Hi Txboynjgirl,
Welcome back for another season!
Most of the time, a sand filter will have trouble picking up pollen, although it should pick up most all of the algae. However, the more of that stuff you can catch with skimmer socks, the less the filter will have to deal with. Also, if your filter is working properly, you can add a handful of DE (the stuff that goes in a DE filter) through the skimmer to help coat the sand and pick up finer stuff. One way to find out if your filter is working correctly is to put the handfull of DE in the skimmer and then go watch your returns--if the DE blows back into the pool, then there's an issue with your filter. Have you backwashed the filter lately? Have you opened it up to see how much sand is in there? You can check the manual for your filter, but I believe it's supposed to be approximately 2/3 full. Do you have sand blowing back into the pool? Do you have a working pressure gauge on your system? Is the pressure above your "clean" pressure? Is your "clean" pressure higher than it was last season?
I'm not sure I understand your other question.....what gasket for the pump are you replacing, and are you asking if that's where the leak is? Can you tell where the water is actually coming out? IF it's between the pump and the housing, then the O-ring might stop it. If it's coming from underneath the pump, then you might need to replace the shaft seal between the pump and the motor. Neither of those things should cause your filter to make a strange noise.
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