Dirt coming thru my jets when i vacum

mr.t · Postby **mr.t** » Sun 26 Sep, 2010 13:53

can some one tell me why the dirt is coming out of the jets when vacuuming the pool?
i have a sand filter.....

Postby **floridapooltech** » Sun 26 Sep, 2010 19:30

mr.t wrote:can some one tell me why the dirt is coming out of the jets when vacuuming the pool?
i have a sand filter.....

Typically, with a sand filter, if you have dirt and debris returning into your pool via the jets, this is usually a sign of broken lateral's which will need to be replaced.

hopper · Postby **hopper** » Tue 28 Sep, 2010 12:53

i have the same problem. if i manually vacuum using the rinse setting on my sand filter i get a slow release of dirt coming back through the jets. i have already replaced the gasket in my 6 way vavle that was destroyed as well. at first im thinking that the sand in the filter needs to be changed because i dont know how old it is. now if your saying laterals could be damaged i could check those as well when replacing the sand. cant keep the darn dirt out of the pool!!!!! ahhhhhh : )

duraleigh · Postby **duraleigh** » Tue 28 Sep, 2010 14:18

mr.t,
It could be something as simple as the filter needing to be backwashed. When the filter is totally clogged, it can "push" through dirt it would otherwise capture.

hopper,

if i manually vacuum using the rinse setting on my sand filter i get a slow release of dirt coming back through the jets.

The "rinse" position is not for vacuuming. You should vacuum in the "filter" position. (in special conditions, you could use the "waste" position but not normally)

"Rinse" is to resettle the sand after you have backwashed thoroughly and should be used only for that purpose....usually about 30-60 seconds..

James Watson · Postby **James Watson** » Tue 28 Sep, 2010 17:42

Fine dust will go through a sand filter. It could also be due to channeling in the sand, which is caused by a pump that is too big for the filter.

What pump and filter do you have?

martin · Postby **martin** » Mon 18 Oct, 2010 12:57

I have problems keeping my pool clear and often clouds over when vacing. I suspect my pump may be too big at 1,2 w. My pool is about 50c/mtrs (55,000ltrs) The lift is about 15mtrs including at actual lift of 2.5 mtrs to the solar heating on a roof.

Any comment would be usuful

Postby **floridapooltech** » Wed 20 Oct, 2010 12:07

martin wrote:I have problems keeping my pool clear and often clouds over when vacing. I suspect my pump may be too big at 1,2 w. My pool is about 50c/mtrs (55,000ltrs) The lift is about 15mtrs including at actual lift of 2.5 mtrs to the solar heating on a roof.

Any comment would be usuful

Pump size will not cause sand channeling. This is caused by "spent"/old sand that needs to be replaced!

ahancock · Postby **ahancock** » Wed 25 May, 2011 16:57

I have dirt coming through the jets while I'm vacuuming... I have a DE filter. What is the problem??

dinger · Postby **dinger** » Thu 09 Jun, 2011 14:54

I am having the same issue. We purchased a new system of laterals, we changed our sand, we have backwashed, we have tried everything and continue to have the same problem. My husband is ready to tear the pool down due to the hassle it is creating. I am driving myself crazy trying to figure it out and we have had to reschedule someone coming out to our house 2x's due to the weather. I don't want to wait another week before they can come. I want it fixed! Please any help would be appreciated!

