Sand in Pool!!

[jamesduffield1]

Hello, I have a 18x36 in ground Vinyl pool with a sand Filter and I have been getting a bit of sand in the bottom of my pool. I have done some research and it looks like my sand may be old and needs replaced. I have lived in the house for 3 months or so and the previous owners lived there a short time before so I'm sure they hadn't changed it as well. My question is what should the average cost be for someone to come out and take out the old sand and put in the new sand.
One local company said $1/pound plus labor, seems high when I can get sand thru a pool supply for $120 for 500 lbs and have some left over. I have a Hayward top mount S244T2 filter tank and it says maybe 500 lbs capacity, do I fill all the way to the capacity? Whats the going rate?
Thanks in advance!

 

[JohnT]

The problem isn't worn sand, though it could be that someone used the wrong sand in the filter.

You may have a damaged filter, an oversized pump, or the sand could be coming from a totally different source.

The first step would be to identify the source of the sand. Rig a knee-high hose/sock over a return closest to the sand on the bottom and let the pump run for a day and see what you catch. If there is sand in the sock, it's coming from the filter.

 

[jamesduffield1]

If it's coming from the filter then what kind of damage are we talking broken laterals maybe?

 

[domct203]

If it's coming from the filter then what kind of damage are we talking broken laterals maybe?

Welcome to the forum.

As John already mentioned, it could be the laterals, or it could be an oversized pump, or maybe someone put in the wrong type of sand. Please try to catch the sand coming out of the returns as suggested.

Could you please list all your pool's details including pool size & type, pump, filter, etc as explained here:

Read this Before you post

Nice to have you with us.

Dom

 

[JohnT]

If it's coming from the filter then what kind of damage are we talking broken laterals maybe?

Maybe. Cracked riser pipe or even a bad valve could do it. Since you don't know the history, you can't rule anything out.

Some people just have a lot of sand in the environment. Sometimes birds or coons drag sand into the pool. Sometimes it blows in from the yard or deck.

 

[jamesduffield1]

Great advice as always thanks Guys

 

[pooldv]

I have some sand in my pool and filter and I have a cartridge filter. Most of my sand seems to come from some sandstone rocks in my waterfall. Even though it rarely runs. And some comes from ants digging around under the deck around the skimmers and moving some sand into the pool from under the deck.