Hey everyone,
Quick version: new pool owner, low filter pressure, weak skimmer. Help a newbie out with pool maintenance tips.
So I just bought my first house and pool last week. I’ve been doing a ton of research to learn about pool care, but I’m still a total beginner.
It’s a 25,000-gallon saltwater pool, so it’s pretty big. There’s a new chlorinator installed, but there’s only one skimmer in the deep end, even with all that space.
There’s also a spa connected to the same system, with overflow into the pool, but no heater at the moment.
I live in Tampa, FL, and there’s no screen over the pool, so leaves from the trees around us are constantly falling in.
The pool hadn’t been touched in about 6 weeks before I got here, but I’ve shocked it and balanced the chemicals with some help from Pinch A Penny’s free water tests.
I also got an automatic pool vacuum, which has been awesome for cleaning the floor. Plus, I replaced the old cartridge filter with a new one.
Now, two things:
What do you wish you knew when you first got a pool? Anything I might not be thinking of?
(The real issue) I’m getting low pressure in the pump system. I’ve read that normal pressure should be 10-25 psi, but I’m only getting between 1 and 3 psi, depending on which return valves are open.
When just using the skimmer, I can’t get past 1 psi (this was the same before and after I replaced the filter), even with a freshly cleaned skimmer basket.
When I open the floor drain in the deep end, I can hit 3 psi max.
In both cases, the water flow feels super weak – like, it can barely keep the skimmer filter in place.
Do you think the pump might be dying? From what I can tell, it seems fine – it sounds normal, no weird heat issues. Plus, there’s enough flow to keep the chlorinator happy (no low flow warnings), and after shocking the pool, it cleared up all the algae and debris, though I had to sweep the shallow end a few times manually.
Is the low pressure something I should be worried about? Or could it just be normal? Not sure what else to check.
Any thoughts or advice are much appreciated.