Vacuuming with side port

[lapurple]

Hoping someone can help me with a conundrum. I have an ongoing issue with pollen sitting at the bottom of my pool. Even when I vacuum to waste it is back the very next day. So this makes me think that when I turn my multiport valve to waste that it isn't pulling from the side port where the vacuum is, but through the skimmer.

What exactly do I need to do to make this work?

 

[ajw22]

Hoping someone can help me with a conundrum. I have an ongoing issue with pollen sitting at the bottom of my pool. Even when I vacuum to waste it is back the very next day.

Could the pollen you get the next day be new pollen that has fallen since you vacuumed?

So this makes me think that when I turn my multiport valve to waste that it isn't pulling from the side port where the vacuum is, but through the skimmer.

Can you see the effluent coming out of your waste line to see if it has the pollen in it?

Changing the multiport to WASTE does not change the suction from the skimmer or vacuum port.

If you did not have adequate suction from the vacuum port you would not see the pollen on the pool floor get sucked up.

What exactly do I need to do to make this work?

So far it sounds like everything is working except you get more pollen falling every day to vacuum out of the pool.

 

[Texas Splash]

Can you post a pic of your equipment pad please? Maybe 2-3 pics from different angles so we can see all the valves and stuff.

 

[lapurple]

Could the pollen you get the next day be new pollen that has fallen since you vacuumed?



Can you see the effluent coming out of your waste line to see if it has the pollen in it?

Changing the multiport to WASTE does not change the suction from the skimmer or vacuum port.

If you did not have adequate suction from the vacuum port you would not see the pollen on the pool floor get sucked up.



So far it sounds like everything is working except you get more pollen falling every day to vacuum out of the pool.

Thanks for your reply. This has been occurring all year even when it wasn't pollen season. We left town for a weekend awhile ago before we replaced the timer so we had to leave the pump off. When we came back there was 0 pollen sitting at the bottom. But when I turned the pump on again that pollen came right through the sand filter.

 

[Texas Splash]

I would also ask that you be sure it's pollen and not some other organic material. Excessive organics can "blow-thru" the filter when nit gets overwhelmed.

Might help if you could post a full set of water test results to be sure.

 

[lapurple]

Can you post a pic of your equipment pad please? Maybe 2-3 pics from different angles so we can see all the valves and stuff.

Here are some photos. I hope they help. I am wondering if I need to turn the jandy valve to close the skimmer?

 

[Texas Splash]

So a couple things come to mind in your scenario. One, either everything is working as it should but your chemistry is off and what you are seeing is algae blowing back past the water and settling. One way to confirm is if you see the same suspected pollen settling on everything outside and around the pool area. It should be very noticeable.

The other thing might be the vacuum settings at the pad. Looking at your pics, you have 3 suction lines coming out of the ground and going to the pump. The skimmer valve is in the middle with a broken "ear" on the handle. Not sure about the pipe on the right. Main drain perhaps? If so, that means the pipe on the far left would be for teh vacuum port and controlled by that black 3-way valve. You might want to try adjusting those valves in such a way that you pull more water form the vacuum port versus the skimmer and drain. Something to experiment with anyway.

But definitely post back with some water test results. It's not in your signature, but hopefully you have a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C test kit so we can ensure your water is good.

 

[Homebrewale]

If it is indeed pollen and not algae, it is difficult to get it all vacuumed up. In pollen season, I would vacuum by hand so I could move the vacuum head slowly as to minimizing stirring up the pollen. My Polaris pressure side cleaner and then later robot cleaner would stir it up more. I would put a skimmer sock in the skimmer basket and attach the vacuum hose to a skimmer vacuum plate. Even doing all that, some pollen got stirred up and when you looked at the pool later, there was a fine layer on the bottom of the pool. On that pool, I had a sand filter.