Sand in pool

[Leslrd]

Sand keeps getting in pool from pump...tore pump apart cannot find anything wrong. Suggestions?

[Watermom]

Hi and welcome to the forum! What size pump do you have and what size filter? Often a mismatch between a too powerful pump and a too small filter causes stuff to be pushed through the filter into the pool. Just wondering if that might be your problem. Also what type and volume is your pool?

[Sprint54]

Leslrd, you say you tore the pump apart. Assuming you have a sand filter, you likely have a broken or cracked lateral in your sand filter. If you lookup your sand filter on the Internet, many times you can find exploded parts diagrams. The laterals are located at the bottom of the filter and are comprised of several tubes with very narrow slits in them. Much like wagon wheel spokes. It's likely that one of those laterals, or several, are cracked or broken and is allowing sand to pass through the break or crack and flow out with the return water from your filter to the pool. I had the same thing happen on my Sta-Rite sand filter years ago. It's an easy fix and fairly inexpensive. What I learned it that the laterals can break or crack if you start the pump up for the first time of the new season with the multi-valve in the filter position. By doing so you are adding pool water to the top of the sand in the filter, which is dry and lighter after the long winter break, and the weight of the water is adding a significant amount of weight and stress on the empty and fragile lateral, which is lying on the bottom of the filter with all the weight of the sand and now water on top of it. The correct way to start the pump and sand filter for the new season, is to start your pump and filter up for the first time with the multi-valve in the backwash position. Doing so reverses the water in the filter thus adding the water into the laterals first and then up through the sand. The laterals are full of water and can now support the weight of the sand and water. One last point. You know you have a cracked or broken lateral when after you backwash your sand filter, you return it to the multi-valve to the filter position and you get sand that comes out of the filtered water returns in your pool. Hope that information is useful and good luck.

[Leslrd]

We just bought a new Hayward pump/ filter combo this year. It came together. Above ground pool. 13,595 gallons.