Dirty water returning to pool while vacuuming (on Filter setting)

[gdesone]

In ground pool with 11 year old filter and sand. Last summer I noticed this problem while vacuuming after shocking pool for visible algae.

This spring I am late on opening pool and it is very green. I normally super shock it and vacuum up the grey algae lining the pool bottom the day after before adjusting PH, etc. Upon vaccuming on Filter setting we can see the return jets streaming the brown-green water back into the pool making the water all dark and cloudy so hard to continue vacuuming and pointless it seems..

I guess I could vacuum on Waste setting but this will empty the water level pretty fast only having a 1 speed pump.

Is the problem the 11 year old sand (channelling?) or the multi-port valve ? Is there a test to determine which is the problem ?

 

[Texas Splash]

Sounds your filter is overwhelmed with algae and you need to follow our SLAM Process. If you haven't opened the filter in a while, it may help to do a sand deep cleaning as well.

 

[gdesone]

Sounds your filter is overwhelmed with algae and you need to follow our SLAM Process. If you haven't opened the filter in a while, it may help to do a sand deep cleaning as well.

So you do not think it could be a problem with the valve's spider gasket ?
What do you mean by a deep sand cleaning, for the possible channelling ? Wouldn't 11 year old sand that has never been disturbed may need replacing ?

 

[Texas Splash]

Sand, if not compromized by gels & potions like floc, generally last foreven. Sand doens't get worn. But a deep clean can help some filters that just don't get enough upward pressure from the pump during a backwash to released all the junk that has setted in there.

Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter

This post will walk you through the anatomy of a sand filter, and then provide a video at the end for how to deep clean your sand filter. The filter used in the photos and videos is a Hayward S180T top mount sand filter. The images are of a similar filter. Obviously not all filters are...

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