Another basic question from a new pool owner

[poolneophyte]

Does sand removed from the pool through a manual vacuum have any affect on the DE filter? When the filter is backwashed, is this sand removed? Also, when I clean out my pump strainer basket, I notice that there is some sand beneath the basket. Should I try to remove this or is this normal?

 

[robrinker]

I'm not much past a novice myself, so hopefully if any of my information is inaccurate the real experts will come along and correct me...

Sand shouldn't hurt your DE filter. The sand should get trapped in the DE and get removed from the filter when you backwash.

I would say that it's not normal to have sand in your pump basket, and I would recommend removing it. Any idea how this sand got into the pool? Do you live near a beach, or did you have a sand filter that you replaced with a DE filter? If you can post some specifics about your pool and filter, that might enable someone to give you more accurate/targeted advice.

 

[poolneophyte]

Thanks for the reply. How the sand got into the pool is an easy question to answer. It is a new IG pool and I have not done any masonry work yet, so it is surrounded by sand. It's very hard to walk anywhere close to it without kicking sand into the pool. I can't wait to get the decking completed.

How do you get the sand out of the pump basket? There are some ribs in the bottom which make scooping the sand out almost impossible. I considered using a thin piece of plastic to scoop it out but was wondering if I am trying to fix something which is not really a problem.

 

[robrinker]

If you have one, a wet/dry Shop Vac should be able to suck the sand out of the pump basket.

 

[poolneophyte]

Thanks, I'll give that a try. Top priority is to get the deck completed!