Cleaning the Spa Water

The spa water was getting dirty. There was sand on the bottom that did not seem to be getting to the filter.  So I bought a small Intex vacuum kit to suck up the dirt through the filter system.

Intex Pool Vacuum Kit

Intex Pool Vacuum Kit

Unfortunately after fiddling around finding a vacuum adapter for the skimmer, the built in suction was not strong enough to use the vacuum. I’m guessing that means one of the pipes is partially blocked which I will have to try to fix next time I empty it to change the water.

In the meantime last weekend when my granddaughter and I were in the increasingly cloudy spa, I realized I needed a supplementary filtering system or the water quality would quickly be unusable.

Although it would be great to add a sand filter to the system, the sand systems were more money than I wanted to spend and I didn’t want to try to replace the existing system. The spa is 1000 gallons so I purchased a filter pump that uses a larger filter than the spa. It is for a small Intex pool, Krystal Klear 637R which is rated at 1000 GPH.

Intex Krystal Klear Filter and Pump

Intex Krystal Klear Filter and Pump

It took me awhile to figure out how to fill the system with water so that it would pump–just took holding the vacuum hose attachment pipe up above the filter until the pipes were mostly full. Some air was still in the system but the pump soon rid itself of extra air.

I was able to get the system working and I have it sitting on the spa stairs. It has been running for about 30 hours and the water is finally pretty clear.

Filter on Spa Steps

Filter on Spa Steps

I’m letting it run a few more hours to get the water sparkling clear and will vacuum the settled sand again before I drain it and store it until the next vacuuming is required.

Filter and Hoses

Filter and Hoses

The blue end is the discharge and the pole is being held up by the Intex skimmer part. I can’t figure out how to use the skimmer that I ordered since I have the vacuum on the intake line instead so I might return that part of the system.

Hoses and Clear Water

Hoses and Clear Water

This was an inexpensive addition to the vacuum kit that works very well to vacuum and clear the water. The built in spa filter seemed to be working before the last month or so, but I have been cleaning out the filters instead of replacing them. I will extend the filtering time and install new filters to keep the water clearer and hopefully not let it get so cloudy again.

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