Rinsing After Backwashing and Other Settings on Your Sand Filter

What happens if you forget to rinse after backwashing your sand filter? Don't forget to rinse! if you can. Rinsing for 30 seconds after backwashing pushes the sand back in place clearing the filter of loose dirty water. If you don't rinse, you'll have a puff of dirty water coming through the jet and back into your clean pool.

But not all sand filters have a rinse setting (especially some of the older ones), so having a puff of dirty water isn't a big deal.

The rinse setting on a pool sand filter cleans the filter and prepares it for the next use:

When to use: After backwashing, which reverses the water flow.

• How long to use: Run the filter for about 15–20 seconds or 1 minute.

• What it does: Rinses away any remaining dirt and debris from the filter, and helps settle the sand.

• Where the water goes: The water used in the rinse setting goes to waste, not back into the pool.

Here are some other settings on a pool sand filter:

• Backwash

  Reverses the water flow to send water out of the waste line. This setting is used to clean out debris.

• Recirculate

  A filter bypass setting that circulates the water if the filter is broken or leaking.

• Closed

  Closes off flow from the pool, usually to work on the equipment.

• Waste/drain

  A filter bypass setting that sends water out of the waste pipe, instead of returning it to the pool.