Frequently Asked Questions

One of the first questions that your Pool Shop or Swimming Pool Technician will ask you is “how big is your Pool or Spa”. What they are asking is how many litres of water does it hold. If you don’t know  you can always give them the dimensions of the pool (length x breadth x depth measured in metres ) as this will help them to work out the volume.

It is important to accurately  determine the volume of your swimming pool or spa as you will need to know this to make sure that you put the correct amount of chemicals in your pool/spa. 

If you underestimate the volume and put too little chemical in the water it will be too diluted and as a result it will not be effective and you will not get the result you are seeking. 

If you overestimate the volume and put too much chemical into the pool or spa you can damage the skin and eyes of the people swimming in the pool. Long term exposure to excessive chemical levels can damage equipment such as pumps, filters, pool linings, automatic cleaners and equipment.

Knowing the volume of your pool or spa is also very important when purchasing replacement equipment such as pumps and filters.  Both of these pieces of equipment are designed to process a specified number of litres of water per hour and it is important that the correct size pump is matched to the filter. 

Calculating how may Litres your Pool or Spa holds is easy!

a). Measure the pool or spa in metres.

b). RECTANGULAR POOLS: Multiply the average width by the average length by the average depth. e.g. 10 metres long x 5 metre wide x 1.5metre is depth. = 75 cubic metres 

c). One Cubic Metre (that is 1metre x 1metre x 1metre) holds 1000 litres of water. 

The answer to the equation above will be the total number of cubic metres your pool or spa holds.  So in the example above the pool would hold 75 x 1000 litres or 75,000 litres

d). CIRCULAR POOLS: Multiply half the Diameter of the pool (i.e. the radius) by (half the diameter x the average depth ) x 3

e). OVAL POOLS: Multiply half the length of the pool by half the width by average depth by 3.

The answer to this question will vary depending upon several factors; 

a). The bather load. That is the number of people swimming in the pool each day/week.

b). The amount of sun that the pool receives each day.

c). The season. That is the time of year. Obviously, you will need to run your filter for more hours during the warmer months in Summer and less hours in the colder months of Winter.

d). How exposed the pool is. Some pools are built in positions that have little shelter or are located in corridors that expose them to strong winds. The amount of dust/dirt and vegetation that blow into the pool will also impact upon how long you will need to run your pool’s filter.

Subject to the above considerations the recommended filtration time for an average 50,000 litre suburban swimming pool is as follows:

Summer (Swimming) Season:  First Weekend in October through to Easter Holiday.

CHLORINE POOL: 8 to 10 hours per day.

SALT POOL: 10 to 12 hours per day.

Winter (Non Swimming) Season: May to September

CHLORINE POOL : 3 to 4 hours per day

SALT POOL: 4 to 5 hours per day.

Where possible try to run the filter at night as this will allow; Salt pools time to generate chlorine without the sunlight removing it from the pool. It will also allow Chlorine Pools time to circulate the chlorine without the sunlight removing it. In some cases running the filter late at night may mean that you can take advantage of off peak rates of electricity. 

Before doing this, you will need to take into consideration the noise level generated by your pump as if it is not enclosed and is too loud it may annoy neighbours and leave you open to noise pollution complaints. 

Pools usually go green for one reason....a lack of chlorine. 

The green colour is caused by algae which is a plant material that grows in un-chlorinated. water. Algae is similar to moss, mould, and seaweed. There are several types of algae that  grow in pools. 

They are known by their colour Green, Black, Mustard/Coral.

Algae spores can be dormant in the pool for days, waiting for conditions to develop which suit them. When these occur it allows the spores to bloom and cause the water to go green. Algae will also attach itself to pool walls and internal fittings.

Green Algae: is the most common and is easily treated.

Black Algae: is common in pools with porous surfaces.eg marble sheen, pebblecrete, quartzon. Black Algae has a particular root system that can be difficult to remove and if left to multiply can cause damage to the pools surface when left untreated.

This can result in expensive repairs needing to be carried out.

Mustard or Coral  Algae: whilst easily treated is difficult to remove by filtering because it is similar in consistency to talcum powder. It is best to vacuum to waste after chemical treatment.

