I have just started up the pool for summer and i have cleaned the pool and then back washed the sand filter as i have always done and when i added the DE powder to improve the functionality of the filter and i noticed it seems to puff back out the inlets. The sand in the filter has been there for 5 years however the pool shop has said that it shouldnt need changing out yet. why would this be happening?
pool startup after winter DE passing through
- Thread starter bazzy
- Start date
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,873
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
While the sand may not need to be changed, you could be experiencing "channeling" which might allow DE to slip through the sand directly to the lateral and then out to the jets. Have you ever consider doing a sand deep clean to help loosen-up the sand inside? A good backwash via the pump should take care of the sand properly, some sometimes it needs some help.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,873
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Here's the article just in case you need it.
www.troublefreepool.com
Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter
This post will walk you through the anatomy of a sand filter, and then provide a video at the end for how to deep clean your sand filter. The filter used in the photos and videos is a Hayward S180T top mount sand filter. The images are of a similar filter. Obviously not all filters are...
www.troublefreepool.com
- May 23, 2015
- 24,450
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Deep clean the sand filter as Pat described above. After 5 years of use, settling and channeling is a definite possibility. There’s no need to use any chemical cleaners, just use a garden hose and a good stream of water to mix up the sand and break up any chunks. Backwashing is really insufficient for anything but cleaning off the uppermost layers of the sand bed. There simply isn’t enough pressure and flow rate of water to mix up the sand. It’s fine for general maintenance of the filter media but the filter does require some annual deep cleaning to optimize its performance.
I did notice that when i back washed the filter this last time that very little dirt came out of it, usually the sight glass goes cloudy for a fair bit before going clear but this time it went clear very quickly when i back washed it. I will go through the deep cleaning instructions, i am just always worried when i pull the filter apart things will break resulting in expensive repairs.
If i was to have to replace the media is there any benefit going with glass media over sand? when the pool was installed they where supposed to put glass media in the pump but i upgraded the shell to a larger shell and i think the pool installer put filter sand in rather than glass to keep costs down. (the bags he used where "filter sand")
If i was to have to replace the media is there any benefit going with glass media over sand? when the pool was installed they where supposed to put glass media in the pump but i upgraded the shell to a larger shell and i think the pool installer put filter sand in rather than glass to keep costs down. (the bags he used where "filter sand")