Ok, why do I think?

1. For the typical agp, you could probably say I have high usage. My ex and daughter live next door and use it constantly...family of 8. My gf lives across street with 2 kids. myself, and partied last weekend with a family of 7.

2. I have had pollen issues and I'm partially under two trees. For about 3 wks, there were constant pollen "caterpiller" foaties, pale yellow dust clogging my cartridge and cloudy water, and full skimmer everyday. But that has mostly passed. Even on the cartridge, the pool had mostly cleared, and to my surprise, the trees havent been visibly dropping much garbage in the water at all. (tho I expect fall to be interesting)

3. Possibly not enough pump. Idk the hp rating on it, but it seems to move plenty of water. And it is 2500gph. (I do realize it's an intex and may not really do that)

And for the pressure, it rides between 6 and 7 psi. When it hits 10-11 I have to backwash due to skimmer no longer being effectively pulled down.

For the sand, the filter called for 200# in the advertisement. The instructions called for 2/3 full. It ended up taking 6 .5cuft bags from Home Depot to make it approx 2/3. Yes, pool filter sand, but no weight on bag. They felt 30-40-ish so it should have 200#-ish

Any of this help??