Getting ready to do battle with some serious algae in my pool, but have some questions. I've read a few posts here, including one really great sticky regarding chemical (bleach) addition, brushing, and CYA levels.
However -- I have a DE filter and I don't really have a way to circulate the pool water. Only a few moments after starting the pump, the filter gums up with the dreaded green gook and I get virtually no of water from/to the pool. The filter is configured such that actuating a lever on the side several times "bumps" the DE and restores flow (normally) -- a lame sort of backwash, I suppose. With the algae, though, the bump isn't doing much. To change the DE and clean the filter elements, I have to take apart the whole thing (about 20 nuts and bolts around the perimeter of the filter housing) -- not a quick proposition.
The way the filter is piped, there's no obvious way to bypass it and get the water circulating to move some chemicals around.
What do I do here? Drain the pool?
Even if I manage to bypass the filter to get some bleach introduced and circulated, how would I deal with vacuuming the pool without clogging the filter? I've seen the term "vacuum to waste," but I'm not sure how I'd achieve this. I can "short circuit" the filter, basically sending water from the pool, through the pump, and then out of the system (into the grass) before it passes through the filter, but I would quickly drain a bunch of water from the pool using this arrangement. Is that what I should expect?
Thanks in advance for any advice/guidance! I'm at a loss and relatively new to all of this...
