't want to lose that much water if possible. Thanks for all your help, it's a little disheartening after having about six or seven years of a clean pool when we open up.