Rookie having issues. Look at my pool outlets..

[Teflon Don]

Hi all. Here is my story.

Just got this house with a big pool. 33,000 gallons (salt water pool with sand filter). When I got here, I noticed that whoever closed the pool, put a tarp around it with sandbags around the perimeter with a pump on top. Well the pump failed in themiddle of winter so the water weighed down the tarp. Eventually the tarp fell in and took about 20 sand bags with it to the deep end. So i bought a wetsuit and dived down and got all the sandbags out. They were the canvas type. Some ripped open so big gobs of sand got spilled into the pool.

Anyway I called a pool guy and scheduled an appointment. He didn't show up so I decided to tackle it myself after watching some Youtube vids. I did everything according to the vids. It started up and primed fine. I then tested the water. ALK was high. So was PH. No chlorine. So I shocked the pool. I added 7 bags of salt over a few days while it circulated and PH down. Then the PH went too low so I had to add a bit.

The chems are not perfect but I am retaining satisfactory chlorine levels.

The main problem is the solids in the pool. I've scrubbed and vac'd the pool 3 or 4 or 5 times. Between scrubs, I backflushed the filter. Dirty water just keeps coming. Then the pool water level gets to low so I just rinse it and start filtering again. Then when I go back to filter, this white mist starts coming out of the outlets into the pool. Sometimes the mist is dark like sand. I am starting to wonder if my sand filter is wrecked.


I cant seem to get the vacume to work properly. Today I hooked up the vac and shut one skimmer. Then I lifted the vacume head close to the surface to see if its sucking. Its sucking enough to stay primed but it doesn't seem to be doing much else. I also noticed the pressure jump from 15 PSI to 25 just from having the vac running for 10 minutes. And there is still limited sucking action going on at the head of the vac. I was going to backflush again but then I decided its time to join a pool forum.

^ Here is my outlet.

I just think that I am pumping solid matter around and the filter isn't really doing much of anything. Its just recirculating all this sand and ****.

How do you find out if your vac is working properly ?

 

[kimkats]

WELCOME! I bet we can get you set up!

Please take and post a pic or two of your equipment. Do you know what each pipe does? Do you have a bottom drain? How many skimmers do you have?

Have you opened your filter and looked inside? We can help you get it open so you can look inside if you do not know how.

Do you have a manual vacuum?

Sorry for all of the questions but I want to make sure I have a clear knowledge of your setup before we go any further.

Kim

 

[Richard320]

I sure hope you don't have a Diatomaceous Earth filter, because that white stuff shooting out could be a very bad sign.

Let us know what kind of equipment you have. This Encyclopedia might help you name things. Posting pictures would be even better.

 

[Teflon Don]

WELCOME! I bet we can get you set up!

Please take and post a pic or two of your equipment. Do you know what each pipe does? Do you have a bottom drain? How many skimmers do you have?

Have you opened your filter and looked inside? We can help you get it open so you can look inside if you do not know how.

Do you have a manual vacuum?

Sorry for all of the questions but I want to make sure I have a clear knowledge of your setup before we go any further.

Kim

Hi

I have a basic idea of how the system works now. I have all Hayward stuff. 2 skimmers and 2 bottom drains I think. A 1 hp pump and a pretty standard looking Hayward sand filter and a Hayward gen cell. And yes, a manual vacuum.


I actually visited a pool place today and got the water tested. I can post the results later but they said that everything was pretty good except available chlorine. I will post the results when I can. They said that the salt content was good. They figure I should shock it again and then floc it and then scrub and vacuum it more.

The main reason I thought something was wrong with the filter is because it goes from 15 psi to 25 so quickly. Then I have to backflush a ton of water out to get clear returns. But then the water level goes so low that it loses its prime.

I just vacumed the deep end twice today with the garden hose running into the pool. The water level got too low to vac a third time. The pool isn't that dirty but it keeps loading up the filter i guess.

My main question at this point is if its normal for a filter to plug up so quickly ? Say after 10 mins of vacuuming.

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I sure hope you don't have a Diatomaceous Earth filter, because that white stuff shooting out could be a very bad sign.

Let us know what kind of equipment you have. This Encyclopedia might help you name things. Posting pictures would be even better.

 

[Isaac-1]

It depends what kind of filter do you have?

never mind photos showed up after I said that, it looks like you have a sand filter, it may need a deep cleaning, or all that extra sand my be clogging it up.

 

[kimkats]

It is normal when it has to work that hard. I would fill your pool up as full as you can get it and keep the hose adding water while your vacuum.

It is going to take time and BLEACH to get your pool clear.

I would like for you to look at my siggy and check out the test kits we all use an love. THAT is the way to get and keep your pool clear and clean.

Kim

 

[Richard320]

You have a sand filter. If the sand has clumped up into clods, the water will slip through the cracks between them. Study the cutaways in this thread and imagine the difference in filtering between sand and gold balls. I'd recommend a deep cleaning. It's a messy job but when you gently probe down inside with the hose or a broomstick, you'll feel clumps when you break 'em up.

The other possibility is that the sand you vacuumed up is finer than the slots in the filter laterals and passes through. The simplest fix? A hole-less tube sock and a couple rubber bands around the return jet to catch anything blowing back into the pool. Change the socks every couple days and when you stop getting sand in them, you're done.

 

[Teflon Don]

Ok thanks

The water is clear now and the solids have really sunk to the bottom. I notice now that it has one water inlet/outlet at the bottom. Is this an inlet ? Is there a way of shutting it off during vacume ?

There is a lot of solids uggh. a few shovel fulls on the one side. But maybe the floc/sparkle makes it look like that

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I will look into outlet socks. Seen them before

 

[Richard320]

Ok thanks

The water is clear now and the solids have really sunk to the bottom. I notice now that it has one water inlet/outlet at the bottom. Is this an inlet ? Is there a way of shutting it off during vacume ?

There is a lot of solids uggh. a few shovel fulls on the one side. But maybe the floc/sparkle makes it look like that

- - - Updated - - -

I will look into outlet socks. Seen them before

If the grate is in the middle of the deepest part of the pool, it's the main drain. It shopuld resemble this:

Some have a valve to open and close it near the pump. Others are plumbed into the bottom of the skimmer and a diverter valve regulates the flow.

If there are heaps of debris, try vacuuming with the filter set on waste. You'll lose some water, but that stuff will never get near the filter that way.

 

[Teflon Don]

^it looks exactly like the 1st pic. I am going to vac to waste and run water in while i do it