question about self draining pool cover

[Chris246810]

hello all
i just covered my pool for the winter months comming. i have had a self draining winter cover for the past 3 seasons and it has never worked right. one of my questions is can the hose line that comes from the cover and connects to the return where the water soppsed to drain out can get cut to size because right now it is very long and im thinking for the water to drain out its not working case the hose is dipping down to the pool and them comming back up to the return. also how long can you reuse the sand inside a sand filter? this is my my second season using it. any information would be great thank you

 

[kimkats]

Don't know about the drain but DO know about the sand............................sand lasts FOREVER so long as you don't add stuff to the water to gunk it up!

 

[Water Cat]

Sand doesn't last "forever" but it does last a long time providing you take care of it by backwashing periodically. After about 7 years (YMMV) the sharp edges of the sand wear down and it looses its efficiency. Easy to fix though by replacing the worn out sand.

In my experience, the laterals fail before the sand wears out though. If this happens you will see sand in your pool.

 

[Chris246810]

thank you i did pick up some sand while using my robot this season. now im thinking i should dump sand and check everything out. i always wondered why there was sand i thought it was normal for sand to come into the pool but not that much.

 

[Water Cat]

Not normal to see sand in the pool. A few grains might be seen in the sight glass while backwashing but it should settle after rinsing. I would definitely inspect the laterals if the sand is showing up in the pool.

 

[wireform]

I've seen people not know this but pump needs to be off for 10 seconds to let the filter settle before moving the mpv if not you will get sand where it doesn't belong and mess up the spider gasket.

 

[Water Cat]

I only move the handle if the pump is off and would hope people would do that anyway or the backwash hose can pop off and shoot water everywhere. Even worse if no hose is attached.

 

[CT-Steven]

Sand media needs to be changed out roughly every 4-6 years depending on the water and the debris going through the filter. We never used sand and used glass media from the onset.

Other alternatives that might be viable and have found articles on are: ZeoSand, Polyballs, and even Polyester Fiber

 

[kimkats]

Sand media needs to be changed out roughly every 4-6 years depending on the water and the debris going through the filter. We never used sand and used glass media from the onset.

Other alternatives that might be viable and have found articles on are: ZeoSand, Polyballs, and even Polyester Fiber

If you don't add stuff to your water like floc or such there will not need to change out the sand. It can last many, many, many years.

As for the alternatives such as glass or ZeoSand they work okay again as long as stuff is not added to gums things up.

The Polyballs should be a no go due to them getting gummed up just from regular use and are almost impossible to get clean again.

I have not heard that much about Plolyester Fiber to comment in it but think it would be like the polyballs in the in end.