Cartridge filter not filtering

[flyfyshyr]

Greetings - I am in the midst of rebooting the pool after a year of no use due to plumbing leaks. Leaks are repaired and I am faced with a pond coloured pool. Have been hitting it with chemicals and started the long process of vacuuming when the problem of dirty water coming right back through the returns when I vacuum. Cartridges are three years old although they had scant use last year. My hunch was to replace the cartridges and commenced vacuuming again. after about ten minutes the stream of 'unfiltered' water is coming through the returns again. I can see no evidence of problems anywhere else. The water coming through the returns 'appears' ok when I'm not vacuuming although it is hard to tell. The pool bottom is covering in dirt, leaves etc and visibility is at best two feet. If there is a problem elsewhere (in the filter) how do I check or test for that? Have I overpowered the new cartridges? Am I expecting too much from the filter? Anyone with similar experiences and solutions or suggestions? Thank you

[Teapot1]

All your problems are symptomatic of trying to clear a dirty pool using cartridge filters. Patience and keep cleaning the filters.
When you get really bored switch to a sand filter with Dr Drydens AFMng inside.

[flyfyshyr]

Thank you for responding, I appreciate it.