Ideas on finding buried discharge pipe?

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jorowan

jorowan

Gold Supporter
Jun 9, 2017
43
Pottstown/PA
Pool guy says our pump won’t prime and we had previous high pump pressures because the buried discharge pipe is likely blocked. I guess that must be true because we can’t find the outlet, but records noted it discharged to “the middle of the yard”. Any ideas on how to find this plastic discharge pipe without needing to prove the entire yard?
 
To be honest, I'm a little confused as to why your pool guy says the pump won't prime? What type of filter do you have? If its sand, and the "discharge pipe" is the "backflush/waste" line, try it on "filter" or "recirculate" and see how it does.

Please make a signature line with details about your pool and equipment, it really helps us in answering you. Thanks!

Maddie :flower:
 
Maybe the issue is that the filter is not getting a good backwash due to a clogged waste line?

If you can't get good flow through the waste line and you can't find the end, just run a new line.

Do you have a picture of the system?
 
YippeeSkippy said:
To be honest, I'm a little confused as to why your pool guy says the pump won't prime? What type of filter do you have? If its sand, and the "discharge pipe" is the "backflush/waste" line, try it on "filter" or "recirculate" and see how it does.

Please make a signature line with details about your pool and equipment, it really helps us in answering you. Thanks!

Maddie :flower:
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Hi Maddie! I am sorry about the lack of signature—it was there,I guess dropped when the changeover occurred.
40,000 gallon inground pool with a 5HP new Hayward pump and a DE filter ( very old) the pool is rectangular and plaster.

The pool was just opened and the filter was runnin on its second bag of DE and that was getting full with particles from the pool and up around 17 psi. So we shut it off for the night and the next morning my husband began flushing the filter but the filter had lost its prime. My husband and I tried to get the prime back with a hose and bucket of water which filled the chamber but the water was seeping (sheetflowing) out of the chamber from the bottom. Last year the pool guy told us he thought we were having a problem with the discharge. We can’t find the disharge opening and we think maybe either it is emptying into a dry well or it is buried—either way we don’t know where it is. We see a place that must back up or come to the surface because we see some DE encrusted on the soil surfaces but no obvious opening anywhere. We see a distinct place where water is coming up but putting arm in to area no pipe. I guess we will just have to dig?
 
JamesW said:
What pump do you have? It's not 5 hp.
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Ok sorry about that! it’s 1.5, it’s a standard size. Photo of set up. Filter very old. We dug and probed yesterday. Found water and DE in the soil but no pipes. I am thinking we need to abandon the pipes we can’t find and start from scratch with a new filter. Something that does not require DE.
 

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If you can't figure out what going on with the waste line, just abandon it and run a new line.

You don't even need a waste line. Just use some 2" vinyl discharge hose when you need to go to waste.

Backwashing doesn't really work too well with that type of filter. The best way to clean it is to take it apart and hose the fingers.

It looks like someone has glued PVC to poly pipe. You can't do that. PVC glue does not work on poly pipe. Not even a little bit.

That's probably why you're not getting prime.

The connections need to be redone with barbed fitting adapters.

460-015 Barb-Adapters-Slip-Spigot at FlexPVC.com

If water is leaking out of the bottom of the pump, you probably need a new seal. Most likely, the pump ran dry due to a suction leak where someone had tried to glue pvc to the black poly pipe.
 
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JamesW said:
Maybe the issue is that the filter is not getting a good backwash due to a clogged waste line?

If you can't get good flow through the waste line and you can't find the end, just run a new line.

Do you have a picture of the system?
Click to expand...
You are correct. When we took apart the waste line it was clogged with DE. Now I am thinking they brought the discharge to a dry well but the pipes must be cracked and water and DE is seeping through the soil. I am wondering about the future and whether we should replace the filter and drain system, and if replacing should get something other than a DE filter since we have no municipal sewer, it will be discharge of DE to surface or to another dry well. Opinions and thoughts welcome!!
 
jorowan said:
You are correct. When we took apart the waste line it was clogged with DE. Now I am thinking they brought the discharge to a dry well but the pipes must be cracked and water and DE is seeping through the soil. I am wondering about the future and whether we should replace the filter and drain system, and if replacing should get something other than a DE filter since we have no municipal sewer, it will be discharge of DE to surface or to another dry well. Opinions and thoughts welcome!!
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jorowan said:
You are correct. When we took apart the waste line it was clogged with DE. Now I am thinking they brought the discharge to a dry well but the pipes must be cracked and water and DE is seeping through the soil. I am wondering about the future and whether we should replace the filter and drain system, and if replacing should get something other than a DE filter since we have no municipal sewer, it will be discharge of DE to surface or to another dry well. Opinions and thoughts welcome!!
Click to expand...
 

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You can go to a cartridge filter if you don't want to deal with backwash or waste.

I would suggest about 400 square feet.

You can make what you have work by cleaning the filter by taking it apart.

In any case, you need to redo the connections to the black poly pipe. I'm surprised that the return line has not come loose with the pump on.

If you pull on the fittings connected to the black poly pipe, they will probably just pull apart.

Also, replace the shaft seal if the pump is pouring out water from the bottom.

You probably have an air leak where the suction lines are connected to the black poly pipe.

An air leak on the suction can cause the pump to run dry and damage the seal and shrink the fittings going into and out of the pump causing more suction leaks.

Right now, I would take the filter apart and clean it. Then,replace the pump seal and replumb everything from the black poly pipe to the pump and filter.
 
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The result of the saga was we could not find the buried pipe even after we consulted the previous owner who remembered they had a similar issue in the past and knew the abandoned a discharge pipe and installed another. We decided to do what you all suggested and just got new plastic fixtures, removed the old from the filter and Installed the new with a ball spigot and flexible hose. We cleaned the fingers in our Hayward pump, they looked perfectly fine. It took a while to reprime but we did it and the filter is running at about 8psi. The water cleared up enough to reveal two cracks in the bottom of the pool. Sigh!! Never ends....
 
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Agree with JamesW, looks like metal stains to me. Any use of copper algaecides or Clorox Xtrablue pucks/products?

Otherwise..... ohmy! I *love* your pool. Its my dream pool! 10' depth!??! Eeeeeck! I want that pool!! I'd be diving all day long.....

Maddie :flower:
 
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There were also streaks along the bottom. This happened after the new tiles were installed and guy patched some areas. Well, the slamming for about 6-7 days did the trick along with brushing three times a day. I probably scraped the layer of plaster the copper stains were on. Posting another picture102468
 
YippeeSkippy said:
Agree with JamesW, looks like metal stains to me. Any use of copper algaecides or Clorox Xtrablue pucks/products?

Otherwise..... ohmy! I *love* your pool. Its my dream pool! 10' depth!??! Eeeeeck! I want that pool!! I'd be diving all day long.....

Maddie :flower:
JamesW said:
That doesn't look like black algae. Black algae looks like black mold where you can scrape some up.

That looks like copper and other stains.
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This was before my time of knowing what I was doing. I brought samples to the pool store to be analyzed and just followed their instructions. The pool was filled with well water that went through our drinking water system — it was nightmarish.
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