Possible Cracked Pipe

[mike.yurick]

Hi there,

I will try to describe my problem as best I can so that you may be able to help me out. Bought a house in June with a pool. Have been running it all summer, keeping the levels as clost to perfect as I could. And decided to close the pool today.

I cleaned the pool nicely, looked so good I wanted to jump in for one last dip in the pool, but it was 68 degrees. So, I passed on that. With the pool sparklying clean, I wanted to lower the water level below the skimmer and return jets.

So with the pump/filter set to 'Waste', I started pumping out the water. I removed the plug in the skimmer basket that goes to the bottom drain plug. I then put the cap in the skimmer basket to force the draining to happen from the bottom drain plug. In less than a minute, the pump lost all suction. I checked the basket in the pump and was full of sand. I cleaned the basket and tried it again. Pump lost suction again and the basket was full of sand. This happened over and over and now my pool is full of sand particles.

My first thought was there was just sand in the pipe from the skimmer basket to the bottom of the drain, and once that was all cleared out, it would work fine. However, I have pulled a lot of sand out and everytime I try to put the cap in the skimmer basket to force drainage from the bottom drain, the basket in the pump fills with sand. I'm beginning to wonder if the pipe from the skimmer basket to the bottom drain is cracked and it pulling in sand.

Before I start digging to have a look, I thought I would ask here to see if anyone else may have an idea as to what is happening.

Thank you in advance.
Take care,
Mike

[mas985]

Because the pump is losing prime and you see sand in the basket, I can't think of anything else that would cause that other than a broken pipe. Are you losing water as well when the pump is off? That is another clue.