Intake Question

[Atomic]

Hi guys!

Well I opened our AG pool last weekend. I pulled the cover off to reveal the coolest flourescent green I have ever seen. Reminded me of antifreeze. First time that has ever happened. Usually the winterizing has worked quite well. Anyway I am working on getting the algae out but my question is regarding the filtration.

I changed my sand like I normally do and my pump is working quite well but my intake does not seem to be pulling in much debris. It swirls by and waves as it passes the intake area. So why would my outlet pressure be great and the intake not so great? Maybe the pump is working too well?

Thanks for reading!

[Poconos]

We really need more info.
Filter size, pump size, and pressure reading. If the pressure is high then the filter could be plugged and cutting the flow.
Welcome to the forum.
Al

[tenax]

my sand filter normally runs at about 15-17 psi..i didn't have any leaves (had a leaf net this winter) but lots of silt..thin layer over whole bottom..i decided to brush it and stir it up as i'm hoping it will pick up most of it into the filter rather than having to vacuum so much..within 20 minutes, my filter pressure went up to 25 psi, then 30 psi before i decided i better backwash...did a quick 5 minute backwash 2 minutes rinse and it dropped to 16 psi. i only noticed the filter pressure because i noticed that my side skimmer wasn't sucking as much as it usually does from the pool..that's the effect of too high a pressure..my filter can take 60 psi max so no worries but..a real world example for you

[Sumo1]

"I changed my sand like I normally do..." I have to ask, why do you normally change your sand? I don't have experience with a sand filter but the consensus I've seen is that sand gets better as it ages, like a good homebrew. Were there problems that led you to change it? I'm just trying to learn all I can.
Hal

[tenax]

over time, the sand can clump and harden..if it's hard, it can't filter. and when i took out my sand it had all kinds of guck in it..almost like cob webby vegetation material from filtering...now, there are a few people here anyway who remove their sand and actually clean it every once in awhile. my sand was at least 5 years old when i replaced and had a bit of clumping..and i had never taken it out..it may well have been in longer...there's a chemical cleaner you can put into your sand to supposedly "condition it' and clean it up. i ended up getting away from sand and going to zeobrite..better filtering than sand..supposedly will clean out better than sand when flushing the filter. i did find that my backwashing didn't seem to have as long term effect without needing a reflushing as it had 5 years before.that and an upgrade to most of my pool equipment prompted me to replace the sand.

[CarlD]

Since I am five years without changing my sand and it's fine I suspect the clumping and green strings are the result of poor maintenance in the past. Sorry, but that's my read. I also add bleach through the skimmer so it hits the sand first always and at high concentration.

If I did find such stuff in my filter, I'd probably pour in straight bleach to kill it and let it sit. But that's a W.A.G.

The only reasons I know to change sand are after a Bacquacil conversion or you need to do maintenance on the laterals. Otherwise it does just get better with age.