Dirt in pool

[DeeMac]

I know, another thread on dirt on the bottom of pool. We have done everything we could think of to fix this problem. We needed a new multiport valve, replaced that the begiinning of this season. Pipe underground was busted, hubby fixed. We installed a new pump and motor about 3 weeks ago because of cracks over the winter. We spent a day slamming the pool and still have the debris settle at he bottom of the pool. We get alot of cottonweed in our pool. We decided to try put skimmer socks on the returns. And while they are on, we do not get the dirt at the bottom of our pool. The socks do not look that dirty though, so we decided to do an experiment and take them off today. Within 20 min. we already started seeing the brown debris settling on the bottom. Only problem, with the skimmer socks on the returns, we do not get the water moving around like it should. We have added cellulose fiber to the filter, but that does not seem to keep the dirt from settling on the bottom. My water is crystal clear. Could it be something wrong with my sand filter. We replaced the sand and didnt notice anything cracked or broken when we emptied the old sand. Are we doomed to have to vacuum everyday.

 

[JasonLion]

It sounds like the sand must be channeled. That means that gaps/cracks form in the sand bed that allow debris to pass through the filter without getting caught by the sand. The solution is to do a deep cleaning of the sand, which will re-settle the sand and should solve the problem. See this post for details.

 

[DeeMac]

Could brand new sand be channeled? Here is a pic of our filter when we took the sand out about 3 weeks ago. Doesnt look like there are any issues or anything is cracked........and the strange thing is the picture of the 2 skimmer socks....the one on the left was from the return and the one on the right was from the skimmer. I would think that the sock on the return would be way dirtier if after taking it off there is all the dirt on the floor.

 

[Richard320]

Just tossing this out there.... is there any chance the filter is plumbed backwards? That would cause the sand to get churned upwards. You didn't have any problems like this last year did you? A new multiport, a new pump.... plenty of plumbing changes there.

 

[DeeMac]

That is a good thought, but no, that is not possible because they were the exact same pieces just new.

 

[DeeMac]

What just keeps eating at me is that we have run the pump everyday this week for 5 -6 hours a day with the socks on the returns. Pool stayed clean. Then we take the socks off and within 20 min, we had dirt on the bottom of the pool. So why aren't the socks for the returns so much dirtier?

 

[DeeMac]

We went a little MacGyver today to clean the pool. We took a skimmer sock and put it on the end of the hose, leaving some hanging over to be sucked in during vacuuming. We then attached the hose onto our manual vacuum brush. We then vacuumed as normal. I was amazed all pollen and tiny seeds that fall off the cotton that is blowing around. And low and behold, our pool stayed clean today. We did not get the debris collecting along the seems like we did yesterday. So that makes me think that our sand filter is not working properly if all that is not getting filtered with normal vacuuming.