Totally Basic DE Filter And Valves For A Swimming Pool
by Carolyn
Eventually everything was taken care of, but I find myself second guessing everything this year. My pool is inground with a vinyl liner. 20' by 40'. I have a Haywood pump and use DE. I have a main drain and three skimmers. The pool holds 35,000 gallons. I feel a bit foolish going back over this, but would you please go over which skimmers need to be open or closed for cleaning, vacuming to waste, general running etc. Thank you As foolish as this sounds, this is really what I need. Love this site!!! Thanks for the question Carolyn and I'm glad you like my site. I will assume you have a good understanding of pool chemistry and how to balance out the chemicals. so I'll just stick to the filtration side, as the question says. A answered a similar question about valve positions in this post: Bottom Drain Valve And Pool Water Pressure It's worth a read. Like the above post says, it's difficult to say which skimmers need to be open all the way, which ones only 1/2 way, etc... because each situation is different. I had a pool in Arizona that had 1 large palm tree right over the deep end. All the bird dropping and everything else that can fall from palm trees fell into the deep end of the pool, so the skimmer in the deep end got a good work out. The one nearest the shallow end stayed pretty clean, so I increase the suction to the deep end skimmer. I had another pool with barely any landscaping, but lots of rocks and dirt, and it had pop-up floor cleaners. I decreased the skimmers and increased the bottom drain because the skimmers didn't have much debris from week to week. It's all about what balance your pool needs for cleaning and proper water flow. On the filtration side, you can close all but one skimmer when vacuuming to WASTE. This will give the vacuum the most suction and speed up the vacuuming process. You might not need to go over the same spot 2 - 3 times before it's clean. But remember to keep an eye on the water level as it will drop quickly when you do vacuum to WASTE. Keep the level between 1/3 - 1/2 up from the bottom of the skimmer. I wouldn't suggest closing the bottom drain. The smaller the hole, the faster the water goes through. A simple law of physics. You run the risk of tearing your DE grids or not having enough water flow through the system. Again, it's about balance. If it's just normal weekly cleaning, I would recommend vacuuming to FILTER, but if you have heavy cleaning or a bad windstorm, going to WASTE would probably be the best bet. Your main time will be on the FILTER cycle. Run it 10 - 12 hours in the Summer. I know in Mass. you close the pool for the Winter. If your system is equipped, after backwashing you'll need to RINSE. This gets out the left over dirt and debris in the line after you backwash. Some good pages for DE filters are these: DE Pool Filters DE Pool Filter Maintenance You might want to see which skimmers need to be open 1/2 way or all the way, including the bottom drain valve. Take a look at your pool. Look at the landscaping. Where is the dirt coming from? Where is it settling? Are there any flowering plants around? Where are they in relation to the skimmers? Are the trees closer to the shallow end or the deep end? Ask yourself these and similar questions, then make the right adjustments to your valves. It may take a few days to get it right, but you will. Hope this helps and if there's anything else, please feel free to contact me. Best of luck. Robert |
