How to Vacuum a Swimming Pool
March 02/2017
Vacuuming your pool doesn’t have to be complicated, although it can be tricky if you haven’t done it before. Here are some simple steps to make vacuuming your pool easy.
Fully submerge the vacuum hose with the pole in to the pool. The other end of the hose should have a vacuum plate which will sit on top of the skimmer basket. After you have forced all the air out of the hose, place the other end into the skimmer. You should feel the suction from the pump pulling the water through the hose.
For the best suction, close the main drain valve in the pump room and make sure the skimmer valve is open.
The sand filter should have the handle set in the ‘filter’ position. As the filter collects dirt and debris the filter will get dirty. This will cause the pressure on the pressure gauge to increase. When the pressure rises 8-12 pounds above normal you will need to do a backwash.
To backwash the filter, turn off the pump and turn the handle on the filter to ‘backwash.’ Turn the pump back on and watch the sight glass. Initially the water will be dirty or cloudy. After 2-4 minutes the water in the sight glass should begin to clear and once it looks the same as the water in the swimming pool turn the pump off.
You will now turn the handle on the filter to ‘rinse’ and then turn the pump back on. Allow the pump to run for about 45 seconds. After this time turn the pump off and turn the handle on the filter back to ‘filter’. You can now turn the pump back on and resume regular operation.
When you have finished vacuuming, open the main drain valve that was closed. If large debris or leaves were vacuumed the skimmer basket by the pool may need to be emptied. Also inspect the basket in the pump and clean it out if necessary.
Only use the ‘waste’ setting on the filter if you want to drain water from the pool. For normal operation and for vacuuming the filter should always be kept on ‘filter’ mode.
Happy vacuuming!
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