In this blog and accompanying video, we are going to show you how to vacuum an inground swimming pool. You will need the following items:

• A vacuum head: https://www.eztestpools.com/pool-brushes/
• A vacuum hose: https://www.eztestpools.com/vacuum-hoses/
• A vacuum pole: (we suggest the piranha brand pole)
• A skimmer adapter plate: https://www.eztestpools.com/skimmer-parts/

Vacuuming your pool is a necessary step to help and maintain water health as well as getting to that crystal-clear look that everyone is striving for.

First thing’s first, make sure that the correct end of the vac hose is attached to the vac head. To make sure that this is correct, look on the hose cuff where it will say something like “attach to vacuum head” and the other end will attach to what is called a “skim vac”. A skim vac is used to allow the hose to be inserted into the skimmer but also keep the skimmer basket in place allowing it to catch a great deal of the debris being vacuumed out and in turn less material going through the pipe and potentially clogging it.

With the pump running, make sure that the multi-port valve is turned to “filter” position. On this particular pool there is a main drain line and a skimmer line with a Jandy valve. When you want to vacuum make sure you close the main drain side so that all of the suction is coming from the skimmer line.

At this point, the vac hose is now attached to the vac head and the whole thing is in the pool attached to the vacuum pole. On the other side of the hose, the skim vac is now attached. With the attached skim vac in one hand, you will want to come over to the return line and fill the hose up with pool water. As the hose fills up, you will the see the vacuum head go up in the air and it will bubble. When the bubbles subside and the vacuum head goes back down to the floor, you have enough water in the pipe. This activity ensures that the air is out of the line so that the pool pump doesn’t lose its prime. If you didn’t do this, you’d be adding 45 feet of air.

The next step is to open the skimmer, remove any chlorine tabs, oil sponges, or anything else that may be in there. Place the skimmer vac directly on top of the skimmer basket. The suction generated by the pump is enough to keep both of these things in place.

Now we’re ready to vacuum. The heavy-duty aluminum power pole being used has the ability to extend, allowing you to reach out into the middle of the pool bottom. We also sell it in our stores and online as well. Just like vacuuming a room in your home, there’s different methods to getting it done but basically you are looking to cover every inch of the pool floor, steps, and ledges thoroughly.

When you’re done vacuuming go ahead and turn the pool pump off, you are releasing the suction allowing the skim vac to pop up. Because the vacuum seal is now broken the skimmer vac and hose are easily removed from the skimmer itself.

Remove the vacuum hose, the pole and the vac head from the pool. Disconnect the hose from the vacuum head and retract the power pole leaving the vacuum head attached. In our case we’re going to hang this back up on the chain link fence using a product called “Missing Links” fence holders. These bend all over different ways allowing many different things to hang and be secured on the fence itself. Lastly, go ahead and rolled the hose up and store off to the side or wherever you choose to safely secure it.

At this time move the Jandy valve back to the middle position so that the suction from the pump will be applied evenly. Go ahead and turn the pump back on. It will need time to prime. (This one will go all of the way to 3,000 RPMs and then drop back down depending on where the settings are.) At this point your system is back to normal operation after vacuuming.

One more thing worth mentioning is that if after you vacuum, you notice your filter pressure is very high this is usually indicative of all of your vacuumed-up dirt ending up in the filter tank. You would go ahead and shut the pump off again then turn the multi-port valve to backwash. Turn the pump back on and because the valve is turned to backwash, water will clean the inside of the filter tank and exit out of the discharge pipe. There’s a site glass attached to that pipe which you will see get dirty as the water exits the filter tank. We would suggest backwashing for approximately 2 minutes. Turn the pump off again, turn the multi-port valve to “rinse”, turn the pump back on and rinse for 30 seconds. Turn it off for a final time and then turn the multi-port valve to “vac and filter” and turn the pump back on for normal operation.

The multi-port valve has another setting labeled “waste” this would allow you to bypass the filter, drain your pool and in turn, lose your filter powder if being used.

Also, be advised to never move the multi-port valve unless the pool pump is turned off.

Take a look at the video below as some of this may be better understood when it’s seen. If there’s any questions please contact us as we’d be happy to help.