Prevention is better and cheaper than curing the problem. If you keep your pool regularly chlorinated it will never go green.

Fixing the problem:

Where possible take a water sample from your green pool to your local pool shop and ask them to test it. This will accurately tell you what chemicals are needed and what quantities are required  to get rid of the algae.

Where this is not possible: 

a) back wash filter 

b) add 1 to 1.5ltrs of Hydrochloric Acid. Turn the pump on and circulate the water for 2 to 3 hours. 

c) Brush the walls and floor to the best of your ability.

d)  Depending on the size of the pool and the severity of the algal bloom, add somewhere between 20 to 80 litres of Liquid Chlorine. After 24 hours reassess the situation. If the pool still contains green algae add more liquid chlorine. Remember algae is a plant material, when it is living it is green in colour. When it dies it will turn white or light brown  in colour. 

e) Run the pump and filter for 48 hours straight.

f) Once all the green has gone and the pool has turned white, pour in 1litre of Crystal Clear Clarifier or 2kg of Pool Floc for each 50,000ltrs of pool water. (e.g. 100,000ltr pool will take 2ltrs of  Crystal Clear Clarifier or 4kgs of pool floc).

g) After 6 to 10 hours the pool water should have cleared. All the water borne sediment will have sunk to the floor of the pool.  Change the multiport valve setting on your filter to “waste” and manually vacuum the pool using this setting. When you manually vacuum the pool to waste (rather than the usual "filter" setting) all debris vacuumed from the floor  of the pool will bypass the filter and be carried straight down the drain. This is particularly useful when there is a large volume of debris to be removed from the floor. Bear in mind, that if you use the regular “filter” setting on your multiport valve when vacuuming the pool floor, the debris will be trapped inside the filter. What goes into the filter has to be removed from the filter at some stage in the future ( this is done via the backwash process) 

Blackspot Algae is unique in so far as it grows in clumps that most closely resemble  black moss. It has a third dimension as it grows out from the pool wall and can be scrapped of the wall using your finger nail. It tends to grow in shaded areas of the swimming pool. It is caused by irregular volumes of chlorine in the swimming pool. It is aggressive and can be difficult to treat. 

Blackspot algae on the walls. Treatment is performed via a three step process.

a). In pools with a marble sheen, pebble crete or quartzon surfaces use a stainless steel algae brush to vigorously brush the black spot algae to remove the crust and expose the roots. If the surface of the pool is fibreglass, tiled, painted or vinyl lined use a nylon bristle brush instead of the stainless steel brush.

b). After brushing all the affected area, pour 1x litre of Professional Quality Liquid black spot killer in the pool per 50,000 litres of pool water. (e.g. 100,000 litre pool would require 2 x 1litre bottles of black spot remover).

c). Put a super chlorination dose in the pool. This is defined as 4 to 5 times the regular chlorination dose you put in the pool each day.  So, if you normally chlorinate your pool with say 1 x ltr of liquid chlorine per day put in 4 to 5 litres at this stage of the treatment. If you normally use say 400gm of granular chlorine per day put in 1.6kg to 2kg of granular chlorine. 

This step is most important, as if it is overlooked, the black spot algae that you have dislodged  from affected areas of the pool during the brushing step (No.1) can spread and reattach it self in other locations in the swimming pool. This can make the problem worse and is to be AVOIDED AT ALL COST.

Where the blackspot algae is on the floor follow the three steps above but substitute 1kg of Professional Quality granular blackspot killer for the liquid blackspot killer. 

Salt Cells work by electronically converting sodium chloride or salt via electrolysis into liquid chlorine which is used to sanitise the pool. It is the liquid chlorine your chlorinator makes that sanitises the pool/spa NOT the salt,

If the salinity level falls below the minimum threshold the salt cell will be unable to make sufficient liquid chlorine to keep the pool sanitised.

The easiest way of establishing the level of salt in the swimming pool or spa water is to take a water sample to your swimming pool shop. They will test your water sample using an electronic testing device. The recommended reference range for salt content is between 3,000 and 5,000 parts per million (ppm.)

