Since there was a different thread asking about sand filters, it triggered a question about my pool. I know sand should never need replacing unless someone gunked it up with clarifiers and floc. How can you tell if sand is gunked up? I just moved into a house with a pool that has a sand filter. The previous homeowner gave me all his potions he had left over including a half bottle of clarifier. Should I pop off the MPV to look at the sand? If so, do I look at wet sand or dry a handful first? Do I run the filter for a few weeks to see its filtering performance? Or as a preventative, just go ahead and change out the sand since I don't know what the previous owner dumped into his water?
Determining if sand needs replaced
- Thread starter Homebrewale
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 62,717
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Main way to know if the sand is gunked up, is if you are getting channeling. So the filter is not catching the debris it should.
Regardless, a Deep Clean is a good idea once a year. Sand Filter Use and Care - Further Reading
Regardless, a Deep Clean is a good idea once a year. Sand Filter Use and Care - Further Reading
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,027
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Did u find any pool sand in the shed? If not u may wanna schedule a deep clean of the sand regardless & have some on hand to top things up if needed. Trust but verify u know…
p.s. is your signature your new pool?
p.s. is your signature your new pool?
+1. The previous owners seemed to be on the ball, but who's to say they always were ? Or the owners before that if they weren't there for a long time.
Crack that bad boy open at your earliest convenience. You will know by eye/hand if it's dirty and cleanable, or no longer sand like and needs to be replaced.
Crack that bad boy open at your earliest convenience. You will know by eye/hand if it's dirty and cleanable, or no longer sand like and needs to be replaced.
Yes, it's my new pool. I replaced my signature last week. I'm familiar with sand filters because my last pool which I had built in 2006 has a sand filter. I deep cleaned it every year. I guess my question comes back to seeing some past posts where deep cleaning didn't get rid of the floc. I got bermuda grass that likes sand so it would be easy to dispose.
Only one previous owner. I put 2020 in my signature because a neighbor said the previous owners built it during Covid. Only clue I have is one of the pieces of equipment has a September 2019 manufacture date on it. So the pool is only about 2 years old. How much damage can someone do in one year? Don't answer that question. I do know that the previous owner was using a pool service.
Replacing the sand if not necessary just gives you a chance to break/crack laterals.
Everytime I opend mine it has looked pure white and smooth like a Bahamian beach
Everytime I opend mine it has looked pure white and smooth like a Bahamian beach
Only reason I'm bringing it up now instead of unpacking boxes is that I had to backflush yesterday. The SWG was not generating when the pump is running at 2000 rpm. After I backflushed, the SWG was back to generating. I can't tell how dirty the water was except the little bit passing through the sight glass since the baskflush piping is hardpiped into the ground. I still have a lot of stuff I need to learn about the new equipment and where things operate properly. I could run my old pool at 1400 rpm and still generate chlorine. When backflushing, I would just go to the end of the hose and look at the water coming out.