jtpipkin
Bronze Supporter
sneaking suspicion you're going to be amazed when you open that filter for a cleaning....
New Owner, Old VERY Neglected Pool
- Thread starter TurbineTester
- Start date
I hope you are right. I opened it one time before just to feel the sand and I didn't feel any large debris at the top of the sand bed. I saw this YouTube video of a faster way to deep clean the sand using the backwash function with the lid off... What do you guys think?
tabitha_599
Well-known member
I can see the head of your vacuum at the bottom of the pool though! You are definitely making progress. Keep plugging along. You'll be seeing blue soon I think!
jtpipkin
Bronze Supporter
just my two cents, but no. We all know you want this thing clean yesterday, but shortcuts aren't all that right now. Take your time, follow the TFP advice and be patient. But ultimately, it's your pool and your choice.
edit - alright, just went back and rewatched that video. I was thinking he had to do some tweaking to that filter (mine has the in/out on the valve itself) - in retrospect, I guess it'd work. Whether or not it's a good idea, i'll leave up to those with more experience... If you were really in that much of a hurry though, you could just drain and refill and bypass the time and cost of chemicals...
edit - alright, just went back and rewatched that video. I was thinking he had to do some tweaking to that filter (mine has the in/out on the valve itself) - in retrospect, I guess it'd work. Whether or not it's a good idea, i'll leave up to those with more experience... If you were really in that much of a hurry though, you could just drain and refill and bypass the time and cost of chemicals...
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borjis
LifeTime Supporter
I know this pool had lots of junk to start but, I think it might be worth replacing the sand and here is why:
The photos and progress remind me of a pool that forum member "Mr Bruce" was working on.
It was a neighbors pool and he was clearing it up for them. Water looked very similar and it seemed
as though filtering progress was really slow. Slower than it should have been. In the end he found
that play area sand (like at a public park swing set) had been used and not proper pool filter sand.
I could be wrong, but consider it worth a mention.
The photos and progress remind me of a pool that forum member "Mr Bruce" was working on.
It was a neighbors pool and he was clearing it up for them. Water looked very similar and it seemed
as though filtering progress was really slow. Slower than it should have been. In the end he found
that play area sand (like at a public park swing set) had been used and not proper pool filter sand.
I could be wrong, but consider it worth a mention.
Thank you! I'm feeling like the majority of the work that needs to be done is mechanical filtration, but the pool is a bit green so still some chlorine work to do.
I ended up using both methods, hose and backwash with the filter top off.
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jtpipkin
Bronze Supporter
think it was worth it after what you saw come out? borjis has a point, no telling what was in there. no clue how you tell the difference though
If I had to do it again I would absolutely do it with the valve on backwash and the pump running. 10x faster and more importantly removes more debris in the faster moving water.
Here is a gif of the result
borjis
LifeTime Supporter
I honestly don't know my memory of it is old (maybe the pool sand is finer for filtering?), but I do remember the pool was much much clearer every day when he got the right sand in there.
Yours might not be the case, just thought I would bring it up...someone else might be able to advise.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,401
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I believe if you do not use a hose to get down into the depths of the sand you will not break up any chunks that have welded themselves together from floc and/or clarifier. Just using back wash will just do what a normal backwash does.
I'm anxious to see what it looks like tomorrow now that the filter is clean. Seeing all the steps and the Polaris is a big improvement.
- Jun 8, 2019
- 4,574
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
It's my flashlight shining into the water of the pool, in the shallow end near the steps, and illuminating the debris floating in the water.
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Yeah so what you do is use the backwash to get the water flow and your hand to stir up the sand all the way to the bottom. I will say that the bottom is deeper than I can reach with my arm, so I would do a combination of both actually.
I agree it is marginally better each day but honestly I'm not excited like I want to be when I see the pool, I'm consistently disappointed with how incremental each improvement has been.
- Jun 8, 2019
- 4,574
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60