Raising the salinity of your pool.

For every 1,000 ppm increase in salinity level required, you need to add 10kg of salt to 10,000 litres of water. 

For example, if your pool contains 50,000 litres, you need to add 50kg of salt to raise the total salinity by approx. 1,000ppm.

If your 50,000ltr pool had no salt in it at all, (i.e. fresh water) you would need to add approx. 12 x 20kg bags to raise the salinity to 5,000ppm.

In a 50,000 litre pool one x 20kg bag of Salt will raise the salinity by approx. 400ppm

If you just can’t find the time to chlorinate your pool on a regular basis you have several options. 

Option No.1 The cheapest and easiest option is to use tablets in a floating dispenser.

You have two choices of tablets. 

You can use a) Professional Quality 200gm stabilised tablets or b) Professional Quality 200gm chlorine tablets (non stabilised) in a floating dispenser. 

These tablets dissolve slowly over 7 to 14 days and will keep the pool clean with minimum effort on your part. Please note that the stabilised tablets will take a longer period of time to dissolve than the chlorine (non stabilised) tablets. This is because the binding agents used in the stabilised tablets slow down the rate at which the stabilised tablets dissolve. 

You should use 1 x 200 gm tablet for each 20,000 litres of pool water that you need to chlorinate. Therefore, if you have an average size suburban swimming pool of 50.000 litres you will need to use 3 tablets per fortnight.

One disadvantage of using stabilised tablets over an extended period of time is that they may contribute to an increase in the level of stabiliser (Cyanuric Acid) in the pool. Should the stabiliser level exceed 50ppm it may cause problems by negating the effect of the chlorine in the pool. If this occurs, it may send the pool green regardless of how much chlorine is used.

One way of overcoming this problem is to alternate between using stabilised and non stabilised tablets. This will slow down the rate at which the stabiliser (Cyanuric Acid) accumulates in the pool. 

PLEASE NOTE: Stabilised and chlorine (non stabilised) tablets are not compatible and must not be put in the same floating dispenser at the same time as they can catch fire and/or explode. 

Always ensure that the floating tablets dispenser has been thoroughly washed and all chlorine residue removed before changing to a new type of tablet.

Option No. 2 Purchase an Automatic Liquid Chlorine Dispenser. These electro mechanical devices plug into a standard 240 volt power outlet and are plumbed into the pool return lines. (i.e. after the filter and before the water goes back into the pool) They dispense a measured dose of liquid chlorine into the pool each day. They come in a various levels of sophistication. The base model of the brand we recommend  is made in Australia and comes with a 2 year warranty. It can be fitted by any handy man requiring only a hacksaw and some blue/green plastic pipe glue. More sophisticated models have provision for dispensing acid as well as chlorine. The top of the range model has electrodes in the pipe which continually monitor the chlorine and acid level in the pool water and adjust the dose of both according to the conditions on that particular day.

The only part that needs regular replacement on an automatic liquid chlorine dispenser is the squeeze tube. This lasts around 2 years and costs approx. $35 to $45 to replace.

Option No. 3 Convert the pool to salt water and install a salt water chlorinator. There are two components, a power pack (transformer) and the salt cell itself. It can be installed by a handy man but it is usually recommended that both components are installed by a professional. 

It works by converting salt via electrolysis into liquid chlorine. It is the liquid chlorine that sanitises the water not the salt. An analogy may be drawn with the home brewing industry.

Rather than buy you beer  from  the Pub or bottle shop you decide to  make your own.

But in this case it applies to liquid chlorine. Rather than buying your liquid chlorine at the pool shop or service station, you have decided to make your own.

Typically salt water pools need the pump to run for up to two hours longer per day in comparison to pools  chlorinated with liquid or granular chlorine. With the ever increasing cost of electricity this needs to be taken into consideration and included in the budgeted running costs for the year. The salt cell itself, typically has a life expectancy of around 5 to 6 years before it needs to be replaced. The cost of a new salt cell  usually equates to approx. half the purchase price of the new unit. For example if your paid $1,200 for your salt system ( Cell and  transformer combined)  a replacement cell would cost approx. $600.  Again you need to budget the cost of replacing the salt cell every 5 years or so.