Guest · Postby **Guest** » Mon 26 May, 2014 16:00

I have the same problem. Very fine dust and dirt may be too small even for the sand to filter out. So, it runs right past the sand and back into the pool. My thought was, how can I filter out this fine stuff when I vacuum, so I did this. I bought and tried two different things. First, I bought a bag of fish tank filter material. its very fine, soft and comes in a sheet. you can cut it to size and place inside your filter baskets to catch small stuff that would normally go right thru the basktets!
Next, because this was still letting in the cloudy stuff that collects at bottom of pool, I bought the paper cylinder cartridges that are really meant for pool filters that use a cartridge. I had to cut them up to fit into my filter baskets. But so far, when vacuuming, they are filtering out much more of the fine dirt particles that usually bypass the sand filter. its not 100%, but its better than it was. Just watch your pressure guage and clean/remove these added filters as needed - they get pretty gunked up and will decrease the pump pressure. Other than that, i have new sand thats only a few seasons old. But, when I changed the sand, I noticed that the "umbrella" rig inside the sand filter that has the jets was cracked toward the top. I didn't have the time or $200 to replace it so I just put it back since I wasn't really having a problem back then. It was only after replacing the sand that I noticed this problem, where I vacuum and watch the cloudy dirt come right back into the pool - how aggravating!

jdudge · Postby **jdudge** » Sun 31 Jul, 2016 12:54

i have the same problem with dirty water being shot into the pool on start up.. I have a hayward CE 75 DE filter with filter fingers. I've taken it apart and reassembled. Replaced the Diaphram, the top plate and a few suspect fingers so far. The suction and return rate is great. The problem is when I vacuum the visible dirt the pressure is not building up in the filter as it should when it gets dirty.. The only part left to replace is the bottom plate.
Never had this problem before.

paulbest · Postby **paulbest** » Wed 03 Aug, 2016 23:47

with sand filters, dirts can be pushed directly through the filter. thus when this situation happens, this may indicate an internal filter problems or a problem with the filter control valve. old or loose valves permits the water to elude the filter and return to the pool unfiltered.

into the bargain, sand filter works well when its a little dry, so prior vacuuming the pool using sand filter, it is highly recommended to not backwash it. you may also want to add filter aids which supplies additional layer of the sand bed to help trap more dirt.

another tip here is to set your multiport valve into "waste". this will pull the water from your pool and directly out of the backwash port. this works effectively especially to debris that are very tiny, fine and small which mainly causes the clogging of your filter.

GrahamC · Postby **GrahamC** » Wed 28 Sep, 2016 08:25

I am having the same problem but have a cartridge filter. I thought the cartridge filter should be good enough to filter out the finer particles.
Somebody gave me some clarifier tablets (aluminium sulphate) which i believe make the particles clog so they are bigger, but it says do not use with cartridge filter.
It is getting very frustrating… pool water looks nice and clear, I vac the bottom and all the dirt spits back through the returns and hey presto - cloudy water!
Company that plumbed in pump etc to cartridge filter and air source heat pump have not included a valve to waste - is this best practice or should they have put one in?
What should I do?

Denniswiseman · Postby **Denniswiseman** » Wed 28 Sep, 2016 12:45

Is there some propriety additive that can be added to the skimmer to make the your filter more efficient
We add Diatomaceous Earth to our sand filter to get the fine particles but that isn't recommended for cartridge filters
If you don't have a MPV with waste on it. It would have been a good idea to be able to divert your water to waste

I have seen this post about connecting to waste with a cart (not sure if it will work for you)
1. Remove drain plug at the bottom of the cartridge filter canister. Its 1.5 inches threaded.
2. Thread in an adapter or coupling to 1.5 pvc.
3. Then a shut off valve then a 1.5 drain pipe.
4. When I need to drain down the pool open the shut off valve and turn on the pool pump.

mlbmeep12 · Postby **mlbmeep12** » Tue 16 Jul, 2019 20:03

I have a 2nd year old sand filter. I vacuumed a bunch of dead algae off the bottom. Had it set to "waste" while vacuuming. Once I restarted the filter on "filter" all the dirt and debris I vacuumed came shooting out of the circulation jets. This filter is only on it's second season, so I'm not sure what is going on. I've only used an Polaris automatic vac before this, so I'm not sure if I did something wrong or what. It is my understanding that when set to "waste" the water is bypassing the filter (and thus the lines back to the pool), so there is no way that water and dirt should have been able to get back into my pool. My nearly perfectly clear pool now looks like it does when we open in the spring. Can't see the bottom. I'm feeling very defeated by this thing right now. Any ideas on what is going on? Thanks!