DE waste

[poolcarma]

Hello,
In my area, a separation tank is not necessary, so I have a grey mess where my backwash drains. This, in my opinion is simply ugly! I asked at the pool supply today and the guy told me the tank costs over $300. If I have to go this route, it'll have to wait until next year. Is there anything else I can do? And any ideas about cleaning up that mess I already have? I just took care (almost done) of a black algae issue so I've backwashed a couple of times already.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[waste]

At first I thought this was addressed to me :lol:

You can make a longer hose to get the backwashed 'stuff' to where you'd prefer it to be. Or you could dig a ~ deep hole, fill most of it with gravel and top it with some sort of screened drain - it'd be a drain in your yard but probably wouldn't look ugly, just a drain in the yard. If you go the $300 separation tank, you still need to empty the tank somewhere :x

I wish you well with this, if you need more from me on what and how to do what I've said, simply ask

 

[poolcarma]

:lol: Sorry if you answered under false pretenses!

I have visions of hooking the hose up to a trash can so the DE water has to pass through a filter (for filter, I'm thinking 25 layers of cheesecloth ) and the water passes through holes in the bottom of the can! I would then grab the cheesecloth, DE and all, and toss it in the trash! I know it sounds ridiculous but that's all my mind can handle right now!

I already have a drain installed by the side of my house. the DE just mucks up the screen over the drain and the water does not pass through. the DE then backs up and makes all my pretty river rock look yucky!

If you or anyone else has a better idea, I'll try it! I really don't want to give the pool store any more of my money!

Carm

 

[mrafal]

I had the same issue and ended up installing a separation tank.

I plumbed it so I could select either returning the water to the pool or out a discharge hose. That really cuts down on water usage. It is surprising how well the separation tank captures the DE and debris from the filter. The water in the pool stays sparkling after a backwash even with the backwash water returned to the pool.

When you empty the tank, you have a bag full of DE muck and water. I dump it in a large plastic trash can with a hole at the bottom. The water eventually drains out with only a small amount of DE escaping. I discard the DE with the trash.

I bought a Hayward separation tank on line. I don't recall the exact price, but I don''t think it was nearly $300.

 

[poolcarma]

Thanks, mrafal!
I'll check out the prices on-line.
Did it come with decent installation instructions, or are you naturally handy? I am one of those people who can do pretty much anything as long as there's decent instructions!

Carm

 

[mrafal]

The only real skill required is PVC work. The instructions for the Hayward unit are at http://www.bestbuypoolsupply.com/media/desepmanual.pdf. I added some valves to isolate the tank when not in use and provide a discharge to option if I need to lower the water level. It all went together fairly easily with pipe and valves I picked up at Lowes. One hint is to use pipe joint compound rather than Teflon tape for the threaded connections. Teflon doesn't seem to work well for large connections.

Good luck
Marc