Hi,
Finally refilled my pool after (hopefully) fixing a leak.
It’s very green and there is lots of rubbish on the bottom. I got the
hoover-on-a-pole out and started to clean it but as I went over the green
bits, the green seemed to go right through the filter and come belching back
out the pool inlet jet! Is this to be expected? Or is the filter supposed to
only produce clean water?
It’s a ‘Triton permenant media filter’ (sand filter I think). It normally
runs at 15psi, it went up to 20 yesterday, I backwashed it and it went back
down to 15.
N
Is my filter broken?
July 15th, 2003 · 8 Comments
Tags: heaters
8 responses so far ↓
1 Neva Marjory // Jul 16, 2003 at 8:58 am
Try to vacuum to waste. Sure, you will lose water, but then your
work doesn’t seem in vain.
In the case of a very green pool with debris - always get as much
debris out as possible first through vacuuming/skimming. Make sure
the pool is chemically sound otherwise. Then brush the
walls/ladder/steps/etc with a brush to get things stirred up.
Backwash your filter. Then shock it like crazy (last two steps to be
done in the late afternoon). Follow up with an algaecide the
following morning (copper based might help in this case).
As an aside, if you did happen to be vacuuming to waste when it came
back in, then you might have a bad gasket in the valve.
2 Neva Marjory // Jul 17, 2003 at 4:26 am
Thanks.
So just to confirm - this is normal for sand filter and it’s not
broken?
I guess the ‘green’ is too small to get filtered out?
Thanks
Nick
— In homeswimmingpoolowners@y…, “airdapper” <airdapper@y…
3 robbie_50 // Jul 18, 2003 at 2:50 am
I had that happen to me once.You buy a chemical call Magnet.It pull them
together and the filter picks it up
Keep The Faith
Retta
4 janis_40 // Jul 19, 2003 at 8:53 pm
If it is a home pool the filter is possibly a Purex Triton TR60 Sand filter.
15 psi sounds good for the tank pressure but what is the age of the sand.
Manufacturers recommend changing the sand every 3-5 years. To answer your
question about the stuff returning to the pool, yes there will be a large
amout of material returned to the pool when you vacuum that gunk and have a
sand filter. A DE or cartridge filter would do a much better job because
they filter much finer particles. For the really bad stuff try just dumping
it, if you have a multiport valve on your filter set it to waste and watch
your water level.
5 Neva Marjory // Jul 21, 2003 at 5:49 am
Generally speaking, sand filters are the standard - and work quite
— In homeswimmingpoolowners@y…, “nick_walczak”
efficiently. However, DE and cartridge filters do a better job at
filtering (but also require a great deal more maintenance than a
sand filter). In almost every case where material was going back
into the pool (debris or sand, etc) it was one of three things..
1. worn gasket in the valve/bad spring (age or chemicals as the
culprit)
2. old sand that hasn’t been replaced
3. improperly installed valve or aged valve with hairline cracks
A sand filter actually does a good job, even if it doesn’t filter
the smallest micron of particals in the water.
Check the gasket, and replace the sand…that’s my call. Fairly
inexpensive really. Easiest to check the valve first.
If it’s coming back into the pool, that means that debris is falling
through all of your filter sand to the bottom, where its drawn
through a standpipe, up and out of your filter back to the pool.
What I mean is, if you arn’t getting sand back into the pool, and
only this green stuff, then your setup might be ok, and the sand
just needs replaced. Chemically treat your sand if need be, your
local dealer can help with that process.
Electricjet makes a good point..watch the water level if you vacuum
to waste - it’s reaaaaal bad to dry fire your pump
6 janis_40 // Jul 22, 2003 at 7:19 am
Filter comparison;
DE - 1-3 microns
Cartridge - 8-10 microns
Sand - 20-25 microns
In my book sand filters are good for dust and dirt but for filtering out
algae that has been churned by your pump it will take several passes to get
what a DE filter will get in one. Replace the sand if it is more than 5
years old and forget chemically treating it.
7 kevin_100 // Jul 23, 2003 at 8:06 am
I think you are right - I’m at work right now but I’m sure that it is a
Purex Triton TR60.
Next question: How do you go about changing the sand? Just disconnect the
pipes, take the top off and turn it upside down?
I don’t know when it was last changed because I got the pool when I moved
house a few months ago.
Also: if the filter is seeing the right amount of pressure, does this imply
that the gaskets in the valve are OK?
Thanks
Nick.
8 janis_40 // Jul 24, 2003 at 5:44 pm
I wish it was just that easy to turn it upside down and dump it but a TR60
has 300 lbs of sand in it (dry weight) and yours is wet so it might be
somewhere around 450-550 lbs. No need to disconnect the pipes to change the
sand. That little top unscrews and that is where you remove the sand (no I
am not kidding). The best way is to use a shop vac. If you can find a large
shop vac then vacuum the sand and water out together. When you near the
bottom of the filter you will see some small plastic tubes these are called
laterals and they keep the sand in and let the water out. Clean arround and
under them then inspect them for cracks. Nice thing about that model filter
is that if one is broken they unscrew at the hub. To put the sand back in
fill the filter about half way with water then start sifting the sand into
the water. Do not dump large amounts of sand in until the level is well
above the laterals. If you do you will break one and you will not know it
until the filter is turned on and starts spewing sand in the pool. Back wash
first before starting the filter. Have fun.
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