Managing your pool water flow is really important and has lots of elements to it.
How to correct the low water pressure in your pool.
in addition to this video, I tried for a year to get my pressure fixed. I had lots of things going on and I fixed the clogs in the line. For this, the tool that finally did the job was a small rubber piece that blows up and blocks the pipe from pushing water backward and pressures the water forwards, clearing the blockage. It is an elegant solution that requires no plumber and the part is $10 and reusable.
Although this fixed the blockage, it didn’t fix the low pressure so I had to keep going. I am writing because the traditional solutions offered on the web didn’t fix my issue. Nothing did! That is until I got to the issue and then it was fixed.
A plumber friend, Bill Drinkard, used to take care of pools for the military bases. He suggested that I change the diameter of the pipes by making it all 2 inch from the pump to the return. I ended up buying a 2″ filter cartridge to replace the 1 1/2 inch one I had. I bought a new variable pump to get maximization of water flow. The issue never fixed. I was very perplexed. I used the pool like that for the fall and it ran through its winter cycle.
The next year, I did a deep spring cleaning which included cleaning the filter. After a TSP bath, the filter was still so heavy that my husband wanted it to be changed. I had one ready and installed the new filter. All of a sudden, my issue was fixed!!! The old filter which came with the new filter box had only a few small holes in it. It didn’t let enough water through it!! The new Pleatco filter that I put in said on the box that it has special engineering to let the water through in a good way. It worked!!!
Instead, of the water backing up, causing pressure and working against itself, the new filter let more water through and suddenly, all my issues were gone. The water could move the pool system. I couldn’t believe it. I worked so hard to fix that!! All I had to do was to reset the pool pump for lower settings with great results and movement. Suddenly the skimmer basket cleaned the pool surface, and everything worked the way it should.
I had read about using an open weave filter, but I worried that the construction and design of the filter would be “flimsy”. The manufacture would have engineered it properly in the new filter cartridge. Apparently not!! I am so happy!!!!
I did have to change to a floating skimmer. The pool skimmer is right under the waterfall. The waterfall pushes the water away, making the place to collect dust and debris to be on the other side of the pool. By using the vacuum line, I put a Skim-Around filter basket in. This did the trick although some of the particles collect around it and on the hose with breaks the water surface in one place. I just use my skimmer net to get them out of the pool to make the sanitizer’s job easier!
Speaking of sanitizer, the summer before, I had put in a Solar Eclipse unit which has UV Lights and Ozone generators. But it really didn’t work because the pool wasn’t pushing water. We had put the Solar Eclipse up as a wall mount to keep it away from the rainwater flooding that area sometimes. It wasn’t working because the water wasn’t getting through it because of the weak water flow. All of a sudden, it began to work. I could tell because the algae and pool clarity was MUCH BETTER after the cleaning cycle. The water looked great.
Another great improvement was to buy a dolphin pool vacuum. This helped me because it didn’t rely on water pressure from the pool and could remove debris and have its filters cleaned each time I used it. Although it was expensive, I found a guy who wanted to sell one and he hadn’t really used it. HALF PRICE!!! I got lucky.
The pool now pushes water through my sanitizer, doesn’t make as much noise, the day feature really moves the water and it is now effective to clean it. This whole time I had a brand new unit which didn’t work. I couldn’t work that out. It was supposed to work!
The sanitizer uses ozone and UV lights and it is recommended to run it 24 hours. Using my new variable pump, I have it run quietly at night, with a bit of waterfall but not too loud for conversation. Then in the morning, partly to get me going, I have it set for a strong current to clean the water. Before, with low water pressure, it didn’t work. It didn’t have enough pressure to get enough water through the sanitizer, now with the new filter installed, it works! The pool stays cleaner and I don’t need as much oxidizer. I really wanted that and wondered what I did wrong for a very long time!
A few more things that I have done to make my pool work for me. There are some things that you just can’t get around: sweeping the sides of the pool is one of them. It doesn’t seem to be that effective either when I sweep. The algae seems to still be there. My polyquat 60 works much better with circulation. But, I still get little black particles in the cracks of the gunite. I fear that it is the roots of black algae because the pool was so sluggish.
I like efficient solutions. I need to get the pool walls really scrubbed clean, much like a show grout. This time, I got innovative! I made it more efficient by putting my pressure washer nozzle on a long pool brush/net handle and attached it with lots of velcro strips. Then I gently cleaned the sides of the pool, the bottom around the lights, and inside the vents which had algae lying inside. Wow! My pool sparkles.
Using the pressure washer needs some caution. You don’t want to get in too close or too intense or you will remove the stones from the liner. There is another issue, which is, once I start shooting the water into the pool, the bubbles make it hard to see so I can’t do it visually, I have to go through it systematically. The pressure washer is loud and stinky and I am careful to use it only during midday working hours.
The good news is it gets it much cleaner than vacuuming or brushing. If I use my head and keep it up, I only have to clean it once per month or after the rain and, of course, I don’t want to strip the gunite. I need a new gunite liner and I thought I would get a handle on the water chemistry, the cleaning cycles and bring the pool up to date BEFORE putting in the new gunite lining. I would get my education first!
I live in central Florida and it rains a lot in the summer. The water from the swamp steams off the creeks and the swamp algae and all rises up into the air and dumps down in a thunderstorm. The water in the pool gets this gel and I know that this is the nest of the microbes! I clean this out of my body with enzymes. I know this is what attaches itself to the pool walls. That’s why I am determined to keep the pool sparkling clean!
I am still working on a way to cover the pool so the oxidizer doesn’t have to work so hard to remove the organic material. But my pool is a kidney shape, with landscaping close to the sides and there is a waterfall which complicates the anchors. I am thinking of putting a tarp up high and angling the rainwater away from the porch and house. If this is not too hard, it will make it very easy to keep the pool clean!
