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

[matt4x4]

Nicole - glad to hear things are looking up!
Backwashing does the opposite of settling, it pushes water up from the bottom to blow off the selled debris on top of your sand, normal filtering settles teh sand down.
If you don't get sand into your pool, don't empty the filter end of season, you may risk breaking a lateral since they get brittle over time.
Your filter should have a drain plug on the bottom, open that and set it to winterize on the handle, when you shut the systems down for the year, it will take a bit, but your water will eventually drain out, a big garbage bag over it bungeed on the bottom is good, I actually remove the valve assy and bring it indoors leaving only the covered tank outside.

[nicole12]

Thank you to everyone for all your help!