New pool owner, whats my backwashing process?

[neiltg]

Been in the house with my first pool for a month and figure it's time to do this. I've watched a bunch of videos about backwashing and understand the process and various stages, however every single video I see, they already have a pvc pipe sticking out which the water comes from. I don't?
I asked the previous owner where the pipe was which the backwash water comes out from and his response was 'it's on the side of the house, the same side as the pool equipment'.
I switched it to backwash and turned it on for 30s earlier and didn't see any water coming from anywhere.
I'm a little lost. I don't want to keep running it in case I break something, could someone tell me what i'm supposed to be looking for?

Thanks!

 

[Bperry]

Been in the house with my first pool for a month and figure it's time to do this. I've watched a bunch of videos about backwashing and understand the process and various stages, however every single video I see, they already have a pvc pipe sticking out which the water comes from. I don't?
I asked the previous owner where the pipe was which the backwash water comes out from and his response was 'it's on the side of the house, the same side as the pool equipment'.
I switched it to backwash and turned it on for 30s earlier and didn't see any water coming from anywhere.
I'm a little lost. I don't want to keep running it in case I break something, could someone tell me what i'm supposed to be looking for?

Thanks!

Find out where the pipe going into the ground in the far right goes to. That’s likely your backwash outlet. It’s probably run underground to a lower part of the yard.

 

[neiltg]

Find out where the pipe going into the ground in the far right goes to. That’s likely your backwash outlet. It’s probably run underground to a lower part of the yard.

OK, so it's probably pretty safe to just switch it to backwash, turn it on and then look for the water? Does it usually take a minute to start flowing?
I was worried I had to take something apart to be able to do this and letting it run without doing something else would damage something.
Thank you, by the way!

I have looked around for other exposed pipes around this part of the yard and haven't been able to find anything, but there is some drainage at the far end of this part of the yard. Seems like it would have been an odd choice to have it go straight into the drain though - it seems the point of backwashing is to watch the water color to know when it's done.

 

[1poolman1]

OK, so it's probably pretty safe to just switch it to backwash, turn it on and then look for the water? Does it usually take a minute to start flowing?
I was worried I had to take something apart to be able to do this and letting it run without doing something else would damage something.
Thank you, by the way!

I have looked around for other exposed pipes around this part of the yard and haven't been able to find anything, but there is some drainage at the far end of this part of the yard. Seems like it would have been an odd choice to have it go straight into the drain though - it seems the point of backwashing is to watch the water color to know when it's done.

Backwash line is the pipe to the left.
If the sand is very dirty, it may seem like it takes a minute for backwash to flow. The tank has to fill from the bottom, stir up the sand, and water to flow out of the valve. After you backwash, be sure to rinse. That water will also go out the backwash line, takes about 30 seconds. That removes a lot of the dirty water that is still in the tank and resets the sand bed. Don't be surprised to see a small amount of cloudy water return to the pool after a backwash. That's normal.

Be sure to turn the pump off before moving the valve between positions and only turn it one way, always clockwise or counter-clockwise. That's easier on the spider gasket in the valve.

 

[Bperry]

Backwash line is the pipe to the left.
If the sand is very dirty, it may seem like it takes a minute for backwash to flow. The tank has to fill from the bottom, stir up the sand, and water to flow out of the valve. After you backwash, be sure to rinse. That water will also go out the backwash line, takes about 30 seconds. That removes a lot of the dirty water that is still in the tank and resets the sand bed. Don't be surprised to see a small amount of cloudy water return to the pool after a backwash. That's normal.

Be sure to turn the pump off before moving the valve between positions and only turn it one way, always clockwise or counter-clockwise. That's easier on the spider gasket in the valve.

You sure it’s not on the right side of the picture?

 

[neiltg]

Backwash line is the pipe to the left.

If it is the one on the left, where does the water come out? everything there seems attached to something important and i'm not sure what to unscrew or if i'm supposed to unscrew anything.

I switched it to backwash today and let it run for 3 full minutes. I cannot find any water coming out anywhere. I have left it set to backwash and the filter is turned off because I have no idea what i'm doing.

 

[Bperry]

If it is the one on the left, where does the water come out? everything there seems attached to something important and i'm not sure what to unscrew or if i'm supposed to unscrew anything.

I switched it to backwash today and let it run for 3 full minutes. I cannot find any water coming out anywhere. I have left it set to backwash and the filter is turned off because I have no idea what i'm doing.

There should be a little sight glass looking thing near the valve, it’ll let you see the color of the water when it’s exiting the valve. No need to actually see the backwash water. It may be piped straight to a drain. But I’d find out for sure since you’d never know when water was leaking passed the valve into the drain.

I’m 99.999% sure it’s not the pipe on the left because that’s the pump output. The middle pipe is the salt water chlorinator which goes back to the pool returns which leaves the pipe on the right. I think he just got his left and right mixed up.

 

[1poolman1]

You sure it’s not on the right side of the picture?

Sorry, right.