I have had my pool for many years, and usually have no problem opening it. I overload it with bleach, vacuum heavily, and after 12 hours the water is crystal clear.
This year when I opened it, it was dirtier than normal. Now, the filter will only run 30 minutes before it needs to be bumped. I have changet the DE 4 times this week, and still the filter needs to be bumped hourly or the flow is minimal. I have noticed that there are very minor leaks around the bolts that hold the top on. Could these leaks be enough to cause the filter to lose pressure so quickly or is it just that the DE is getting crudded up so fast because the water had so much residue in it.
