This is my 3rd season with this new to me pool. Last year was basically a total loss. I was never able to get my pool clear and had other things to spend money on. I closed it early in July and accepted I lost the battle.
This year, I learned about tfp. I found a renewed motivation to fight the good fight and turn my pool blue again! I did the deep filter cleaning; I tested the water, I shocked, I scrubbed; I scrubbed, I shocked...but my pool just wouldn't improve. It was so frustrating. I knew my multi-port valve had issues and always suspected my filter might be junk. I debated replacing just the sand thinking it must be 'worn down'. Then I figured I'd fix the multi-valve too.... then I suspected a lateral or two must be broken, I should replace those as well. Then finally, I realized my 22" Hayward S220T filter was too small for my pool (29k gal), so I pulled the trigger to upgrade to the 24" S244T and replace everything.
Thankfully, installing the filter wasn't too problimatic. Without too much trouble, I turned this:
into this:
Here is how my pool used to look:
And here it is this morning, about 36 hours after the new filter installation:
A few points I thought I'd share. First, my center pipe was cracked the whole way. The laterals basically weren't connected to anything. Speaking of laterals, 4 of them were cracked. I've basically been recirculating instead of filtering for 2 years straight. No amount of shock or testing would ever overcome this.
Also, I thought it worth mentioning the sand used previously was junk. Not only was the amount too low (presumably lost from years of having a cracked center pipe); but it was far too course. On the left is the new sand, on the right is what came out of my old filter. Notice how much bigger the grains are.
My multiport valve was pretty screwed up too. Water would come out of the waste line regardless of the setting, sand was inside and grinded when turning. Overall, it's clear each component of my filter was contributing towards my overall pool's failure.
Thank you TFP for all your help. Pool School, Pool Math, the amazing knowledge found on the forums, and the incredible help offered by kind folks here are invaluable. You guys rule. My 5 year old thanks you, I will gladly contribute to keep this site thriving.
Cheers and happy swimming,
Josh
This year, I learned about tfp. I found a renewed motivation to fight the good fight and turn my pool blue again! I did the deep filter cleaning; I tested the water, I shocked, I scrubbed; I scrubbed, I shocked...but my pool just wouldn't improve. It was so frustrating. I knew my multi-port valve had issues and always suspected my filter might be junk. I debated replacing just the sand thinking it must be 'worn down'. Then I figured I'd fix the multi-valve too.... then I suspected a lateral or two must be broken, I should replace those as well. Then finally, I realized my 22" Hayward S220T filter was too small for my pool (29k gal), so I pulled the trigger to upgrade to the 24" S244T and replace everything.
Thankfully, installing the filter wasn't too problimatic. Without too much trouble, I turned this:
into this:
Here is how my pool used to look:
And here it is this morning, about 36 hours after the new filter installation:
A few points I thought I'd share. First, my center pipe was cracked the whole way. The laterals basically weren't connected to anything. Speaking of laterals, 4 of them were cracked. I've basically been recirculating instead of filtering for 2 years straight. No amount of shock or testing would ever overcome this.
Also, I thought it worth mentioning the sand used previously was junk. Not only was the amount too low (presumably lost from years of having a cracked center pipe); but it was far too course. On the left is the new sand, on the right is what came out of my old filter. Notice how much bigger the grains are.
My multiport valve was pretty screwed up too. Water would come out of the waste line regardless of the setting, sand was inside and grinded when turning. Overall, it's clear each component of my filter was contributing towards my overall pool's failure.
Thank you TFP for all your help. Pool School, Pool Math, the amazing knowledge found on the forums, and the incredible help offered by kind folks here are invaluable. You guys rule. My 5 year old thanks you, I will gladly contribute to keep this site thriving.
Cheers and happy swimming,
Josh