It is also important to ensure that you keep the salt level at approx. 35 to 50 parts per million (PPM). For without adequate salt levels the pool is incapable of making sufficient chlorine.

In a 50,000 litre pool one 20kg bag of salt will raise the salinity by approx 400ppm

So if you are converting a fresh water pool of say 50,000 litres to salt you would need approx. 10 bags of salt. You also need to replace the salt you have converted into chlorine during the year. This will vary depending upon how much use the pool gets each year, how much sun it is exposed to, the amount of vegetation that falls into the pool.

But allow for at least one 20kg bag of salt every two to three months.

Swimming Pools or Spas usually go green for one reason..... LACK OF CHLORINE!

Absolutely! Many people think it's cheaper to “let the pool go” in Winter and not chlorinate it.

However, this is false economy, as the cost of the extra chemicals it takes to bring the pool back to a suitable condition for swimming in summer (not to mention the cost of electricity required by the extended filtration periods required to filter the rubbish out of it,) far out exceeds the cost of chlorine that would have been used through the winter period.

“Letting a pool go” can do permanent damage to the lining of the pool. If Black Spot algae develops it may cause permanent craters in the marble sheen pebblecrete/quarzton lining.

 It can get between the gelcote and glass layers in a fibre glass pool causing permanent staining that you will never remove. It can also permanently stain some vinyl liners.

The moral of the story is to keep the pool chlorinated all the time. Daily in the summer period and at least every second to third day during Winter.

Pools or Spas can become cloudy/muddy/dirty for a number of reasons: 

a) In periods of heavy rain lower lying pools can be subject to runoff from higher ground.

b) As the water moves down hill it can bring soil, mud or garden debris with it into the pool from higher ground or garden beds.

c) Pools with a high calcium level or very high levels of  stabiliser  can reach a tipping point and suddenly turn cloudy or milky literally in front of your eyes if more granular chlorine or stabiliser is added to the pool. In this case it appears as though a white fog has suddenly filled the pool.

d) As previously mentioned, this is because a tipping point has been reached and the addition of extra granular chlorine or stabiliser causes that product to come out of solution with in the pool water and precipitate (rain) that chemical within the pool.

e) Landscapers/Builders/Tradespeople working at your home or the neighbours property may fail to properly secure/cover building or landscape supplies which in periods of high wind can end up in your pool.

f) Pools that have been allowed to go green and have then been rectified  with large volumes of chlorine or algaecide will usually turn white or milky. This is because algae is a living plant material. When killed by the chlorine it turns from green to white in colour leaving the pools white or “tea” coloured.

It is always preferable to get rid of all the green algae in the pool before treating with pool floc.

All scenarios above can be treated with Flocculants or Clarifiers.

A 2kg bag of Pool Floc or 1ltr bottle of Crystal Clear Clarifier are designed to clear a 50,000ltr swimming pool. Within approx. 6 to 8 hours either product will bring all water borne sediments to the bottom of the pool leaving the water crystal clear.

It will then be necessary to manually vacuum the pool to remove all debris from the bottom of the pool. If the material on the bottom of the pool is particularly thick it is best to turn your multiport valve to the waste setting. If you vacuum to “waste” you bypass the filter. This means that instead of the debris being trapped in the filter (which will have to be removed from the filter at some stage in the future) it goes straight down the drain.

If you have on going problems with clarity in the pool or just want to put a polish on the water you may choose to use a Miraclear clarifying cube in the skimmer basket. Once placed in water this gel cube expands approx. 10 times in size and takes approx. 3 to 4 weeks to dissolve. Pool water entering the skimmer box flows over the clarifier cube before entering the pump and filter before returning to the pool were it drops any water borne sediments.

The hard white  crust that can develop on some salt cells is caused by a build up of calcium.

If this white crust is not removed it can cause the functionality of the salt cell to be impaired. This may result in little or no chlorine being produced at all. It is therefore very important to remove it.

