Dirt In The Bottom Of My Pool

[mouse]

I have been the owner of pool for more than 15 years. The latest problem is that 1) I notice that some sand is coming out when I backwash 2) it seems that after I vacuum the bottom of the pool the same solids are back in the bottom of the pool the next day ( or sooner). This is sand filtered pool ( sand was changed fairly recently ... used proper sand). Are the problems related? What causes this? The pool motor is new, but the same size as the previous one.

[starrlitepools]

It sounds to me that you may have a broken lateral in the sand filter itself. The "laterals" are radiating arms at the bottome of the sand filter where the water is forced back to the pool once push through the sand.

If it is indeed a broken lateral, you will have silica sand from the filter blowing back through the return lines. Either way it needs to be checked.

Hope that helps

Starr-Lite pools

[mouse]

It sounds to me that you may have a broken lateral in the sand filter itself. The "laterals" are radiating arms at the bottome of the sand filter where the water is forced back to the pool once push through the sand.

If it is indeed a broken lateral, you will have silica sand from the filter blowing back through the return lines. Either way it needs to be checked.

Hope that helps

Starr-Lite pools

[mouse]

I don't know what went wrong as I tired to post a thankyou, but ended copying your post. My suspicions were what you suggested, but it isn't the sand I see but other residue ( dead bugs etc) that I vacuum out.

[mouse]

This a further update on my pool. I thought the idea posed by another person elsewhere on this site was clever. I attached a nylon sock to each of the outlets, and proceeded to vacuum the pool. Over the next few hours I collected the same debris as I vacuumed ( pieces of grass, insects and other organic substances, fibers from the carpet) that was too small for the skimmer to catch, BUT NO SAND. Does that still sound like a lateral?

[starrlitepools]

Is the debris really fine in nature? Every once in awhile, I've had a problem with really fine organic material not being caught when being vacuumed. Of the three types of filters out there,sand will not remove nearly as many particles as a cartridge or DE filter will.

I still believe that the only way to tell for sure about the functionality of your filter is to inspect it internally, anything short of that is speculation at best.

AS a last resort, I have added no more than a cup of DE into the skimmer, and then vacuumed the pool. The DE helps to catch the really fine particulate that the sand cannot- I stress THIS IS ONLY A LAST RESORT MEASURE. When done vacuuming, backwashing will flush the DE out of the system.

[mouse]

Is the debris really fine in nature? AS a last resort, I have added no more than a cup of DE into the skimmer, and then vacuumed the pool. The DE helps to catch the really fine particulate that the sand cannot- I stress THIS IS ONLY A LAST RESORT MEASURE. When done vacuuming, backwashing will flush the DE out of the system.

The debris is really fine, and it clusters at the bottom of the pool. The vacuum picks it up. I could never have known for sure that it was coming through the return if I had not put the nylon over the return.

I always use DE when I start up the pool in spring to clear the water. The part that troubles me is that this is a new problem (last couple of years) ... the previous 15 were fine