I added 3/4 cup of DE to our sand filter today for the first time. The PSI started at 7 and went up one or two PSI after I added the last 1/4 cup, and now a couple hours later it's sitting at 14. I saw in the DE instructions that it could go up, but I'm wondering what do I do now that it has increased this much?
PSI up after adding DE
- Thread starter Tfaff
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 58,276
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
- May 3, 2014
- 58,276
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Yes. When you add DE to a sand filter you are looking for a 1 psi or less rise. You added too much. Pool School - Add DE to a Sand Filter
- Jun 12, 2011
- 3,761
- Pool Size
- 19500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pureline Crystal Pure 60,000
The DE you added did what DE does, it filtered out finer particles and in doing so raised the pressure. Backwash now and if you want to add DE, use less.
Ok, done. When I read "Add DE to a sand filter" I thought it said I would get close to two cups of DE before it was too much, so I guess I should have stopped at 1/4- 1/2 cup.
- Jun 12, 2011
- 3,761
- Pool Size
- 19500
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pureline Crystal Pure 60,000
Proof that adding DE works. How long would it take to see that pressure rise normally?
It would normally take at least a week to go up that much. I added 1/4 cup yesterday and it handled it better. Still was up 2 psi by this morning so I backwashed again. I'm fighting an algae problem, and cloudiness, it did look a little better today. Been vacuuming and brushing every day for a week.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,276
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Algae is a chemistry problem, not a filtering problem. You most likely need to SLAM Process
Take care.
Take care.
Yep, what he said ^^^ You'll never get to the end of the algae unless you kill it all with the Shock Level And Maintain Process.
Yeah, I just thought it might help with the cloudiness some. And I wanted to try the DE anyway.
This is my first issue with algae. I've vacuumed and brushed every day for a week, I'll post test results, but they seem pretty stable to me. Every day when I vacuum, you can see a path where I've vacced and exactly where I haven't been. The first few days it looked like dust or some small particles billowing up on the pool bottom. Does this sound like algae?
Do I need to slam?
Yesterday's test results were :
Chlorine 2.5
PH 7.9
CYA 30
TA 60
CC 0
I adjusted with muriatic acid and chlorine
This is my first issue with algae. I've vacuumed and brushed every day for a week, I'll post test results, but they seem pretty stable to me. Every day when I vacuum, you can see a path where I've vacced and exactly where I haven't been. The first few days it looked like dust or some small particles billowing up on the pool bottom. Does this sound like algae?
Do I need to slam?
Yesterday's test results were :
Chlorine 2.5
PH 7.9
CYA 30
TA 60
CC 0
I adjusted with muriatic acid and chlorine
- May 3, 2014
- 58,276
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I brought chlorine levels up to 15 last night. Vaccumed again this morning, and it looks much better, cloudy still, but blue! I figured out that I was off on my chlorine, a few ounces short each day.