Earthworms in pump filter basket

[Exlonghorn]

Here’s a new one. Today I tore down my cartridge filter system and did spring cleaning on the filters. I also pulled and rinsed out the pump basket and all the skimmer baskets. I left the system idle while I cleaned the cartridges. Used the vinegar followed by dish soap approach. After reassembling everything I fired up the pump to prime the system and bleed the air from the filter egg. After that, I noticed a pile of stuff in the pump basket. Not totally out of the ordinary. So I stopped the pump and pulled the basket. Lo and behold it was a pile of earthworms….about a cup worth. Is the only explanation a busted pipe in the ground somewhere? I haven’t noticed the pool level dropping but it has an automatic filler. I’ll turn that off and see if the level drops overnight. Any other explanations or tests I should run?

 

[HeyEng]

I get a LOT of earthworms after it rains. Perhaps they were in the main drain and didn't "come to light" until you fired the system back up?

 

[Exlonghorn]

That’s a good point. It’s been raining a LOT over the last few days. So where are they coming from?!? I thought this pump loop was a largely closed-loop system??

 

[HeyEng]

That’s a good point. It’s been raining a LOT over the last few days. So where are they coming from?!? I thought this pump loop was a largely closed-loop system??

It's not really a closed system since it includes the pool. In our case, they come from the pool itself, specifically the floor of the pool...especially near the inlet of the main drain. I try to run the robot to clean 'em up before running the filter but some still make it to the basket.