These days more and more salt cells are becoming self cleaning. This  means that the salt cell  is  capable of reversing its own polarity. This is done by using a control unit which is located in the transformer box. The control unit  frequently changes the cell's polarity. When it does so, it pushes the calcium build up away from the salt cell, keeping it clean and functional.

For those salt cells that are not self cleaning you will need to perform the following steps: 

a) Turn the salt water chlorinator off at the power point. 

b) Remove the electrical wires (leads) from the salt cell. These usually just pull out of the cap end. (which is attached to the salt cell grid) 

c) Remove the salt cell from its housing. This is done by either screwing the cap out of the housing or on some models the cap is removed  in a similar fashion to a bayonet light globe. This type of fixing requires you to depress the cap of the salt cell and then do a quarter turn.

d) Pour 2 to 3 litres of Professional Quality Salt Cell Cleaner in a plastic bucket or cylinder. This product is highly acidic so do not use it in a metal container.

e) Soak the salt cell grid in boiling water for 30 minutes.

f) Then place the salt cell grid into the Salt Cell Cleaner solution. It will fizzle for some hours whilst the acid dissolves all the calcium from the salt cell grid. This may take up to 24 hours.

g) When all the calcium has dissolved from the salt cell grid, remove it from the salt cell cleaner solution and thoroughly rinse the cell in cold water.

h) Screw the cap back into the salt cell housing  and reattach the electrical leads.

i) Turn the salt water chlorinator on at the power point.

j)  Professional Quality Salt Cell Cleaner Solution can be used up to 5 times. It is important to store the used Salt Cell Cleaner solution separately from the unused Salt Cell Cleaner. 

Stains on the pool wall or floor can be caused by a variety of factors.

Some are relatively easy to remove others may take lots of patience and repeated applications of the stain removal chemicals.

Leaves or vegetation, algae, metal fragments falling into the pool or impurities coming out of bags of salt can all stain the floor of the  pool.  They can also result from pool water running through the copper pipes of  a pool heater.

Leaf, vegetation and algae stains are  relatively easy to fix.

a) Disconnect any automatic pool cleaner to ensure that it is no longer working. 

b) Broadcast  granular chlorine over the affected area and leave it to sit on the affected area for several days.

c) In most circumstances the granular chlorine will bleach the affected area removing the stain in the process.

Metal stains caused by items such as nails, bobby pins, impurities in salt  can be harder to remove.

 You will need to  follow the process below:

a) Remove the chlorine from the swimming pool by using Professional Quality Chlorine Remover. (Most stain removal techniques are far more effective when there is no chlorine present in the pool water. For this reason it is often easier to try and remove any stains during the winter period) 

Always follow the directions on the packaging.

b) Where the item causing the stain can be seen lying on the pool's floor for e.g. a metal nail, it should be removed immediately.

c) For metal stains try Professional Quality Citriclean or Lo-Chlors Multi Stain remover, Always follow the directions on the packaging.

d) On some occasions it may be possible to apply the stain removal chemical directly on to the surface of the pool in the affected area. (More likely on marble sheen, pebble crete or quarzton surfaces).  You should always test  if the stain removal chemical reacts with the lining of the pool. Choose somewhere out of sight,  such as just inside the skimmer box. Place a small amount of the stain removal chemical on any part of the pools lining that is exposed in the skimmer box. If you are concerned about a possible reaction with the pools surface it may be best to place the stain removal chemical in the foot of a ladies old stocking and then place the stocking filled with the chemical on to the affected area. This technique prevents the stain removal chemical from coming in direct contact with the lining of the pool. This is particularly  important for painted or vinyl lined pools. It allows you to get the chemical  as close as possible to the stain without the stain removal chemical actually touching the affected surface of the pool.

Stains in fibreglass pools are best treated with Professional Quality Spotaway. Follow the steps outlined in a) to d) above. It is particularly effective at treating osmosis in Fibreglass pools. Osmosis occurs where the algae or stain has been able to penetrate between the various layers of fibreglass that comprise the pools structure.

For stains that are particularly difficult to remove, you may have to empty the pool to perform an acid wash of the surface of the pool and then refill and balance the water.

This process is costly and time consuming and should be avoided where ever possible. 

