How to distinguish dirt from DE in the pool...

[Thinkly]

I might just be paranoid but I am wondering....if i were getting DE in the pool, how could i differentiate it from plain old dirt or sand? With the filter off and looking at the debris in the bottom it almost resembled DE, then again maybe it resembled dirty sand?

 

[waste]

I always just get a pinch of it between my thumb and forefinger - sand is gritty and dirt is brown, if it's white and ~'silky', it might be DE.

You might try putting a kneehigh stocking over one of the returns, while the pump is running, to see if it's stuff from the filter :idea:

I'd say it's probably just some debris that's been blown into the pool... but it might be the filter's way of telling you 'it's time to break me apart and check me' :-D