General Vacuuming questions

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andwhite1

New pool person. have no clue what I am doing. I don't even know how to vacuum yet but I have general questions

When I am vacuuming do I set the variflow valve to waste or do I let it go through the filter and do a bunch of backwashes as i do this. The pool is very dirty.

1. Won't bypassing the filter push a lot of water out of the pool while I am vacuuming?

2. Same for backwashing/rinse. It looks like to me the waste line just pumps the water into the yard. And to be honest depending on the amount of water maybe into my neighbors back yard too. Is this typical. The waste line isn't usually hooked up to some type of drainage? Some backwashing recs I see on this are 3-5 minutes. it seems a lot of water will be coming out of that hose?

Thanks!
 
Very dirty as in dirt on the bottom or leaves and junk?

You can vacuum to filter if you go through your skimmer with the basket in (if you have a skimmer seal lid) or inline leaf canister.

Waste lines are all different, my last pool was direct to sewer.

Also make sure the hose is completely filled with water before you start or you will lose prime.
 
Yes, bypassing the filter using the "waste" will suck an alarming amount of water out of the pool, very quickly. It is sometimes necessary to do this when there is a lot of junk in the pool. Then you add more water and repeat. For that reason, I let rainwater fill the pool up before opening, so that I have extra water to use for vacuuming.
For the most part I try to scoop the big stuff out and then vacuum small stuff with it on filter. The sand filter will catch the stuff and then you backwash when needed, using the pressure gauge as a guide.
My backwash line goes out into my yard and then drains down into the woods/creek area. You won't need to backwash for any set amount of time - you just need to wait until the water coming out it clear. There should be a sight glass for that or maybe you can see where the water is coming out of the waste line.
And another side note is that I don't vacuum the pool much. Like 2-3 times a season maybe. When the pool guys open they use a flocculant that makes all of the solid stuff fall to the bottom, then vacuum it up on waste. After that my Polaris gets debris for me, and I only put him in when needed.
Lots to learn but it's fun and you'll get there! Just one step at a time!
 
Ok. It seems like there is a lot of stuff. Dirt. leaves. Worms. It's hard to say b/c I have nothing to compare it too. And the deep end is so cloudy who knows. There could be a zombie down there for all I know.

I do have a skimmer seal vacuum lid. So maybe that will help. I think I am getting closer to understanding how it works. So the skimmer will filter out the big stuff.

I also see the sight glass now too. So thanks for pointing that out. Should be interesting :)
 
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