Plastic Hoses can develop what is called a” memory” effect. What this really means is that the pool hose has been twisted or coiled into a certain shape repeatedly over a long period of time and the hose has started to permanently adopt that shape. This results in the pool hose guiding the Automatic Pool Cleaner in a predetermined pattern (rather than a random pattern). This means that it vacuums some areas of the pool floor repeatedly whilst never vacuuming other areas at all.

How do I fix it? 

a) For continuous length hoses wait for a hot sunny day. Remove the hose from the pool. Remove the Automatic Pool Cleaner from the hose. Lie the hose out in a straight line on hot concrete (such as a path or driveway) in direct sunlight and leave it there for most of the day. If the hose is badly twisted it may be necessary to place a heavy weight (e.g. bricks or stones) on either side of the kink to help straighten it. The heat from the sun and concrete will help straighten the hose out and remove the “memory” effect. This should mean that the hose now vacuums all areas of the pool floor in a random pattern.

b) For hoses that come in sections take a pencil and record a number from 1 to “n” on the cuff (top rim) for each of the hose sections. If you have say 10 hose sections you will number each section from 1 to 10. Once each section has been  numbered remove each section from the length of hose and reassemble in a random order. So instead of having the sectional hose lengths numbered 1 to 10 they might now be ordered something for example like 8,2,10,3,5,9,7,1,4,6

There can be several reasons that cause automatic pool cleaners to start then stop.

Start by checking the cleaner itself and work back towards the skimmer basket, then pump and finally the filter.

a) Cleaner; check to see if there is anything blocking the throat of the cleaner. Turn the pump off and take the cleaner out of the pool. In Kreepy Krauly “style cleaners” make sure that the hammer (which looks like a plastic door wedge) is able to move backwards and forwards freely and that nothing is blocking either of the two balance tubes. In Baracuda “style cleaners” make sure that nothing is blocking the throat of the cleaner and that the plastic diaphragm (usually yellow in colour or clear) is neither blocked, holed, or split. The only way of checking for a split is to remove the diaphragm and physically examine it. A split/holed diaphragm is the most common reason for this type of cleaner to start, travel for a metre or so  and then stop.

b) Assuming that there appears to be nothing blocked or damaged in the cleaner itself check the hose next. When examining the hose check for blockages i.e. leaf matter, rocks, children’s toys, foreign objects. Then check to see if the hose has a hole or crack. If this is the case, air will be sucked into the system through the damaged hose eventually causing the cleaner to stop. Check for holes or cracks in the hose by placing the hose in the pool. Ensure that unattached end of the hose is under water at all times. Sit on the side of the pool. Turn the pump on and slowly bend the hose through your hands listening for any sucking sounds. If you should hear any such sounds you will know that the hose either has a hole or a crack in it at that point. For continuous length hoses you will need to cut out the damaged section of hose and replace  it with a hose joiner or if it is a sectional hose just replace the damaged section. 

c) Next check the skimmer basket to ensure that the basket is clean of all debris/rubbish. Remove the skimmer basket to ensure that nothing is blocking the pipe leading from the skimmer basket to the filter. Next, check that the vacuum plate is lying flat and correctly in position. Ensure that the hose is plugged in to the vacuum plate securely.

d) Remove the pump basket to make sure it is not full of rubbish or that a foreign object is not blocking the pump impeller.

e) Check the reading on the pressure gauge. Does the Filter need backwashing or cleaning? A dirty filter is also a common cause of the Automatic Pool Cleaner working for a short distance then stopping. Backwash the filter /clean the cartridge if necessary. 

f) Finally open the bleed valve to ensure that the filter system is not full of air. This is done by running the pump and opening the bleed valve which is usually found at the top of the filter. Keep the bleed valve open until a steady stream of water spurts out of the valve. Then tighten the valve up to stop the water flow (but only finger tight).

If your pool hose is too short the automatic pool cleaner or the manual vacuum head will not be able to reach all areas of the swimming pool. This will mean that certain areas of the floor will never be vacuumed and will always be dirty.

