Hello all,
I need a bit of advice on how I should handle the following situation.
Some background info about my pool: 25,000 gallon in-ground pool, chlorinated, with a D.E. Hayward Perflex filter (with the fingers), and Sta-Rite Duraglas pump.
On September 9th (exactly two weeks ago), I got home from work and noticed that my pump was outrageously loud, meaning the bearings needed replacement. It took until this past Saturday (9/20) before I finally got the pump back from repairs. This means that I had stagnant water for around 11 days, including 7 inches of rain during this period. At this point, the water was cloudy enough to where I couldn't see the bottom in the deep end. There was also some algae visible in a few spots in the shallow end.
So, after getting the pump back, I was glad to get the water circulating. On Sunday (9/21) I shocked it, added chlorine to the chemical feeder, added some Borax and Baking Soda, and also backwashed the filter and added about 5 lbs of D.E.
Problem:
Sunday evening (9/21), after running some errands, I got home and noticed that the D.E. filter was leaking water, at a fairly rapid rate, around the whole top edge of the casement. I checked the pressure gauge on the filter (typically runs from 5-15psi), which was showing 35-40 psi! Needless to say, I shut off the pump immediately, until I could get a chance to clean the filter.
So, yesterday (9/22), I washed the filter for the first time since opening the pool this spring. I unbolted the lid, pulled out the manifold with the fingers and rinsed it down thoroughly. There was quite a bit of caked D.E. stuck at the top of the fingers where they meet the manifold, along with a bit of green, slimey material (algae?) that looked like snot (sorry to be gross!). After getting the fingers & manifold looking nice and clean, I re-assembled the filter and added more D.E. (I backwashed before cleaning).
I then proceeded to vacuum the pool, as it had been over two weeks since it had been cleaned, and there was quite a bit of dirt at the bottom. While vacuuming, I also noticed that the algae had not been killed from the Sunday night shock treatment. I tried to avoid running the vacuum head over the algae because I've heard it's better to remove it when it's dead; however, I did suck up a little bit of it accidentally. After vacuuming, I added some more shock and then added the last of my algaecide (8 ounces). The pressue of the filter at this time, before going to bed, was about 5 psi.
Anyways, this morning, I got up and looked out the window and noticed that the water level in the pool looked a bit low. So, I went outside and saw that the filter wanted to explode (pressure of ~30psi)! Water was pouring out of it from all sides at a very high rate. I would estimate that I lost probably 3-4 inches of water overnight!
Questions/Advice?
1) So, I talked to a lady from a local pool store this morning, and she said that she thinks that the algae caused this problem. Does it sound reasonable that even just sucking up a little bit of algae would cause this much of a disturbance with the filter? I have never had any sorts of problems like this over the summer (only owned the house since January).
2) I never noticed any of this prior to having the pump bearings / shaft seal replaced. Could there be an issue between the pump & the filter?
I did notice water still coming from the jets in the pool this morning, so I would assume it is not a clog in the return line.
I plan on performing another cleaning again after work today, in hopes that it is just the algae. It just seems drastic as to how much of an effect a little algae would make. Like I said, the pressure was still fairly low prior to going to bed last night, but then overnight, it shot up.
Has anyone seen anything similar to this?
Thanks for the help!
I need a bit of advice on how I should handle the following situation.
Some background info about my pool: 25,000 gallon in-ground pool, chlorinated, with a D.E. Hayward Perflex filter (with the fingers), and Sta-Rite Duraglas pump.
On September 9th (exactly two weeks ago), I got home from work and noticed that my pump was outrageously loud, meaning the bearings needed replacement. It took until this past Saturday (9/20) before I finally got the pump back from repairs. This means that I had stagnant water for around 11 days, including 7 inches of rain during this period. At this point, the water was cloudy enough to where I couldn't see the bottom in the deep end. There was also some algae visible in a few spots in the shallow end.
So, after getting the pump back, I was glad to get the water circulating. On Sunday (9/21) I shocked it, added chlorine to the chemical feeder, added some Borax and Baking Soda, and also backwashed the filter and added about 5 lbs of D.E.
Problem:
Sunday evening (9/21), after running some errands, I got home and noticed that the D.E. filter was leaking water, at a fairly rapid rate, around the whole top edge of the casement. I checked the pressure gauge on the filter (typically runs from 5-15psi), which was showing 35-40 psi! Needless to say, I shut off the pump immediately, until I could get a chance to clean the filter.
So, yesterday (9/22), I washed the filter for the first time since opening the pool this spring. I unbolted the lid, pulled out the manifold with the fingers and rinsed it down thoroughly. There was quite a bit of caked D.E. stuck at the top of the fingers where they meet the manifold, along with a bit of green, slimey material (algae?) that looked like snot (sorry to be gross!). After getting the fingers & manifold looking nice and clean, I re-assembled the filter and added more D.E. (I backwashed before cleaning).
I then proceeded to vacuum the pool, as it had been over two weeks since it had been cleaned, and there was quite a bit of dirt at the bottom. While vacuuming, I also noticed that the algae had not been killed from the Sunday night shock treatment. I tried to avoid running the vacuum head over the algae because I've heard it's better to remove it when it's dead; however, I did suck up a little bit of it accidentally. After vacuuming, I added some more shock and then added the last of my algaecide (8 ounces). The pressue of the filter at this time, before going to bed, was about 5 psi.
Anyways, this morning, I got up and looked out the window and noticed that the water level in the pool looked a bit low. So, I went outside and saw that the filter wanted to explode (pressure of ~30psi)! Water was pouring out of it from all sides at a very high rate. I would estimate that I lost probably 3-4 inches of water overnight!
Questions/Advice?
1) So, I talked to a lady from a local pool store this morning, and she said that she thinks that the algae caused this problem. Does it sound reasonable that even just sucking up a little bit of algae would cause this much of a disturbance with the filter? I have never had any sorts of problems like this over the summer (only owned the house since January).
2) I never noticed any of this prior to having the pump bearings / shaft seal replaced. Could there be an issue between the pump & the filter?
I did notice water still coming from the jets in the pool this morning, so I would assume it is not a clog in the return line.
I plan on performing another cleaning again after work today, in hopes that it is just the algae. It just seems drastic as to how much of an effect a little algae would make. Like I said, the pressure was still fairly low prior to going to bed last night, but then overnight, it shot up.
Has anyone seen anything similar to this?
Thanks for the help!
- other than the filter style, his info is right on. With your filter, you can't truly 'backwash' it. I wrote a post last spring on use and care for DE filters 
)