Can find cause of all the dirt/sand in the pool

[nicole12]

18' round AG pool, 150lb sand filter, 1.5hp filter...Astral Pool filter/pump came as a set. Also use about 3/4 c. of DE in sand filter.

Had the pool for 4 years now.

I've been having this problem all season. Everyday I vacuum the pool and then every morning I wake up to dirt/sand in every crevice/low spot in the liner.

I can't seem to find what is causing this. Pool filter or nature.

First I can rule out filter sand, what is at the bottom of the pool is so fine when you touch it with your finger you can't even feel it. I had a problem with filter sand last year and know this isn't it.

I put some panty hose of the return to see if anything was coming out. I did notice when I vacuumed there was be a little bit of sand/debris in the panty hose, probably less than 1/8 of a teaspoon. I had the panty hose on for about 4 days and did notice the pool was alot cleaner but there was nothing in the panty hose so I took it off yesterday and later that night all the fine dirt at the bottom of the pool.

Last time I vacuumed I did use the skimmer sock to stop the fine silt from getting into the filter and also had the panty hose on the return. Today I did not have that when I vacuumed.

Also yesterday I mowed the lawn and the pool does sit at the lowest point of the yard so not sure if it's just a coincidence or not.

I guess what I'm leaning towards is that when I vacuum for some reason what I vacuum just tends to go right through the filter back into the pool. Does this make sense and if so is the only way to fix it is to reduce the h.p on my pump?

I put the panty hose back on the return and I guess I will leave it there until the dirt/sand reappears in the pool so I can rule out the filter/pump.

It's just tough because there are so many variables that could lead me to one conclusion and not what the real problem could be.

I'm just really discouraged/frustrated at this point.

[Tredge]

Same here. I also ruled out the filter sand the same as you did.

The stuff is so fine that when disturbed it disappears for a while till the pool settles out again.

At first I thought it was metals precipitating out of the water from when I first filled it....a magnet doesnt help....but maybe its copper, or gold!

I also thought maybe it was from the yard but it doesnt accumulate daily...seems to be the same once settled as when it first appeared.

Even my dolphin cant filter it out...it just tosses it around and the next day its back.

So I guess we're both stuck with it unless someone has a better Idea of how to get this stuff out of the pool.

[tribe_fan]

The only thing I can think of is vac to waste. If you don't have that on your filter I've thrown the hose over the side of the pool and used the vac to siphon the fine sand out.

I swear I used to get more fine sand problems when using granular chlorine.

Not having enough sand in the filter is a possibility too - make sure it is approx 2/3 full.

[hrsdennis]

It sounds to me like you are describing algae. This will blow through the filter and settle back onto the floor of the pool. Vacuum to waist will get it out of the pool but you will also need to treat the water for algae to keep it gone for good.

Best of luck, Dennis

[Wayne LaBanca]

Not a pro on this but, isn't a 1.5 HP pump a bit powerfull for a 150 LB filter? Maybe too much force to allow the sand to trap the finer particles.

Post some numbers so we can see how you are looking on the CL side of things. The post above mentions algae so some numbers would help to rule this in or out.

Wayne

[matt4x4]

Sounds like dust stirred up by lawnmowing, happens at our house all the time.
When you cut your lawn, old, dead cuttings pretty much pulverize into a fine dust, this dust will immediately cling to the surface and eventually sink to the bottom, currents in the pool will naturally fill in crevices with it.
The problem with the fine dust is that it will push trhough pretty much any sand filter unless you reduce the flow to almost nothing.
Try 1-1.5 cups DE right before vacuuming, vacuum VERY SLOWLY, too much speed and all you do is stir the stuff up, and mix it back into the surrounding water.
I don't know about where you are located, but where we are it has been EXTREMELY dry which certainly isn't helping the dust situation any.

[THE PEACOCK LADY]

I had this very same problem last year, it turned out to be dead algae, so fine the filter could not filter it, I added all kinds of stuff ,nothing worked. the only solution is clean water.
I had to empty the pool,and scrub it down with Clorox. Worth every bit the energy it took, because my water has been perfect this year (so far) another thing, how old is the sand in your filter?
good luck to you

[nicole12]

My filter is 4 years old. New sand this year. I emptied some sand because my filter was too full with sand and now that it's dried out I was picking it up and after I dump out of my hand most of the bigger piece of sand the other stuff is so fine it's like kids play sand. Maybe I got some really bad sand from the pool store.

[nicole12]

Sad to say it's back. I had the panty hose on the return took it off tonight to test to see if it was the sand being too high. The pump turned on and within 5 minutes it was all over the bottom of the pool.

Could it be possible that the pump is so oversized that when it starts up it forces the fine stuff right through the laterals? I vacuumed about an hour ago and so far there is nothing else on the bottom. Hopefully the fact that the dust comes out right when the pump starts up will lead to some answers.

I turned the shut off valve about 1/2 way off and it raised the pressure from 15psi to 20psi on the filter so we'll see what happens when the filter comes on in the morning. The return jet was so strong before you couldn't even put you hand over the return itself.

[nicole12]

Checked the pool this morning before the filter kicked on. The pool was still clean from the vacuuming which means the "stuff" only comes out when the filter first turn on. I held a skimmer sock in front of the return when it first kicked on, held it there for about 5 minutes nothing in the bag.

The fact that the debris only enters when the filter first turns on, does that rule out some things?