If your pool hose is too long it will have the most significant impact upon your automatic pool cleaner. The pool cleaner will be held in the one position (unable to move) by the pool hose which will jam in several corners at once. Thus, making it impossible for the cleaner or hose to move without you physically moving it.

The rule of thumb used to work out the correct length hose for your swimming pool is: Measure the distance from your skimmer box to the furthest corner or point in the pool from the skimmer box then add “x” meters to this distance to allow for the depth of the pool. 

So if the distance from your skimmer box to the furthest point away is 9 metres and the depth of your pool is 2 metres the hose length you require is 9 metres (distance) plus 2 metres (depth) = 11 metre hose.

Multiport valves are a large (multi position) gate valve located on either the top of your Sand or Diatomaceous Earth filter (known as a top mount) or half way down the side of your filter (known as a side mount). Multiport valves are usually white in colour and are in the shape of a stout cylinder approx.  200 to 300 mm in diameter and 150 mm deep with a thick black or green selector handle. Most Cartridge filters do not have a Multiport valve.

The Multiport valve is the main valve for changing the direction of the water moving around the swimming pool. As the name suggests the multi port valve has a number of different positions (usually 6 positions) all of which have a different purpose.

To move the multiport valve simply depress the end of the selector handle/lever and move it in either a clockwise or anti clockwise direction to the desired position or function. 

Important! Never move the selector handle of the multiport valve without switching the pump off at the power point. The multiport valve must not be changed whilst the pump is operating. Failure to do this can cause significant damage which is expensive to repair.

The various settings/functions on a multiport valve are as follows;

Filter: This is the normal or every day operating position for the filter. Using this setting, water from the swimming pool is pumped through the filter where the fine particles of dirt or debris are trapped in the filter media. Eg Sand, D.E. Zeolite.. Once the water has been cleaned it is returned to the pool via plastic pipes called ” the pool return” lines.

Backwash: This is the setting you use to clean the rubbish out of the filter. This setting reverses the normal direction of the water flow in the filter washing out the accumulated dirt and debris. 

How long does it take to backwash the pool? This will depend on the size of the filter, how frequently it is cleaned and how much accumulated rubbish is in the filter.  The dirty water containing all the rubbish is pumped into the sewer. Many Multiport valves/filters have a clear sight glass located on them which allows you to watch the change in colour of the dirty water being pumped down the waste pipe. When the dirty water changes colour from brown to clear the back wash process can be stopped. 

Some times it can be beneficial backwashing for 2 minutes then changing the Multiport valve to filter for two minutes then back to backwash for two minutes and repeating the cycle several times as the repeated change in water direction seems to improve the cleaning function of the filter.

Remember that whilst ever you are using the backwash setting you are pumping water out of the pool (via the filter) straight down the drain so if you backwash for too long you will end up draining the pool. Whenever you have finished backwashing the pool always check that you have sufficient water covering the vacuum plate in the skimmer basket.

Always ensure the following rules are followed when Backwashing.

a) Disconnect vacuum cleaners (both manual and automatic) prior to backwashing.

b) Never leave the pool unattended when you are in the process of backwashing or draining the pool.

c) Never vacuum the pool when the Multiport valve is in the backwash or rinse position.

Rinse: This setting flushes out any dirt or grit that has been left in the Multiport valve and/or pipes. After the final backwash is complete you should use the rinse function for 15 to 20 seconds to ensure that your Multiport valve and pipework is left clean.

Waste: When the Multiport valve is in this position it allows water to be pumped directly from the pool through the Multiport valve straight down the drain. This setting is used if the pool is particularly dirty and you don’t want to vacuum up all the dirt into the filter. Using this position will allow you to vacuum up all the rubbish and send it straight down the drain with out clogging up the filter. It is also useful for lowering the water level after extended period of rain.

Recirculate: This setting is rarely used. It allows water to be pumped from the pool via the multiport valve directly back into the pool without the water going through the filter. It is only used if your want to circulate chemicals throughout the pool that are potentially incompatible with the filter medium.

Closed: Use this setting if you need to stop water flowing back down the pool return line via the Multiport Valve to the pool. It is particularly useful if the level of the pool water is higher than the filter as it acts as a stop or gate valve.