How to Vaccum An Inground Pool?

Are you scratching your head about vacuuming your inground pool? It’s ok not being able to figure out how to approach certain things like what factors you should focus on, what hardware you may need, what those filters do etc.

If you want to maintain a sparkling and clean inground swimming pool, you should take a multilayered approach.
First, you need to think about pH and chlorine levels. Then control the debris and foreign matter.

You can manually scoop out larger, floating debris like leaves with a skimmer net on a telescoping pole. But if there are dirt, debris, and other contaminants which sink to the bottom of the pool, you need to vacuum.

Let’s find how you take specific steps to vacuum your inground pool:

Necessary Hardware You Will Need

Your inground pool needs to have Feature Pool Vacuum Heads of 12 to 16 feet in length. This pool vacuum heads are designed to attach to a universal snap fitting on the end of a telescoping pole.

The telescoping pole also gives room for a skimmer net, a pool brush, and a hook that retrieves rafts and other flotation devices from the pool.

You’ll also need to use pool vacuum hoses of 25 to 50 feet length. Hoses attach with the vacuum head with its swiveling 1.5-inch cuff and plugs into the skimmer vacuum port.

Preparation for Cleaning Process

Make sure air is purged from all vacuum components before starting the vacuuming process. It will prevent air pockets from infiltrating the pool pump intake line, causing the pump to lose its prime.

Connect the vacuum head to the telescoping pole, then connect one end of the vacuum hose to outlet fitting on the vacuum head. And let the vacuum head be submerged to the bottom of the deepest part of the pool.

Push the remaining length of the vacuum hose under the surface afterward so that the open end of the tube is submerged as it fills with water. After the hose is loaded, make sure to keep it underwater at all times.

Making Necessary Connections

A pool vacuum gets its vacuum force from the circulation pump. The pump moves the water through the skimmer inlets, then flow it through the pool filter. Water then come back to the pool through return lines.

Remove the skimmer lid and the strainer basket so that the pool vacuum hose gets threaded through the skimmer inlet. It will keep the open end submerged at all times and connect the suction port at the bottom of the skimmer well.
Check Filter Settings

Multiport filter valves are typically used in small residential pools as they offer six or seven settings with two vacuuming alternatives.

The debris load is the deciding factor of the proper setting of the multiport filter valves.

Valves set have ‘Filter’ and ‘Waste’ setting. Use the ‘filter’ setting if the pool filter is back washed after vacuuming is done to remove debris trapped by the filter.
Set the multiport valves to ‘Waste’ if the pool has a heavy debris load.

It prevents overloading the filter with debris. It will also prevent the filter from contamination with large amounts of live algae or chemical flocculants used to clear the water. After the water level is dropped during vacuuming, add fresh water to prevent air from entering the skimmer inlet.

Vacuuming Techniques

Like mowing a yard, roll the vacuum head across the bottom back and forth as you begin vacuuming from the deep end to the shallow end of the pool. Then, keep rolling the vacuum head slowly across the bottom. If you don’t roll slowly, it will stir up the debris, which might cloud the water and make it less visible.

You will notice the accumulation of larger debris like leaves and sticks in the pump strainer basket, which will cause the vacuum force to decrease. Clean the filter periodically to keep the vacuum running.

Also, don’t forget to monitor the filter pressure gauge while vacuuming with the multiport valve in the ‘Filter’ Setting. Vacuuming will be interrupted if the pressure exceeds the manufacturer’s specifications.

Summary

It would be best if you did a few other things after vacuuming is finished. Remove the head from the telescoping pole. Drain the residual water out of the vacuum hose. Connect a cleaning brush to the telescoping pole to clean any remaining dirt or algae on the sides of the pool.

Also, clean the strainer basket and reopen any valves to additional skimmers to restart complete circulation. And lastly, backwash the filter if the multiport valve is in the ‘Filter’ setting or return the valve in the ‘Filter’ setting if it is in ‘Waste’ Setting.

We know, all these settings and steps may seem new to you. You will get used to cleaning the pool a few times. Also, another reminder, While you add fresh water to the pools and chemicals to restore the balance of chlorine, don’t forget to check the pH level of the water.
We hope this article will ease your pool vacuuming endeavor.