If I looked at the sand in the filter, what should I see?

[waterbear]

I have stated on other posts (and got blasted for it) that sand filters need yearly maintenance to keep the sand clean and in good condition. Backwashing removes the dirt from the filter but does not remove the gunk and clear any channeling or clumping of the sand! Water is going to take the path of least resistance whether you are filtering or backwashing!

To break up the clumps and flush out the sand open the filter to expose the sand and stick a garden hose in it. The sand will loosen up and the water will overflow and carry any dirt and debris. If there are any clumps break them up (a broom handle is good for this but be careful of the laterals or you can break them!). When the sand is clean, free floating in the water, and has no clumps you can stop flushing it and reassemble the filter. If the sand is really dirty or calcified you might want to use a commercial sand cleaner on it.

BTW, Thank you for making my point. I hope the proper people get to read it!

[waterbear]

Very interesting. What are your thoughts are on why it was compacted?

It seems to me regular backwashing should prevent that. Do you think the "grey junk" could have been from not backwashing frequently enough? Have you owned the filter since it was new?
But it doesn't always. That's why I say that a filter should be broken down yearly and inspected!
Oops, just reread your first post. I wonder if the old owner thought backwashing was something he and the wife did in the shower?

A lot of things can cause the sand to gunk up and channel...high calcium levels, large organic load, adding DE to the filter, etc. Backwashing won't remove all of that.

I've tried to make this point before and got blasted for it.

[aquarium]

To break up the clumps and flush out the sand open the filter to expose the sand and stick a garden hose in it. The sand will loosen up and the water will overflow and carry any dirt and debris.

This is a good idea. Even after having opened the filter three times already, stirred the sand by hand and done several backwashings, when I used a garden hose it stirred up a lot more 'stuff'.

It would have taken too long to let it run clear, so I put the top back on and then immediately backflushed. The water ran cloudy for much longer than it ever has before, so I guess I got most of it. The sand looked 'right' this time, so I think this beast is finally tamed.

Other than fixing this sort of problem, it seems to me that sand could not ever really 'wear out', correct?

[waste]

Aquarium,congrats on getting it taken care of sucessfully!
The sand can wear out, however it takes a long time. Actually slightly dirty, or aged sand, filters better than new, the pathways between the individual grains gets smaller either due to the dirt it's already collected or because the edges get erroded so the sand can 'snuggle up' a little closer to is fellow grains - this allows smaller particles to be trapped. Well cared for sand should last 10 + yrs.

[waterbear]

Actually, I once again have to disagree (and I know what I am about to say is not a popular position here on the forum) When the grains get eroded they round off and lose the sharp edges that collect the dirt. There is less turbulance and breakup of the water paths between the grains and faster water flow, hence less filtering ability. I know Ben does not agree with this since he has said that some new filter sand has rounded grains.
A slighly dirty filter WILL filter better than a clean one....this is the same idea as adding DE powder. It makes the water paths between the grains smaller.
My 2 cents!

[aquarium]

It did cloud the pool a little after this wash. I might not have noticed it earlier, except I'd run the filter 24/7 for three days doing the alkalinity adjustment thing, and the water -was- super clear before I opened the sand filter and used the garden hose on it. No matter, it's already starting to clear again.

Down to 100-110ppm from 230ppm after (now) nearly four days of this. I've just been playing with some PVC fittings to convert one of the eyeball returns to a fountain, ten feet in the air and hit the other side of the pool with the water. LOL, the kids like it.

[waterbear]

Seems like someone didn't like my posts in this thread since I got some negative reputation for it....but my advice seems to have solved Aquariums problem with his sand. No one else seemed to have any advice for him on what to do to fix it. I will gladly take some negative reputation if my advice is useful and solves a problem, even if it is not popular. After all, the purpose of this forum is to help people solve the problems they have with their pools! No one else seemed to be able to step up to the plate and take a swing.

Aquarium, you might want to consider adding a bit of DE to the filter now. It will improve the filtering ability by lodging between the sand grains and allow you to filter much smaller particles. When you back wash the DE will backwash out along with the dirt.

[matt4x4]

Rangeball, I have a couple ways of adding bleach to the pool, the preferred method is to walk around the pool gently pouring the bleach in about 2' from the wall (as far as you can reach over).
The second is to pour it into the skimmer and let the pump blow it out and circulate it, this is only used when my wife is standing by the car wondering why we haven't left yet, tapping her foot on the ground.
I don't really worry about that second method too much since my plumbing is non corrosive and bleach really does nothing to your filter WRT clumping/channeling etc.

Oh BTW, waterbear, nice sand filter cleaning instructions, IMO, dirt will eventually get all through all your sand since there's no way it could ever just lay on top, since some people dump everything in through the skimmer, that dirt and sand wille eventually bond through all the floculant and other chems introduced through the system. Obviously, your method helped clear up an issue quite well. Mine's on year 3, and still working well, but how will it work after 5 or 7 years.......I'll keep your instructions in mind for future reference.