Is there a test to see if sand filter leaks?

[Fjvaughn]

First season ever having a pool. Endless challenges.
Pool was not opened for 2 seasons, so getting it clear was a chore.
Finally swam yesterday. This brings up 2 questions:
1) water is clear. Chemistry checks out. As I swam in the deep end down by drain, I noticed stuff (leaves, etc) stuck at the bottom. I've been vacuuming but doesn't seem to be reaching that. Using standard manual HTH vac head. Suggestions on better deep cleaning, since swimming pulled up some deep end debris?
2) more important issue. Sand in filter was oily and gummed up so water was not filtering. Removed sand and replaced, and cleaning began. Now that we are clear, there is an area in the shallow end not far from the return where a pil of dirt continually collects, even after vacuuming.
My fear is that there is an issue with stand pipe or laterals. Question is- is there a way to test if sand is leaking? I want to be sure that it's not leftover old sand before I remove 350 pounds of 2 week old sand and replace stand pipe and laterals.
Help?!!

 

[mas985]

Is the debris really fine? You could try some DE in the filter and see if that helps. If the DE gets blown out then maybe the filter does have a problem.

 

[Fjvaughn]

I will try that when I vacuum the debris, it is not very fine, and looks like sand.

 

[mas985]

If it is sand, then that could be a sign of issues.

 

[Fjvaughn]

Thanks. In my reading, I made a discovery. When I removed the sand and replaced it, I don't recall adding water to the filter before the sand, only after. Could the force of the sand coming in break the laterals? I looked at them when the filter was empty and they looked ok, not that I know what I'm looking at. I wasn't able to remove them from the hub when I had all the sand out.
Pentair Sand Dollar.
I assume I should order an entire stand pipe assembly since it's cheaper than separate laterals, and I don't know how many are broken.
Any other possibilities before I pull apart the filter again?

 

[Fjvaughn]

Sorry if I'm over posting. In the first photo, my foot represents where the return is. You can see the sand pile directly across, and there's some below in the seams.

 

[Richard320]

Rubber band a sock over the return. If it fills up with sand and the pool stays clear, it's coming from the filter.

It could be that the sand was poorly graded and there was a lot of small stuff mixed in that's working it's way out. A worse scenario is that something cracked or didn't get properly seated when you changed sand.

If you catch the stuff in a sock and get rid of it, eventually poorly graded sand will go away. If the sock keeps on filling up, you'll need to get in the filter again.

 

[Fjvaughn]

Thanks. Since I did the sand almost 2 weeks ago, and vacuum, only for the piles to come back, it's probably the laterals.
Next question- if the sand is fairly new, should I reuse, or replace? Not sure how much was lost in pool.

 

[Richard320]

Thanks. Since I did the sand almost 2 weeks ago, and vacuum, only for the piles to come back, it's probably the laterals.
Next question- if the sand is fairly new, should I reuse, or replace? Not sure how much was lost in pool.

Reuse.

 

[ntobik]

Could also be that you have a bad spider gasket. We had a problem with our gasket last year, sand would get through when the pump started. I purchased a new gasket and never saw sand again.

 

[Fjvaughn]

Reused the sand, but wasn't enough, as the standpipe pulled up when I connected the multi port. Got brand new sand and it appears to be working well. Now the pump is making noises and getting hot. Next adventure...