Vacuuming to waste

[DH 200]

I always thought that I should vacuum to waste after I brush away algae and shock the pool? Does vacuuming to filter and then backwashing have the same results? I have well water and I would like to minimize the amount of well water I add to the pool.

Also, when I do need to add additional well water, should I add it directly into the pool, or put the hose in the skimmer box, or should I add a pre-filter to the hose?

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Only reason to vac to waste is to eliminate the organics before you kill them. To use less chlorine, maybe. You could be better off to not vac to waste to use less water.

You should use the pre- filter if that is what you do when you fill the pool.

I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Pool School eBook.

 

[Richard320]

Vacuuming to waste is really only called for when there is so much crud on the floor that the filter will load up in minutes when you vacuum. Otherwise, it uses a whole lot of water. You might want to replace a bunch of water due to CH or CYA buildup, so that would be fine. But if the well is sketchy, and it's just algae, filtering and backwashing uses less water.

If there's a lot of dirt in the fill water, set the hose in the skimmer, so it mixes with pool water and goes through the filter. It beats vacuuming it up later.

 

[jwhop3]

I have blown out laterals doing that. If I'm dealing with a lot of crud, like at opening, I'll just vacuum to waste and let the water dump back into the pool. I strain through a diy slimebag to minimize clouding.

I don't like anything in my filter but water, sand, bugs and pollen.