The most common reasons why a cartridge, sand, or DE filter's pressure rises quickly, even after cleaning or backwashing, is a clogged or blocked filter, algae or old filter elements. If any of these things are wrong, the pressure can rise rapidly in minutes, hours or days.
High swimming pool filter pressure is usually the result of a lot of particles being filtered out of the swimming pool water. When pressure rises it is time to backwash the filter if you have that option with a sand or diatomacesous earth (DE) filter.
A pool filter requires a certain amount of pressure inside the tank to function. If that pressure gets too low or too high, the filter won't work properly, and it can damage other equipment.
For pool owners, the normal range is around 10 PSI; check your owner's manual for more information. Once you know what's normal for your filter, get in the habit of checking the pressure gauge once a week as part of your pool maintenance routine.
Your filter may be clean and normal at 9-10 psi, but your neighbor's filter gauge could run higher, and be clean at 15-16 psi. Some systems with very low resistance can run very low pressures, barely registering, while other filter systems can run quite high, pushing 30 psi when the filter becomes dirty.
The pool filter pressure should be steady, operating in a range of +/- 10 psi. When it's outside this range, very low or very high, then you know that something's wrong. Some gauges allow you to set the clean and dirty range, or you can write it on the filter tank with a marker.
With the pool pump off, check your gauge—it should read zero. If it doesn't, or if it reads zero when the pump is on, your gauge is probably ready to go. Examine the gauge dial for warping, which could indicate that you've got a broken gauge. You can also give it a flick, and see if the pressure momentarily pops up.
Add diatomaceous earth (DE) to your pool skimmer, stick to around a scoop or two – no more than the size of a 1lb coffee cup. The moment you do this, go to the pool jets to see if it is returning DE into the pool, or if the water suddenly looks cloudy. If it is, you likely have an issue with your filter.
Can You Backwash Too Much? If you backwash your pool too much i.e. time duration and/or close frequency then yes you can cause a lot of problems. Some problems that can arise from backwashing your sand pool filter too much are: Loss of water – 500+ litres of water can be lost in each backwashing cycle.
In most high-rate sand filters, it's time to backwash when the pressure differential reaches 18 to 20 psi. But if the system has only an inlet pressure gauge, you should backwash when the pressure increases by 8- to 10 psi from initial post-backwash readings.
The size of your pool, the efficiency of your pump and filter, and how dirty your pool is are just some of the factors you need to consider. Nevertheless, most pool cleaning professionals would advise against running a pool pump for more than 8 hours a day.
Pool filters do explode and can cause damage to property and serious injury or even death. Since 1982, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has recorded at least 23 incidents of pool filter explosions.
After the hose fills with water, backwash your sand filter for 2 - 3 minutes, or until water runs clear.
The rule of thumb is generally 8 hours, although it could be anywhere from 6-12 hours, depending on your pool's size. Each pool is unique, so to keep your pool pump efficient and effective, you need to figure out exactly what your pool's turnover rate is.
You can get electrocuted in a swimming pool as a result of: (1) faulty electrical wiring to pool equipment such as underwater lights, pumps, filters and vacuums; (2) no GFCI (Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupters) protections for outlets and circuits; and (3) electrical appliances and extension cords entering the water.
A pool needs a clean filter and it needs to be cleaned periodically-usually once a month in swim season and perhaps less frequently in the offseason. If your pool's filter is oversized by design, these filters need cleaning 3-4 times per year by a pool professional.
It's best to run your pool pump during the day
Not only does sunlight give fuel for algae to grow, it also destroys your pool chlorine and this is why you should always run your pool during the day!
The extra filtering will help clean out the impurities rain has introduced into your pool's water. Pool pumps are made to withstand rain and it is beneficial to run your pump during or after rain.
We recommend that our customers run their pumps rain or shine UNLESS we have an electrical storm. In that case, lightning could strike an outside circuit, which could damage your pump and other equipment. If you're worried about lightening, turn the pump off or shut off the breaker.
Drain/Waste: Opting the drain or waste setting will remove pool water without forcing it through the filter. Backwash: This clears out any debris, dirt and other contaminants that may have accumulated on the filter. Closed: if you choose this setting, then the flow of water to the pool and filter will be stopped.
If you see it blowing out into the pool, something is broken. The most common problem is a cracked lateral, which is one of the perforated pipes at the bottom of the filter that catches water that has circulated through the sand.
The question “how often should you backwash your pool” is often on every pool owner's mind. You have to do a backwash if you want to clean your pool and ensure your filtration runs efficiently.
When you first install a sand filter or renew the sand, you may indeed get a small amount of sand coming out when backwashing, rinsing or filtering. Often, excess sand gets into the wrong places when refilling and will sand to come out into the pool or out of the backwash hose. But it should go away after a few runs.
Too much sand and your filter will likely not run correctly or may break when reassembling. Too little sand and you will have cloudy water no matter how much your filter runs.