"Recirculate" pulls way too much water (+air)

[threecheese]

I believe my sand filter is clogged with pollen (it is no longer pumping water out of the jets), and I wanted to add some liquid chlorine to address algae until I can figure out how to clean the filter (just bought the house this week). I put the MP in recirculate mode to bypass the filter, and the suction went crazy. It is pulling water so fast at the skimmers that it sucks a ton of air in (it looks almost like quickly pouring buckets of water into the skimmer basket). The water level is at half the height of the skimmer opening. Should I just out more water in, or could something be wrong with the MP valve? The pool was inspected and pressure tested, no problems found.

 

[Richard320]

You either have low water or a huge pump. Filter or recirculate or backwash -- none of them should cause what you're describing. Add some water. that's the simplest thing to check. You'll need to add some anyway when you backwash that filter. Kill two birds at once.

 

[threecheese]

Thank you!