At the start of the pool season, we always get calls from homeowners with complaints like “my pump isn’t pumping as strong as it did last year” or “the skimmer isn’t working”. Nine times out of ten, they have forgotten to backwash their filter!
Spring in NW Arkansas means the season of stuff falling into the pool… pollen, grass clippings, seeds and blossoms from trees and plants. When your pool is doing its job, a majority of that debris gets pulled into the skimmer where a lot of it is caught in the skimmer basket. The smaller particles, however, go through the skimmer basket and into the filter where they stay. As those particles accumulate, less and less water can move through the filter, and that results in lack of flow back into the pool. A quick peek at the pressure gauge can confirm the problem – it’s time to backwash!
In the spring, It’s not unusual to need to backwash several times a week, even every day if you have lots of oak trees dropping tassels. Once the pollen/seed season has passed, once a week is usually adequate.
Can’t quite remember the backwash process? Here’s a helpful infographic to jog your memory.
