Part of home ownership (if you own a pool) is how to backwash your pool every week or so.
You want to keep an eye on the PSI gauge on your filter and know your various limits/levels. For instance, the pool in this video reads around 20psi when it’s clean, so I like to backwash it when it’s reading 30psi or higher which is usually about once/week during the summer.
I’ll list out the steps here, then you can also watch the video below to see for yourself.
Backwashing DE pool steps
- Remove skimmer baskets so we are not restricting flow to the pump at all
- Roll out your backwash hose completely
- Turn OFF pump
- Open backwash valve
- Turn ON pump
- Watch the awesome dirty water come out
- Wait about a minute or minute and a half.. longer if it still looks dirty.
- Turn OFF pump
- Close the backwash valve
- Turn ON pump
- Go to the skimmer closest to the pump
- Dump in your DE to the skimmer slowly so you don’t clog things up (look below video for the correct amount)
- Replace skimmer baskets
- SWIM!
Here is a video to help you along. I forgot to film the part about removing the baskets, sorry :/
How much DE powder to add after backwashing?
This depends on how many Square feet your filter is. Use the table below:
- 24 Square Ft –> 3 scoops
- 36 Square Ft –> 4.5 scoops
- 48 Square Ft –> 6 scoops
- 60 Square Ft –> 7.5 scoops