No Pressure

[artskin]

Hello i have a 10,000 gal in ground pool with a A.O. Smith pump and D E filter, i recently noticed my pool was building up alge andthat the pump sounded like its under stress when my valve is turned to suck water trough the skimmer, but if if its turned to the spa it has a lot of pressure. can someone tell me what i should do?? thank you in advance.

[Pool Owner]

It sounds like you have a clog in your suction line and/or closed valve. Is it possible you vacuumed up lots of leaves that may have been stuck in the pipe? Since you are able to pump water to and from the spa, you know that the pump and filter are working properly. Also, since you said that there is no pressure, you know it is not a blocked return line. If you cannot get this resolved quickly yourself you will want to get help from a professional. You will want to address the algae problem quickly before it becomes a real problem.

For the future, you may want to invest about $30 into getting a good reference pool book. If you have not yet done so, check your local library for books on the subject of pool maintenance/construction to see if there is one you like. I have a short review of a few books on my blog (noted below). While it is very large, I think you will find “The Ultimate Pool Maintenance Manual” a good choice. Since it is almost 700 pages, you need to use it like these pool bulletin boards, search for the information you need and only read the part that covers your problem.

[artskin]

is there anything i can try like running a plumber snake through the lines?? is that even safe of is there another way to fix this if its cloged.....

[dynamictiger]

You can try running your garden hose into the line from the pump end. What I would do is jam the hose into the line with a towel or something equally bulky and try running the hose. It may not budge the material or may blow out, but it is worth a try.

HTH

[artskin]

i tried that already and the hose did not get very far....i guess i have to hire someone to take a look @ it...do you think a regular pool service would be able to help or a pool builder??

[Pool Owner]

You can also try that garden hose end “thingy” that blows up to close off the pipe at the skimmer to see if you can force the clog into the pump basket (pot). If you have an idea how the pipes run and where the clog could be, I have had luck fishing down 12-ga copper wire or an electrical “fish” since many times you only need to get things opened up some. If you are getting some suction and think it is leaves, you might be able to expedite their deterioration by pouring liquid chlorine in the line to increase the concentration near the clog; however, high concentrations of chlorine can create other problems if it exposed too long to anything other than PVC.

I do not know which professional (pool repair or plumber) is better qualified to remove a clog. The plumber’s equipment is likely to be less “clean” in more ways than one and unfortunately “sweeps” are not used in swimming pool plumbing, which I think is an error at least for the suction lines. Also, I have never seen a “clean out” in pool piping.

Good luck and let us know the final problem and solution.