Green pool: run DE filter without DE?

[MainePool207]

Sub title: Winter cover failure, green pool and a leaf problem

Good afternoon!

Our pool cover failed this spring and I have been blessed with a green pool (dark green at that...) and a nice bed of leaves at the bottom (4 feet shallow and 8 feet in the deep end).

I'm trying to figure out the best way to tackle this before a SLAM. I don't "really" have a vacuum to waste option: my pump pulls from the skimmer right to the Hayward EC65a and then back out. No other plumbing.

I'm hoping someone can tell me if my idea of running the system WITHOUT DE is a good idea. If I open the drain valve on the DE filter I can essentially vacuum to waste. Yeah, I'll need to keep clearing the catcher of debris, but is it worth it?

Obviously, running with DE will help filter the water but I'm curious if I can remove that bed of leaves with the leaf scoop AND the vacuum pulling double duty. Once the majority of the gunk is gone,, I'll put the DE in and start my SLAM.

If it helps, I'm still filling the pool from the winterization.

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

You really don’t want all that debris in your filter and it’s not a good idea to run the filter that way, you can damage the internal components.

Go buy a hose or pump driven leaf bagger or “leaf eater”. They can help you get up all the solid debris at the bottom.

 

[Smeade]

I’m going to chime in only to get the ball rolling for you; it won’t take long for an “expert” to chime in. I’m answering because I opened my pool today and have the exact situation (and exact same filter) that you do. You need the DE properly run the filter but you’ll be “bumping“ it frequently because the pressure will be high as it filters out more and more gunk. I always open to a green pool and spend a week or so getting it back into shape and the DE filter does a great job. After the pool is squared away, I open up the filter and replace all the DE and it runs beautifully thereafter. It takes a day or two (and lots of chlorine) to see much progress but you’ll get there.

 

[MainePool207]

Cool, thanks for the replies!

Do you think it is worth running the filter and vacuuming without Chlorine for a bit or just jump right into the SLAM?

 

[Smeade]

My plan is to add SLAM levels of chlorine, and simultaneously vacuum the pool (I’ll be vacuuming blind because I can’t see the bottom). I have a leaf catcher thingy inline with my hose (I once sucked up a chunk of hardwood that blocked my skimmer line, like to never got the sucker out), so if you have one of those, I’d use it. Get as much debris out because your chlorine will try to break that down too and that’s just wasting it. Brush and vacuum every day for the duration.