Did I backwash the new DE? Should I just add it again?

[juicepluspoolmom]

Whoops! I backwashed my filter this afternoon.
Then put 6 lbs of DE in the near skimmer with the pump on.
Then turned it off cause I noticed the returns were not returning water to the pool.
That is when I discovered that I had left the handle in the backwash position.

So, did I basically backwash the new DE out?
So, is my remedy as simple as returning the handle to the original position and adding the
DE again?

Thanks!!

 

[no-mas]

afraid not - I think you've now coated BOTH sides of your grids with DE. I would alternate the backwash and rinse settings a couple of times, then break the filter apart to thoroughly clean and inspect the grids. Frankly, I'd want to know what one of the experienced pool techs thinks - I believe your problem is not good :-(

 

[juicepluspoolmom]

OH CRUD! Please advise as I have only outsourced having the filter cleaned and have not done it myself. And I have 10 year olds coming for a birthday party and swim tomorrow!

 

[JasonLion]

Backwash will have gotten DE inside the fingers/grids.

{EDIT}What I said before won't work.{/EDIT}

 

[juicepluspoolmom]

I tried backwash and rinse. And when I put it in the rinse cycle I began to get DE coming into the pool thru the returns.
So I should continue to alternate between backwash and rinse? Even with this happening?

Then I should have someone do a complete clean on the filter? or is it possible to put that off and still let the kids swim in the hot tub tomorrow? And if so, I probably need to recoat with DE in the proper fashion.
I know that DE is nasty stuff with carcinogenic warnings on the label, so I now have that concern as well.

 

[JasonLion]

The more I think about this, the more I think that I was wrong before and there isn't going to be any easy way to fix things without the DE going into the pool. When in filter position nearly all of the DE should wash into the pool. Other than that, nothing at all easy is going to help clean the filter. In theory you could take the filter apart and get the DE out, but that would be a huge and somewhat tricky project because the DE is going to be inside the grids instead of outside.

DE is only a carcinogen when it is airborne and you breathe it in. As long as it is wet it doesn't cause any serious problems.

This evening, I am thinking that it might be simplest to let it all wash into the pool and then vacuum it up and filter it out of the water just as you would clean up any debris that gets into the pool. Still, that would be a lot of DE in the pool and it won't all settle and be easy to vacuum up right away. Right now this is probably the least bad of several bad choices.

 

[no-mas]

I've never seen DE in a pool, so I don't really know how cloudy it looks. Six pounds is a lot, but I suspect that a lot of it is still in the filter. In the short run, you can set the multiport to bypass the filter, or just swim with the filter off.

Long run, You may need to replace the grids. I just don't know how effectively you can clean the inside of the grids. Hopefully Scott, Tim or Ted - one of the pool pros - will check in to advise of a good way to get the DE out of the grids.

 

[waste]

J+pm, welcome to TFP!!

I would break the filter down and manually hose the grids (by break down, I mean even taking the 8 grids out of the manifold (take pics prior to doing this to enable you to reassemble it!))

Backwashing will only do so much and you'll end up with DE in the pool

It's a simple mistake and understandable

Thanx no-mas for putting me up there as one of the pros

 

[Durk]

I'm no pro so take this suggestion for what it is worth which is the 30 seconds it took me to think it up. But if hosing doesn't work, you could try taking the whole manifold and putting it in the shallow end. Do what ever you have to to rig a vac hose to the outlet port on the manifold (obviously do this first). Then run the vachose to the skimmer and set the MPV to waste. Fire it up and jounce the manifold around. It just might suck the DE out of there.