Okay, so I have done about everything I could to try to figure out what has been causing my dirty water to leak back into the pool when I turn on the pump. I changed the spider gasket (it actually didn't need changing, but I convinced myself to try to remove the gasket not knowing it was glued so I ended up replacing it), I checked the stand pipe for cracks, I checked the laterals for cracks, (broke a couple laterals trying to remove them so I could get the stand pipe out) and when I was pulling the pipe out I think I may have had a moment of clarity.
This sand filter is two years old. I have been having these same issues (dirty return water) for two years. My original filter was a 22 inch Carefree from Waterway. It developed a crack and I tried to replace it under warranty, but the vendor didn't have any in stock, so he elected to give me a 27 inch Millenium filter. My old multiport fits the opening of the filter exactly, BUT what I was thinking today is that perhaps it doesn't fit it exactly vertically anymore. There are two lips inside the receiving end of the multiport for the standpipe to slide into. I assume the last lip (furthest one in) is to butt up against and create a semi-permanent seal. When I take the mulitport and insert the stand pipe to this stop, the distance from the bottom of the standpipe to the surface of the multiport that would be flush with the top of the filter is 29 inches. I measured the depth of the Millenium filter and it's 30 inches from the bottom to the top of the opening.
How likely is it that this is finally my problem?If it is finally my problem, how do I fix it? My initial thought is to cut the PVC and rejoint it with an additional inch of piping.
This sand filter is two years old. I have been having these same issues (dirty return water) for two years. My original filter was a 22 inch Carefree from Waterway. It developed a crack and I tried to replace it under warranty, but the vendor didn't have any in stock, so he elected to give me a 27 inch Millenium filter. My old multiport fits the opening of the filter exactly, BUT what I was thinking today is that perhaps it doesn't fit it exactly vertically anymore. There are two lips inside the receiving end of the multiport for the standpipe to slide into. I assume the last lip (furthest one in) is to butt up against and create a semi-permanent seal. When I take the mulitport and insert the stand pipe to this stop, the distance from the bottom of the standpipe to the surface of the multiport that would be flush with the top of the filter is 29 inches. I measured the depth of the Millenium filter and it's 30 inches from the bottom to the top of the opening.
How likely is it that this is finally my problem?If it is finally my problem, how do I fix it? My initial thought is to cut the PVC and rejoint it with an additional inch of piping.
You must be thinking you're talking to yourself in this thread. :blah::blah::blah: You're not. I was watching to see if anyone would assist with the standpipe issue, but now you seem to have that completed. So now the big issue is you're getting junk out of the returns after cleaning the filter and adding new sand right? Well, we know the sand is new. It was pool sand right? #20 silica? Did you add about 6 inches or so of water in the filter before dumping the sand to protect the laterals? Assuming everything in the filter is intact, then perhaps you just blew some residual junk out of the lines after the cleanup? If you continue to have issues, you might post a full set of numbers so we can see if there are any chemical issues to be concerned about.