Sand on bottom of pool, how to tell why?

[chrisexv6]

Last weekend I opened up my filter to clean the sand (same sand been in there for 9 seasons). Swished it around with a broom handle, was careful not to get all the way to the bottom and break a lateral, etc. Before I closed it back up I had to fill it back to the depth of sand recommended in the manual. It calls for a 300 lb capacity, and used at least 110 lbs to fill back to specified depth. So at some point Ive "used up" almost half of the sand.

Didnt seem right to me, but I figured Id fill it back up and run it for a while and see what happens. Sure enough here we are less than a week later and I have sand on the floor of my pool.

Not a whole lot, but clearly its there (grains are too big and "hard" looking to be algae)

Now the question is, how did it get there....first assumption is broken lateral. Is there a way to tell for sure? Would I get a LOT of sand because of it, or just a little? Its not like I have 2" of sand sitting in the deep end, just some here and there in crevices, liner seams, etc.

Could I have overfilled it? I actually filled it to a little below the recommended depth, just to make sure I DIDNT overfill it. Backwashed the new sand for a good 5 or 6 minutes (until the water in the glass sight went clear). That first day or two of running I didnt see any sand in the bottom, now I do.

Multiport valve issues? Not sure how I could tell if that was it. I dont have any water leaking out of the waste port, thats about all I can tell from the outside.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

-Chris

 

[JasonLion]

You can attach a stocking to a return jet. If any sand is coming out of the filter that will catch it. If you do get sand that way, it is almost certainly a broken lateral, though there is a small chance it is any of several other parts inside the filter that are broken.

Problems with the multi-port could let dirt through into the pool, but would never let sand out of the filter.

 

[chrisexv6]

You can attach a stocking to a return jet. If any sand is coming out of the filter that will catch it. If you do get sand that way, it is almost certainly a broken lateral, though there is a small chance it is any of several other parts inside the filter that are broken.

Problems with the multi-port could let dirt through into the pool, but would never let sand out of the filter.

Thanks.

I wonder how to keep the stock attached to the return though....I figured the water pressure coming out would just push it off. Only thing I could think of off the top of my head is to try and capture the sock in the threads of the return jet while inserting the return jet into the wall port. That sound about right?

 

[Bama Rambler]

Unscrew the return jet and slip the stocking over it and slip a rubber band over that and gently snug the fitting back down.