No DE in my filter at start up

[teener629]

Long story short, my pentair quad DE 80 filter never got DE put in it. Found out today, pump has been running for 3 weeks. I’ve read everything from it’s fine to it’s def not fine. I don’t have a back wash valve either but that’s supposed to be installed tomorrow now.
At this point (besides adding it) any recommendations? My biggest question: How to know if anything was damaged? Would the damage be plainly visible to the naked eye or are we worried about more insidious damage to components we may not be able to see yet?

Seems like it’s going to need a deep cleaning before adding the DE? Some people soak it in a bleach mix and some people in a MA dilution. Is it reasonable to have the pool builder get the start up pool maintenance company to take care of this for me? I’m trying to read the manual online and getting intimidated.

Lastly Would this cause algae to grow? I’ve been adding a lot more chlorine than expected. Pool looks clear during the day but at night seems a little cloudy.

Thanks!!

 

[ajw22]

You should replace the cartridges in your DE filter.

There is no way to see if they are clogged from being operated without DE.

Some people can try and clean them by whatever method they like but there is no way to verify they are functioning like new. You can run it and see what your PSI is and judge if it is acceptable to you.

The manual describes the cartridge cleaning procedures…

https://www.pentair.com/content/dam/extranet/nam/pentair-pool/residential/filters/quad-de/manual/quad-de-install-guide.pdf

Filtering, or lack of it, does not affect algae. Algae takes root when there is insufficient chlorine to eradicate the algae growth.