Why Is Water In My Backwash Hose Filling Up

by Janice
(MN)

My husband backwashed sat.and left the hose rolled out into the yard. We noticed on the way to church Sunday but forgot to put it up when we got home. Last night he noticed the pool looked normal. This morning (Monday)he noticed half of the pool had drained and the street was wet confirming it left through the backwash hose. (pump is set to run overnight) He double checked and the filter (Waterway Sand Filter, top mount 7 position multi port valve, just replaced the spider valve a couple of months ago) was set to filter.

We had problems in the past with the backwash hose filling with water enough that it broke the roll up wheel thing. That is when we replaced the spider valve. The original valve was glued in. We just lubed the new valve with the lube that came with it and put it back in. Did not glue it in. Is that a problem? Also, recently I have noticed the pressure gauge on the filter is about 10 higher than it used to be. My husband replaced the sand about 6-8 months ago. We have been vacuuming into the filter. Today we just learned about the bypass to waste setting. In the fall I vacuumed up a lot of leaves and berry things. When we turn the valve it doesn't pop into place. It is kind of hard to turn and we have to pull the handle up to make sure it is in the slot. This pool was put in around 2007 or 2009. We have been here for 2 years. There is a little sand coming out of the jets by the stairs. the only way I noticed is because it is on top of the bench up there. otherwise I probably would have thought it was just some dirt on the bottom of the pool.

I think I have read all of the entries you have on your site about this stuff and am going to trouble shoot some stuff when I get home tonight but it is boggling me how all that water ran through like it was on backwash. Also, i do not think I have a air release valve... is it true since the multiport valve is top mount that i don't have to bleed the filter? I would sooo appreciate any help. Thanks!

Hi Janice. There's a lot to unpack here, so I'm just going to cover a couple areas for now. One you have these you can comment back and we can go from there. Your pool is now 12 - 13 years old. the spider gasket could be the issue. Many times water leaking out of the backwash hose is an indication of a bad spider gasket. The gasket rubber will wear down during normal use and will allow water or debris to bypass and escape out the backwash port and be returned to the pool unfiltered. You never want to turn the valve while the pump motor is on. That can also disrupt the seal. Sometimes the gasket only needs to be cleaned up, reset and lubed. Sand can get into the channels and cause it to not seat correctly. My recommendation is to try cleaning it and if that doesn't work, change that out and see if that doesn't fix your issue. Debris or sand being returned to the pool could indicate broken laterals which entails removing all the sand and replacing the laterals.

Robert