Low flow, poor suction; bubbles in pump & pool, mustard algae

[kahmeal]

EXACTLY the kind of response I was looking for, thank you so much Ben! I will take steps to implement all this in the coming week.

The deck cracks aren't too bad yet according to the original pool builder (the original owner of the home was forward thinking and kept all documentation with the house) and can wait until we do a major deck overhaul in the future, something we've already discussed as a definite undertaking.

The algae I've been scrubbing but the last few days we've been a bit too busy and it's gotten a little out of control.

Do you have any recommendations on methods to use for tracking down the suction leak? I've heard of using smoke near suspect areas to see if it gets pulled in?

[PoolDoc]

Do you have any recommendations on methods to use for tracking down the suction leak? I've heard of using smoke near suspect areas to see if it gets pulled in?

I've never heard of using smoke, and I'm pretty doubtful. The airflow is almost certainly not great enough for that to work; a little air goes a long way in messing up water flow.

Looking and listening are the only two methods I've ever used. You need to LOOK for possible leaks, and then check them. People have used a variety of things to check for leaks. I've sometimes used silicone, since if the leak is small, I can not only find it -- as the silicone is sucked it -- but stop it at the same time. K-Y Jelly can also be used, and you don't have to worry about making a mess or causing damage, which might happen if you silicone-ed a leaking 3-way valve.

Sometimes, you can hear a small leak. But this usually means first locating likely locations, and then listening. Your pump is pretty loud, so that's probably not an option. (I work with large commercial pumps, and many of them have had 1800 RPM pumps I installed, and I forget how loud the 3600 RPM pumps used on home pools are.)