Sand filter

[mike.stocker]

Good morning, is it normal to have a very small amount of sand collect at the bottom of the pool overnight or over the course of a few days if you have a sand filter? Or should there be zero sand from the filter make its way into the pool?

I am a first time pool owner and had a used sand filter installed a couple of weeks ago by a local pool company who said the laterals looked fine. They also replaced the spider gasket although getting the old one out was quite the chore as it was glued in place so there was a lot of prying and scraping involved. Hopefully they didn’t damage the MPV.

Finally, I am nearing the end of my first SLAM and did backwash and rinse the other day, is it possible I didn’t rinse long enough? Am I worrying about nothing?

On an unrelated note and I can make another post if needed, should I raise my CYA to 40 after the SLAM? I increased it from 0 to 30 for the SLAM but the app says the ideal range is 40-50.

Thank you,
Mike

 

[Donldson]

First thing's first: verifying what you're seeing is indeed sand. Have you collected any to see if it is gritty and/or doesn't smear when rubbed on a piece of paper towl?

 

[mike.stocker]

First thing's first: verifying what you're seeing is indeed sand. Have you collected any to see if it is gritty and/or doesn't smear when rubbed on a piece of paper towl?

I did. It does look green from above but I dove down yesterday and it did not feel slimy between my fingers. I also captured some in a small cordless pool vacuum and it is clearly sand sediment.

 

[mike.stocker]

Another thing, I did try to vacuum to my filter a large pile of algae like a moron early last week at the beginning of my SLAM. It was more material than I realized and after the pressure doubled on my filter, I realized I needed to vacuum to waste, which is what I should have done from the beginning. Not sure if that is relevant.

 

[Texas Splash]

Normally when sand gets in the pool we are suspicious of the laterals or hub assembly they connect to. Since you just had the filter installed, I wouldn't panic just yet. Yes, be sure to rinse really well after backwash, perhaps a good 30 seconds after the backwash look clear. Hopefully you are turning off the pump when changing MPV handle positions. Monitor for a bit longer to ensure it's not some of the new (lighter/smaller) sand particles released from the sand bed.

As for the CYA, if you have passed all 3 SLAM criteria, sure, you can increase the CYA to 40. Might help with a few more weeks of warm weather ahead. Hope that helps.